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? Use specific examples to support your preference.
Sample Response
From my everyday experience and observation I believe thatI can stand that the best way of learning about life is through personal experience. However, some people think that it is wiser to learn about life bythrough listening to the advice of family and friends. It does not mean I totally disagree with this way of learning. Moreover, I think that it is wise for a person to adopt a balanced positiontake an intermediate position because each of these ways has its own advantages. BelowBellow I will give my reasons to support my point of view. On the one handFrom the one side, learning through one's personal experience brings many benefits. First of all, scientists say that personal experience has a greater impactgreater impact on a person. I have to agree with this. Take for example children. They will not believe their parents when they say that something can hurt thembelieve their parents that something can hurt them until they try it and experience it for themselvesmake sure in it. Furthermore, they will most likely remembermost likely they will remember this experience longer. SecondlySecond of all, people learn how to analyze their mistakes, drawmake conclusions and try to avoid them next timeand next time try to avoid them. So, I think this is valuable experience thatit is a great experience that makes people stronger, more self-confident and persistent. They gain more knowledge and experience that will be very helpful and valuable in the future. On the other handFrom the other side, listening to the advice of family and friends brings many benefits too. Parents patiently pass downwith great patience pass down their knowledge and experience to their children. They teach them all they know and they do not want their children to makethey want their children do not make the same mistakes. In addition to those practical benefits, learning from someone's advice is painless. For example, parents nowadays often talkparents nowadays very often talk to their children about drugs. I think it is a good example of a situation in whicha great example when one should not try drugs in order to gain new experience. I think it is a case when children must trust their parents. To sum up, I think it is wise to combine both of these ways to learn and try to analyze personal mistakes as well as not personal. I think together they can greatly simplify one's life and shorten the path to successmake the way to success shorter.
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response’s strongest feature is its relevant comparison of learning through experience with learning from advice, using concrete examples to explain benefits of each. The main weakness is that the stated preference shifts between personal experience and a balanced combination, while the single-block presentation makes progression less polished. Prioritise a consistent thesis and conclusion, then separate the two sides into focused paragraphs with more precise phrasing.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both methods are compared with relevant examples, but the preference changes from personal experience to an intermediate combination and is therefore insufficiently consistent.
Choose one precise preference in the introduction and make every comparison and the conclusion clearly support that judgement.
Coherence and Cohesion
The two-sided reasoning follows a discernible sequence, but the absence of paragraphing and mechanical signposting weaken the organisation.
Use an introduction, one focused paragraph for each method, and a conclusion, with transitions that express comparison naturally.
Lexical Resource
The response has sufficient vocabulary for the topic, but repetition and awkward combinations frequently limit precision and naturalness.
Learn natural collocations for drawing conclusions, learning from mistakes, trusting advice, and gaining experience.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Simple and complex forms are both attempted, but recurring errors in verb patterns, articles, prepositions, and sentence construction remain evident.
Practise verb-complement patterns and article use, then proofread each complex sentence for a complete and accurate clause structure.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS Writing Task 2
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? Use specific examples to support your preference.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.