Topic N°6
What are the qualities of a good friend?
Essay 1
A friend is a person with whom we spend most of our time. It is very important to spend enjoyable with them. The time we spend with our friends is precious and shouldn’t be wasted. There are some characteristics that a friend should have such as being intelligent, having sense of humor, or being reliable. In my opinion, the most important characteristics, which were mentioned, is having sense of humor.
To my way of thinking, a friend doesn’t have to be very intelligent because getting higher grades is not important for all the people. I can’t judge my friend when she gets low marks. It also doesn’t mean that she is successful, she can be very creative and succeed in arts or music. So we should never judge people according to their intelligence. A person who is not very intelligence can be a very helpful and friendly person.
Sense of humor is a very important characteristic that every people should have. If one doesn’t have a sense of humor, then he doesn’t care about other people’s feelings and behaves very badly, thinking only of himself. I don’t what that kind of person to be around me, because he makes everybody around him uncomfortable because of his selfishness. If one has a sense of humor, than he is there whenever you are in need of him, he does everything he can.
Sense of humor brings other characteristics such as being helpful, thinking of other people. And all these characteristics are very important for a friendship to be long lasting. I would like my friend to listen to my problems and give me advices. His thoughts are very important for me because I’m sure he thinks the right way objectively. He thinks of a matter deeply and helps me to make my decisions. If my friend hadn’t had a sense of humor, he would not try to help me and leave me confused with my problems. If my friend hadn’t had a sense of humor, he would not take me to the cinema when I had problems with my parent, I would be in my room crying and thinking how to solve the problem.
Finally, I can say that if someone has a sense of humor than he also has other characteristics such as being helpful, caring about others, trying to solve friends’ problems. And all these characteristics are very important for everybody in order to have a long lasting friendship.
Essay 2
As a friendly and open-minded person, I enjoy making friends. As a result, I have many friends. However, regardless of their background, gender and characteristics, I notice that all of my close friends have one characteristic in common - they all have a sense of humor.
First of all, I always wanted to feel happy and have a good time when I go out with friends. By going out with friends who are humorous often make me laugh and cheer me up whenever I feeling down.
In addition, I believe people who have a sense of humor, are normally the one who has positive thinking. I like to mix with people with positive thinking because I always believe that it is better think positive rather than negative when dealing with problem. For example, when I face a problem, I like to talk to friends who humorous and positive because they can always give me new ideas and help me to solve problem by guiding me to look at problem from the different perspective.
In short, what I want the most in a friend is a sense of humor. Friend who has a sense of humor can influence me positively.
***********************************************************************************
Topic N°7
Is homework important for students?
Essay 1
This question of whether or not to give the students daily homework is a much debated problem in that it affects everybody as a student like us. Of course, doing homework will scare our leisure time in some extent, but it can help students understand the texts more deeply, force students to review the texts and make students have a lasting impression about the texts. So personally, I would prefer to do homework everyday.
There are numerous reasons why I think that daily homework is necessary for students, and I would here explain some of the most important ones. The main reason is daily homework can help students understand the texts more deeply. It can be given an example, you must make yourself understand the texts firstly in order to do your homework. Whatever in mathematics, in chemistry or other courses, if you don't understand the texts, you can not finish the homework of that day.
The other reason is that daily homework can force the students to review the texts. Just imagine when you have the problems in your homework you will understand it more. When you have the problems, what can make you work out is reading your texts and your notes carefully or discussing with other students.
One very strong argument is that doing homework can make the students have a lasting impression about the texts. In order to see it clearly, let us see an example. When students do their homework, they have to review the texts, understand the texts, even more discuss the problems about the texts. They gradually have a lasting impression about the texts.
From what has been discussed above, doing homework has more advantages, so we finally draw the conclusion that daily homework is necessary for students.
Essay 2
Doing homework is one more time to understand lecture. When students do homework they have to recall what teacher explained in class. I think
that daily homework is necessary for students.
I have done so many assigments. They help me a lot in understanding the theory. We go to class to listen to lecture. Well can you understand every thing teacher explains in class? Maybe if you are very clever. But if you do homework you will understand the lecture more deeply. Sometimes I do not understand the lecture but when I go home I stay to do homework. I must read the lecture again and the question in homework suggests me what I should comcentrate to read in lecture. Of course I understand the subject better after I do homework.
Everyone always said that study goes with practice. I think it is true because you know only theory it is not enough. You should practice again and again until you understand essence of problems. To understand the subject students must spend time to do assignment. Homework can asses result of understand the lecture. If teacher does not give you homework they will not know how much their student understands the lecture.
One more thing we should mention is that if teachers do not give assignment to their student than students may will not review the lecture
when they go home therefore they will forget what they learn in class very fast.
When you do homework then you recollect the lecture. You may can symthelize your knowledge in subject. So teachers should give assignment to the student everyday.
Essay 3
Homework is an assignment given by teachers to the students so that they can work on it at home.
Each day's homework is normally based on the class work done for that day. Sometimes the homework given might also require the student to gather some extra information from external sources like library books and newspapers.Therefore I feel that homework, if sincerely done, helps the child to revise his class work and develops him intellectually also.
It is often seen that children evade books and especially studies once they get back home. It has been proved that the best way to learn something is to revise and practise it repeatively. The proverb "Practice makes man perfect" is still applicable today. Homework I feel is one way of making the student practice his learnings for the day. It forces the student to sit and ponder about that day's work at school. It helps him to go over the newly learnt concepts and gain a clarity of thought. Once he achieves this, that learning is retained in his mind for forever. Homework therefore involuntarily makes the child to study and be prepared for the class the next day.
The second purpose achieved by homework is to intellectually stimulate the child's curiosity for knowledge. Homework that requires a student to gather some information as part of a project, or draw some diagrams or charts, or build something out of paper or wood, all stimulate the child's creative and intellectual abilities. The child is forced to explore or enhance his skills, and probably develop some of his inherent qualities.
To conclude, I feel homework is an essential part of the curriculum.
***********************************************************************************
Topic N°8
Have computers helped or hurt our lives?
Essay 1
In my opinion computers have made life easier and more convenient thanks to the variety of utilities they offer to us. Organizations automates their activities using them, saving time and money to themselves and also to customers. Computers help to handle information and data, considered between the most important resources of organizations.
Since computers revolution in the 80’s, personal computers have expanded so greatly and fast that today almost every organization base their activities on computers. They are everywhere we go, in banks, supermarkets, offices, public organisms, etc, automating repeatable operations. Information systems based on computers make it much easier to enter, manage and retrieve information. For example, banks can run transactions very fast giving a better service to their customers. Today we can buy a plane ticket on the internet, and get it delivered at home. People communicate with friends and relatives using the e-mail, saving money and time, because is cheaper than using the phone, and faster than sending a letter by mail. Never has it been easier to keep in touch with people anywhere.
The software industry has developed products that simplifies the work in all kinds of areas, such as manufacturing, servicing, financial services, aerospace, biotechnology, and so on. Software can process big amounts of information and make complex calculations that could only be performed by an expert in the subject after long time of work, if computers did not exist, therefore organizations can employ less qualified personnel to execute some operations, because computers do the hard work.
To conclude, I say I have no doubt that computers have introduced an enormous progress into our daily life and the benefits of their use are countless. It is remarkable the fact that they execute tasks more efficiently than if done manually, doing the work easier for people, fast and well organised.
Essay 2
Although there people who are critical about the introduction of computer in work places or at homes for not being able to adapt themselves to new technology, computers have many advantages that have made life easier and more convenient.
First of all, with a computer, people can do many kinds of work in shorter time with less mistakes. Once a program is set correctly, computers process assignments such as calculations more quickly and acurrately than a person. Moreover, there are several computer programs that provide checks of errors commited by an user, for example, the spelling check function in programs of word processor. Thus, saving time and reducing errors by using computers, people can invest their time for more creative work or activities.
Second, computers have provided a very convenient option of means of communication, that is, the internet. Thanks to this technology, today people can communicate each others much easier at lawer cost and in shorter time by e-mails even when they are separated by huge distance. Access to internet also make it possible to offer or obtain various kinds of information without limit of distance nor time. For instance, you can look for information about touristic attraction of Egypt in the midnight, being at home in Tokyo after coming back from work.
Third, the skills required to use computers have been becoming easier each day. While 20 years ago, "computer literacy" meant the knowledge about computer programming, today it is just a matter of use of a mouth and choise of icons.
Above all, computers not only have made life easier and more convenient, but also have been becoming more "user-kind". It is not necessary to worry about negative effect of computers that lead people's life to be more complex and stressful.
Essay 3
Information at our fingertips, Shopping and Banking from our place of work or from home, Communications with our near and dear in a matter of few seconds, and so much more. We can't imagine a life, let alone a single day, without the above facilities. If computers haven't made our life easier, what has ?
The Information age is now at its peak. The internet has proved to be a great resource of information. Software, Hardware, History, Geography, Films, Poetry, Classics, name the field and you have thousands of websites providing you with the information you require in a matter of seconds. A research or thesis, that would have taken couple of days to be completed can be done in matter of hours, saving us the trouble of running around to collect the necessary information.
Banking and shopping has never been easier. At the click of a mouse button, there are transactions being carried out, money being transferred and stocks being sold. There is not a single bank without a web site today. E-banking and E-shopping are the buzzwords of the Information age.
To talk about computers, and not mention the role it has played in the field of communications would be totally impossible. E-mails and chat sessions have shortened the distance between people. Letters and messages that would either take days to reach are being received within minutes and in a cost-effective manner too.
In this fast moving world, where results are expected instantaneously and accurately, computers give us more than what we require and faster than we expect. The ways in which computers have contributed to each field is innumerable. They have no doubt made our lives so much easier, that its impossible now to function without them.
***************************************************************************************
Topic N°9
Does advertising reflect culture? Essay 1 Advertising is an all powerful tool in todays world where communication means are varied and accessible by all, and reaching the target audience with the right message makes all the difference. Advertising is a medium through which, people can be educated about a particular issue at hand. Advertising can be about a new product, a new business oppurtunity or in this case about a country. I strongly agree with the statement that advertising can inform, educate and can tell a lot about the country. I will support my argument through examples and reasoning given below. Advertising can be of many forms: Printed and published information, through broadcast media (radio and television) and now the most important emerging means of all; that of the Internet. All these forms of advertising have their own advantages and dis-advantages. Advertising is generally responsible for the first impressions of a country in people's minds. In this case, what they hear about a particular country for the first time through any means of advertising, will result in it being a true picture of a country for that person / country. So that's the reasons why governments of some developed countries have taken this issue of projecting the right image of their country through advertising very seriously. This is proven by the fact that their tourism numbers and advantages of living and working in their country are most highlighted than other countries. This is nonetheless important in todays competitive global environment where countries are competing against each other to attract new investments and business in their country. All this directly efects the economic and development scene of the country as good or bad advertising can directly result in the country's growth. For instance, in my country India, the Information technology ministry has spent substantial finances and efforts to highlight India's advantage as a global source for information technology workers. This in fact has resulted in growth in the Gross Domestic Product of our country there by raising the standard of people living in this country and giving a nacent industry a chance to grow in a free capital environment. This coundn't have been acheived without concentrated advertising of our advantages and economic benefits of developing software in India. So I conclude to say that Advertising can not only tell a lot about a country but can also result in bring growth to the ecomony and prosperity to its people. Adding to that, I would like every government of the world taking efforts to promote the best their county has to give to the world, here by promoting peace and prosperity among all nations. Essay 2 Diverse cultures and backgrounds lead to people having different perceptions and understandings about a product. Advertising is thus an art to communicate, the qualities of a product and its use to the people in their percieved language. And in doing so, advertising definetely will tells us a lot about a country. People tend to place a lot of significance on details like color, packaging style, special symbols, celebrities who model for the product, relgious and traditional sentiments. These factors definetly make the advertising of the same prodcut different in each country. Color plays an important role in choosing a product, Red represents passion, excitement,danger and power, most communist countries love this color,but a few countries consider this sinister and it is the color of mourning in the orient. Green is a favourite color for the muslims, but often green tends to represent fresh and vegetarianism, which would'nt go well with all products. White is considered a depressive color,and a color of mourning in India, but in China White represents happiness. Hence while advertising color plays an important role, if a red colored product is advertised in a islamic country, it may be rejected but could have surprisign response in a red loving country. Pepsi wisely invested several dollars in research and found out that blue was a universally accepted color and immediately changed its brand color to blue from red , thus saving millions of dollars on advertising. Celebrities and stars often carry a lot of weightage on an individual's decision about buying something.They symbolise their fantasy and identify with them. If there favourite star, sportsman or model is promoting a product, they would buy it irrespective of its utility and need. Revlon is a leading cosmetic brand world wide, instead of one promoter, the brand has a promoter for each country. Halle Berry a Miss America promotes the brand in Usa, the american women identify her and are in awe of her beauty. Now that they know Revlon products are the secret of her beauty they will tend buying the products too. But if the same ad is shown in India, where a select few know about her, the prodcut would hardly sell. instead if a local model or a star the Indian women identify with,promotes the brand, the product would do good here too. Similarly sentiments and traditional values differntiate advertsing from each country. Lets take an example of an ad for a wrist watch. A ad in a Western country would show a top model, a star or a sportsman promoting the product, as an accessory to his designer suit, shoes etc. Here the product is perceived as an accessory, but the same product is perceived as a luxury in India. Hence the ads would show the product being given as gifts during important occassions like weddings graduations etc. A same product having a single utility and purpose in different countries is perceived differently based on the above factors, and determine the advertising which tells us about that country. *********************************************************************************** Topic N°10 Reading fiction (such as novels and short stories) is more enjoyable than watching movies. Use specific reasons and examples to explain your position. My best friend has a son. She tells me all the time that her son doesn't like to read at all and she is woory about this. We have remembered the days of out youth when we were reading all day long. Here are the reasons that we told to her son in order to make him reading.
First reason is that reading fiction offers you the freedom of imagining whatever you want. You may have your own vision about the characters, about the landscapes that are described. This liberty give me a very good feeling. I like to be a part of the story, to imagine the next step in the book. I am the master of the story in a certain way.
Another important reason is that I consider it is more confortable to stay in your favourite chair and to read rather than to watch on TV or to go to the cinema. Or maybe it is preferable to stay in your garden near your old tree. If you watch to TV you have to accept a lot of comercials and other things that takes your mind from the action of the movie. At the same time at the cinema you will listen to your neighbour eating popcorns and this thing always make me nervous.
The last reason but of course not the least important reason is that is cheaper to read a book than watching a movie on TV or at cinema. You may borrow books from the library and you will have a whole world at your house and you may spend a very pleasant time.
We told all this thing to my friend's son and I hope he will follow our advice even it is difficult to make a young man like him to read good books rather than watching to movies.
************************************************************************************
Topic N°11
Discuss learning from others and learning by yourself.
Essay1
My personal belief is that the best way to learn about life is through personal experience. But this does not mean that I totally disregard the alternative way of learning by listening to family or friends’ advice. The truth is that now, at my age, I clearly see that the best way of learning about life would be a combination of the two (ways noted above).
The main reason I embrace the first way is because I find it more natural, it is our instinctive way to act and react. When we are young we are prone to experience than to listen to other persons advice and less to the advice coming from our family. This may not be a general case but I believe the exceptions are rare. I remember when I got engaged with my future husband both my parents and friends were very much against my decision. And in a way they were right. But I wanted to follow my heart and to have my own judgment even if people with more experience and even good intention were advising me to do the contrary. My reaction/action it was also influence by the wrong approach my family adopted. And my case is not an isolated one.
From my above story can be inferred that I DO agree that learning by listening to the advice of well-intended people is a wise way. It would probably save us some grief and disappointment in life. But I strongly believe that even painful the experience we choose to have is helping us grow and builds our personality. I never regretted my decision to get marry at a pretty early age even if eventually we (me and my husband) ended up divorcing. It was one of the best experience I ever had, though the most painful in my life.
I conclude by encouraging youngsters to try to listen both to their heart and to other persons advice and judge which way would be the best for them. Although I sound like my mother some years ago, when she tried to convince me that at my age the marriage is not the best choice in life, I strongly recommend to everybody to accept listening to any advice before making a decisive step in life and afterwards to filter all these information. I think it is wise trying to combine these two ways of learning about life.
Essay 2
Some people believe that the best way of learning about life is by listening to the advice of family and friends. Other people think that the best way of learning about life is through personal experience. Let’s compare the advantages of these two different ways of learning about life.
Learning by listening to the advice of family and friends is the best way for everyone. Family and friends are the closest to you people. They always wish you the best. For example, mother and father every day try to explain you everything around you through their life experience helping you avoid many blunders in your life. They can advise you to read some helpful books, watch TV’s education program, even recommend your peers who may be your friends. If person has a good family and friends, she/he mostly takes positive life experience.
During early childhood and adolescence, family plays the very important role. Family controls the child's behavior and helps to form all spiritual values. Also, it regulates the child's relationships with its peers. The friends teach you how to communicate with each other and how to interact.
However, scientists say that the more value is knowledge about life through personal experience. Those people have less stresses, have more abilities to resolve problem in many difficult situations. They are not afraid to be responsible for many mistakes that they might make in their life. They are able to the right decision in any unexpected situation. For example, those children do not fear of peer pressure. They are more ready to real life than children who learning about life only by listening to family and friends.
I stand up for personal experience. Why do I think so?
Firstly, it is unbelievable to learn about life only listening to advice of family and friends.
In the eighteenth century Jack Russo developed theory about child's learning life. He said that we could tell kids about our life many times, but they did not believe while it was not with them. Children are usually very curious. Sometimes when adults tell do not do this, they want to do that because they want to know why they cannot do that.
Secondly, our parents grew up in other time. They cannot understand many things in our life because they did not have that in their life. For example, why do you want to find some material for your project through Internet and do not want to go to the library? Another example: they do not understand why that that appropriate for them is not appropriate for you. It is a conflict for all generations all over the world: the conflict between parents and children. Many books written by famous author describe this problem. For example, Ivan Turgeniev, Russian writer, wrote novel “Fathers and Children”.
Next, it is very hazardous to listening to the advice of friends. We know that friends can impact not only positively, but also and negatively. For example, some peers teach the young adult how to abuse drugs or alcohol. You might listen to your friends but you always have to have your head to accept or not accept some suggestions.
In conclusion, although family and friends play an important role for learning about life, I strongly believe that learning through personal experience is preferable. If all people only listening to your family and friends advice, then we live in hormonal society. Nonetheless, we never seem to learn from the mistakes of the past so history always repeats itself.
Essay 3
We can learn about life by listening to advices of our friends and family or by drawing conclusions from our personal experience. Friends and family members can teach us a lot about life, because their experience is often larger than ours. Personal experience is important because it is direct and genuine. I think that personal experience is the preferable way of learning about life.
Our family members and fiends are sometimes more experienced than us and can teach us a lot of important things about life. For example, our parents are older than us and have been in many situations that they can teach us about. It is important that there is a strong emotional connection between us and our friends and family. They love us and wish us success in life, so they are very commited and devoted to teching us. They would never mislead us or teach us bad things.
Because of their great emotonal attachment, our friends and family can be biased towards us. For instance, parents often impose their opinions on their children by giving them advices. They are confident that they are doing the best thing for their childer, but that might not be true.
That's why we must sometimes make our own decisions. Advices from people who are close to us should always be considered, but they are not necessarily true, so they shouldn't be blindly accepted.
Learning from personal experience is effective, because personal experience in direct. When we experience something directly, it has greater effect on our personality than when we are told about it by others. For example, the horror of war is much clearer to someone who has faught in war himself than to someone who has just heard about it. Personal experience allows us to draw our own conclusions about life. In this cases, we are not confined by someone else's interpretation of events.
However, in these situations we are often very emotional and unable to reason correctly. This is the case when experiences are exciting or disturbing, such as wars or other life-threatning situations. Also, Our impressions of our experience may be prejudiced. We may tend to interpret them incorrectly to avoid painful conclusions. Therefore, we should always view our personal exprerience from certain time distance, in order to gain real, and not false knowledge.
In my opinion, the best way of learning about life is learning from personal experience. Other people's experiences given to us in form of advices, are always more or less shaped according to their personality. Therefore, the knowledge gained by experience is more confident.
Essay 4
Since our birth all time we are leaning about life. There are people who prefer to ask the advice of their family or friends and there are people who prefer to make up theirs mind by themselves. Both of that ways have advantages. Asking the advice of family you can get a wise one, which proved by people and time. Using the advice of other people is less dangerous sometimes. Personal experience makes people more independent and responsible. Also it remembers longer.
In the childhood we often listen to the advice of our family. Being adults, we asking for advice of family or friends too. As a rule, our parents give us a wise advice because they are older us and live a long life. Listening to the advice is less dangerous for life then experience. For instance, your experienced friends can advise you to take a vaccination before your travel and it save your health. Using the advice of family and friends can give a short way to the goal.
On the other hand, personal experience is useful too. You will remember your personal experience all life long whereas others’ advice you can forget. When people learn life by experience they become more independent, they get used to rely on themselves. Independence is a good personality because your parents and friend won’t be with you all life. Learning about life by own mistakes, people learn to be responsible for their actions.
In my learning about life I used both the advances of family and my personal experience. In most cases I asked family or friends before make a decision, so I can say that I prefer listening to the advice.
*********************************************************************************
Topic N°12
What is the value of the information available on-line (on the Internet)? Internet as we all know is changing the way we live our lives in the new millenium. Never before in the history of mankind, was so much information availiable to people. So with this abundance of information, also comes the clashes of views. Some people beleive that this medium provides people with lot of information, while others stand by the view that this excess of information creates problems. In my opinion, the information provided by the internet is valuable to people and can help us solve a lot of problems which is faced by the world today. It can also serve as people voice against corrupt governments and make them aware of their rights to freedom and expression of free speech. Internet because of its distributed nature is very free in nature. By free, i mean that anyone and everyone with a view can express it on the internet. This is best described by the journalists and other social workers who can break the news of war, conflict or any epidemic almost immediately as it occurs. Previously, governments used to control the flow of information. But now due to the advent of the internet, every piece of news and developments in news stories can be broadcasted live over the internet. This valuable information is transmitted over the internet over a medium which knows no limits or boundaries. This helps in bringing people closer and promises that the message will be deleivered to the world in an uncensored form. This principle very much supports the view that this is a free world, which is made possible due to the medium of internet. Another nature of the internet is that, it is non- propritery and no one can claim ownership or copyright over it. This establishes an ideal medium for people to exhibit their work. Best examples of these are the students at university, music artists, scientists researching on a new product or path breaking discovery. With so much information freely availiable, people can be well informed of their alternatives availiable to them. Like for example, I read in a news article that a women in africa was suffereing from a rare form of cancer. The doctors in africa had given up hope. then one of the doctors had read over the internet about a new revolutionary treatment for this cancer being developed by some canadian doctors. So after some more research and communication over the internet with the canadian team fo doctors, the women was flown to cananda, where she was treated for the cancer. Thus, a life was saved because information was availiable in time. So I beleive that Internet provides people with a lot of valuable information, which in most cases is life saving or sometimes is educating to people. But I would also like to add that with this access of information comes responsiblity. So individuals and governments should respect the value of information and use it in ethical ways so as not to cause damage. ************************************************************************************* Topic N°13 Do you agree or disagree? "Children should start learning a foreign language very early." Essay 1 Language is the best mean of communication. In globalization era, one language is definitely not enough for one to be able to communicate well with foreigner. I strongly support the idea that children should begin learning a foreign language as soon as they start school. They will get themselves familiar with new language, improve hearing ability as the time goes by, and learn to speak new word early. In my country, Thailand, it is compulsory for all children to start learning English at the age of three or four. However, they learn only a few word like one, two, three and simple animal names. It is more fun to know other languages especially when children begin to learn with very easy vocabulary. The learning process is more fun for them. Most language books for kids are colorful and fun to read. It gets children familiar with new languages without feeling afraid or bore to learn. No doubt, early start means more time for practise. Children can improve their hearing ability from foreign movie, songs, or from tourists. They might not be able to understand the whole conversation but they will hear the word they have learned and know how to pronounce them correctly. I have read the book about bringing up a child where parents speak two languages; there is no problem for a child to learn two languages at the same time. Psychologist said a child will not get confuse but he will be able to speak two languages which will surely be one asset for the future. In addition, children would start to say a word or sentence early and do not worry so much about mistake as most adults do. You cannot refuse the fact that adults always concern more about grammar and pronunciation of the new languages. This is one of the big barriers for learning. Adults are afraid and not say at all afterward. Language is a matter of practicing not avoiding. Children will start to say what they learn regardless of rule or grammatical part. And that is the best way to learn language. To me, children can receive new things fast and their development is always progressing. Time and practise will make them master in new language, which will benefit them when they grow up. All in all, language is an art, which one should learn as early as possible. If one wants to see outcome soon, one must start sooner. Essay 2 Normally a foreign language such as English is very important because it is an international language, different people from different countries in this world can use English for communication. Therefore, I totally agree with the following statement “Children should begin learning a foreign language as soon as they start school” because I think children at the age of starting school can learn and develop their skill faster than children at other ages. First of all, children at the age of starting school can learn many new things. They can absorb much new knowledge. Second, I think the younger they are, the easier they can learn how to pronounce like a native speaker. And for me pronunciation is an important key for using foreign language because it is depend on pronunciation whether one can communicate with a native speaker or not. In addition, I would like to use my case as an example. I began learning English since the first day that I went to school. I think I do it quite well. I can communicate with any English speaker. But now I am 22 years old and I live in France for working as a software engineer. So I had started to learn new foreign language again. And I found it was very difficult for me. More than that, the most difficult part for me is pronunciation. I have been living here for almost 1 year, but I cannot make someone at the supermarket understands me what I really want to buy. And I am sure that the problem is pronunciation not grammar or vocabulary, which I believe that if I had learnt French since I was young, I could do it better than now. In conclusion, if we can arrange some suitable courses for children to learn a foreign language as soon as they start school, there will be more advantages for their learning and their development. I believe that they can learn successfully and use that foreign language as well as a native speaker does, which is the most important goal of learning a foreign language. *************************************************************************************
Topic N°14
Has technology helped or harmed the world?
Technology as we all know has changed the way we live our lives in this new millenium. It has affected each and every faucet of people from all countries irrespective of cultural and physical boundaries. Now many people may argue with the fact that, not all change brought due to the technological revolution has resulted in progress for the human kind. But I strongly support the argument that technology has made the world a better place to live. I will explain my point of view with examples and reasoning in the following paragraphs.
First of all, technology has improved the quality of our lives. For example, in our working lives where we use computers, which help us plan and execute our work faster. And also for instance the communication technology which has revolutionized the way people around the world talk and share information. Previously, pigeons were used to transmit information, now due to efforts of many scientists and organizations we have mediums such as e-mail, telephone, fax which allow people to share information, in ways which was never thought possible before. All this results in people meeting and sharing thoughts and exchanging knowledge, which eventually leads to betterment of mankind.
Secondly, It has made it possible to do things unimagined before. For instance, it was never thought possible to cure people of some diseases and disabilities. But path breaking applications of radioactive isotopes in cancer treatment and artifical limb implants in disabled persons are some instances where technology has given people a new ray of hope.
It has also resulted in increasing the effciency of humans. A good example of this are the machines used in factories which are 1000 times more effecient in doing some repetitive tasks compared to humans. This results in industry being able to supply the increasing demands of the ever increasing population. Good examples of this are cars and packaged food products.
Technology has also given us a second chance in case of unexpected events like diseases and natural calamities. Because of technology we can better respond to these problems. For example, vaccines are used extensively thoughtout the world when any particular pandemic or epidemic breaks out and now less lives are lost due to natural disasters than before, thanks to the state of the art search and rescue equipment.
Lastly, it has given us a purpose of our life. For example space technology has stived to explain our origins in the universe. Meanwhile also finding the roots of our own evolution. All this results in a better understnding of the forces of nature controlling our existence and better utilizing them for our own good.
In conclusion, I fully support the statement that technology has made our world a better place to live and also gives us a means by which we can preserve the best of our world for future generations to come.
