Which one you think has more influence on people- the knowledge gained from experience or the knowledge gained from books. In your opinion, which source is more important? Why?
Sample Response
Throughout the human life, people will always be in special circumstances. They should make an important decision like choosing their life partners or a convenient major for their future. Today the books are proper resources of knowledge, which can play a significant role to inform people in almost all fields. However, in my opinion, books cannot be useful for personal stuff as well as personal experience, because of some reasons, which are elucidated below. First of all, although books are a suitable resource and let us know about others' experiences, it cannot be helpful in personal problems. As it has known to everybody, the attitude of one person is totally different from another one. For example, two people in the same situation make two dissimilar decisions. As a result, the experiences which are gathered from books cannot be constructive for people to cope with their troubles. Furthermore, personal experiences are more deeply and penetrate into our subconscious, since we were in the situation and we felt all of the things that happened to us. It is more influential than just reading them in the books. Recently, researchers have depicted that human always learn everything better when they observe them with their eyes or touch them. For instance, the students who had been taught in a laboratory got better marks in their exam than those who had taught verbally. In conclusion, I personally think, the influences of books are superficial. When we go through the problems which we read exactly the same one on the book before, we usually perform our instructions rather than doing what authors said. On the contrary, personal experiences have a profound impact on our decisions which we will make in the future.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Correct general reference Original: Throughout the human life Suggested revision: Throughout their lives Why it matters: The plural possessive reference must agree with people.
- 2. Use plural noun Original: make an important decision Suggested revision: make important decisions Why it matters: The two examples and the general subject people require the plural form.
- 3. Choose suitable adjective Original: a convenient major Suggested revision: a suitable major Why it matters: Suitable describes an appropriate field of study, while convenient does not fit this meaning.
- 4. Remove generic article Original: Today the books Suggested revision: Today, books Why it matters: A generic plural noun does not take the definite article, and the introductory adverb should be followed by a comma.
- 5. Correct verb pattern Original: play a significant role to inform Suggested revision: play a significant role in informing Why it matters: Role is followed by in and a gerund in this construction.
- 6. Clarify the comparison Original: books cannot be useful for personal stuff as well as personal experience Suggested revision: books cannot be as useful for personal matters as personal experience Why it matters: The as...as structure makes the comparison clear, and personal matters is appropriately formal.
- 7. Correct reason phrase Original: because of some reasons Suggested revision: for several reasons Why it matters: For several reasons is the natural construction before an explanation.
- 8. Match plural subject Original: books are a suitable resource Suggested revision: books are suitable resources Why it matters: The complement must be plural to agree with books.
- 9. Fix pronoun agreement Original: it cannot be helpful Suggested revision: they cannot be helpful Why it matters: The pronoun must agree with the plural noun books.
- 10. Correct passive structure Original: As it has known to everybody Suggested revision: As everybody knows Why it matters: The original passive construction is ungrammatical.
- 11. Use possessive form Original: the attitude of one person Suggested revision: one person's attitude Why it matters: The possessive form expresses the relationship more directly.
- 12. Clarify book content Original: experiences which are gathered from books Suggested revision: experiences described in books Why it matters: Readers learn about experiences described in books rather than gather the experiences themselves.
Suggested Rewrites
- Throughout the human life Throughout their lives
- make an important decision make important decisions
- a convenient major a suitable major
- Today the books Today, books
- play a significant role to inform play a significant role in informing
- books cannot be useful for personal stuff as well as personal experience books cannot be as useful for personal matters as personal experience
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response's strongest feature is its clear preference for experiential knowledge, supported by distinct reasons and a relevant educational example. Its main limitation is weak presentation control: the essay is not divided into paragraphs, and frequent awkward vocabulary and grammatical errors sometimes blur otherwise sensible reasoning. The highest priority is to organise the argument into focused paragraphs and express each comparison through simpler, more natural and grammatically complete sentences.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Response
A clear position favouring experience is maintained and supported with relevant reasons, though some claims remain general or imprecisely explained.
Deepen the comparison by explaining when book knowledge is useful before showing more specifically why experience is more influential.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas follow a broadly logical sequence, but the single-block presentation and some unclear referencing weaken progression and readability.
Separate the introduction, each main reason and the conclusion into distinct paragraphs with clear topic sentences.
Lexical Resource
There is some range in abstract and academic vocabulary, but frequent unnatural collocations and inaccurate word choices reduce clarity.
Prefer precise, familiar expressions and check combinations such as sources of knowledge, personal matters and practical learning.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The writer attempts varied complex structures, but frequent errors in agreement, pronouns, verb forms and clause construction persist.
Use shorter sentence units and check that every clause has a clear subject, correctly formed verb and unambiguous reference.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Which one you think has more influence on people- the knowledge gained from experience or the knowledge gained from books. In your opinion, which source is more important? Why?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.