IELTS Writing Task 2 with sample answer.
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Some people believe that the best way of learning about life is by listening to the advice of family and friends. Other people believe that the best way of learning about life is through personal experience.
Compare the advantages of these two different ways of learning about life. Which do you think is preferable?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
Sample Answer:
Our life is full of struggles and one need to learn how to fight against the obstacles of life. We learn about life in two basic ways: taking advice from family and friends, and personal experience. Both learning through personal experience and learning through the advice of family and friends have their similar merits and also have distinct advantages that make them different from each other. In my opinion, learning through the advice of family and friends should come first, however. Because advices are usually objective, which by consequence gives us the right way to follow.
Personal experience and advice from parents and peers guide us how to function in this world. Both the ways enhance our knowledge. Parents and friends tell us what should do and what should not do. For example, my parents advise me do not be spendthrift; they often make me recall that cut your coat according to your cloth. However, in my last tour to Europe, I lost my control and I spent all my money that left me stranded in Italy for two week with so many hassles. This experience really teaches me a good lesson that you should not go beyond your limits. This is how we learn about both from personal experience and parents and peers advice.
Now let me tell why I lean more on personal experience that this is because it makes us mature and self-dependent. No one can judge our ability or limitation better than us. It is our very empirical experience which tells us our strength and our weakness. Not only that, it also makes us confident. If we follow the learning process of a child, then we can discern the fact. A child learns through hands-on experience; that is, he or she learns through touching, moving, or doing something. Several researches put forth that when a child is offered a variety of experiences helps him or her to develop new strengths and interests that enhance his or her understanding of the world. Take my childhood experience for example. I cannot recall all the things, but a incident I can remember till now that once I was encountered with hot coffee mug and my hand got burn. By that incident, I was got sensuous experience of hot object. So, it goes without saying that learning about life from personal experience is the best way to be followed.
In short, what I like to say is that both personal experience and advice from parents and peers guide us how to deal with life. But I prefer personal experience rather than others’ advice since personal experience makes us sensible, self-reliant, and confident. So why should we not prefer personal experience than others’ advice?