Writing Task 2: Online learning and real school

Some people say that online learning is the most effective and convenient way to learn. Others say that online learning will never be as effective as learning at a real school, in person. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Children learn in many ways. Nowadays, parents seem to question themselves on whether to enroll their young ones in an online computer for learning or in a real school where actual teacher is available. Both of these ways can have certain advantages but its drawbacks should also be considered. These ways of learning will be analyzed.

Firstly, majority of the young population these days prefer to learn online. The lessons here are updated and can be repeatedly read anytime or anywhere until they understand the topics. Furthermore, parents can save more money and time as they will no longer prepare packed foods for their children’s lunch or even spending for the fares in traveling to and from the school. For the same reason, children also no longer need to dress up as they will just be confined inside their home. As a result, they will develop sedentary lifestyle which can be a problem later on. Also, children in this way of learning will not have the opportunity to interact with the other children and can potentially develop depression at an early age or even in the later years. Nevertheless, some parents still choose this kind of learning for their children.

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Signpost Words: Indicating stages in a process and Introducing examples

How do we indicate a stage in a process? We can use the signpost words below:

first; second; third; to begin with; next; following this; another; in addition; concurrently; simultaneously; meanwhile; in the meantime; moreover; subsequently; consequently; before that; earlier; previously; by that time; at last, after that; at length; finally; in conclusion; to conclude

And to introduce examples the following words might be useful

that is to say; in other words; for example; for instance; namely; an example of this is; as in the following examples; such as; particularly; in particular; especially; notably; chiefly; mainly

How to show conditions?

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Signpost Words: Adding more, Reinforcing and Conceding a point

If we want to add more to a point already made, or introduce a new point, the following words or phrases might be useful

besides; consequently; correspondingly; following this; further; furthermore; in addition; indeed; in fact; in regard to; in the meantime; in the same way; in reality; in respect to; moreover; neither...nor; not only...but also; respecting;
above all; again; also; as a consequence; as for; as to; as well as;  regarding; similarly; subsequently; then again; too; what is more

But if we would like to reinforce a point, or state it in a different way, we might use the following words

in view of this; in other words; to put it more simply; with this in mind; that is to say

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Writing Task 2 : Home schooling or education at school

A very nice example of writing task-2 sent by Nina

Every picture tells a story, so do with people who have studied at home or school. They will have their own thought. In my view, it is certainly better to have a formal education system at school instead of at home due to many disadvantages of home schooling.

Getting education at school will instil students to be more disciplined. They will be taught on how to manage their time wisely, the importance of mutual respect among students and teachers or among themselves, and the importance of team-building in groups of a community. Education at school that packed with activities will inculcate the students to have their own commitment to certain things. They manage to balance their own time wisely eitheir on their studies or other responsibilties. Be it, to respect each other. As people will only respect us if we do respect others. Instead, people who favours home schooling will never get close with all these aspects. They will take it as a single thing that just can be ignored easily. Perhaps, they will have a bulk of leisure time that will be wasted on the dot if there is no stern supervision by parents. In addition, students will be exposed to many kind of other activities that have no benefit for themselves. For example, facebook, the social-network service which is widely used by youngsters to connect themselves to another.

Besides, student who studies at school may experience the worth of friendship. They will be encountered to many people who is different to each other. They will face many kind of behaviours and this will make their life become mature days by days. Differ in people who spend their time at home, they will have problem to start a conversation, and having difficulty in their surrounding environment.

To sum it up, getting education at school is much better than home schooling based on the reasons above. By that, I conclude that school will be the first place for students to gain their knowledge.

(343 words)-nina-

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Steps in writing a discussion essay

There are some useful steps to make an effective discussion essay. The steps are also important in the real exam where you can manage your time effectively. The first step is to build a home consisting our main ideas or mind map in which the topic sentence are expanded into more details to support the author's arguments. As an example, this post will try to respond to the following question:

Can a country keep its traditional way of life and develop? Or does development necessarily mean a change in traditions?

The picture below shows how we can develop a home to respond to that question.

Now we can expand those ideas to write an essay. We will present the results on the next postings..

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General English: Describing a place

BALI, The Island of The Gods

When you say ‘Bali’, most westerners will think of paradise tourism. Bali is a famous beautiful island known as ‘The Island of The Gods’.

Bali is located between Java and Lombok. It has an area of 5620 square km. The island is dramatically mountainous. Gunung Agung, known as The Mother Mountain, is over 3000 m high. Bali has four lakes: Lake Batur, which is located in Kintamani, and Lake Buyan, Lake Tamblingan, and Lake Beratan, which are located in the Bedugul area. Other famous natural things of Bali are its beaches. Kuta Beach is the widest beach where you can surf, swim, and watch the sunset. At Sanur Beach you can canoe, parasail, or look at the sunrise while At Tulamben you can snorkel and dive. Another beach is Lovina Beach, which is located in Buleleng, where you can see dolphins in the morning.

Bali is densely populated with approximately 3.1 million people. Most of its citizens are concentrated in Denpasar, the capital of Bali. Bali has 9 regencies i.e. Denpasar, Jembrana, Tabanan, Klungkung, Karangasem, Bangli, Badung, Gianyar, and Buleleng. Ninety percent of its people are Hindus. Therefore, there are many sea temples e.g. Tanah Lot Temple and Luhur Ulu Watu Temple, and traditional ceremonies such as Ngaben, Nyepi, and Galungan. Each temple has its own birthday festival known as Odalan. Ngaben is a cremation ceremony. Nyepi is the New Year’s Day for Hindus when they celebrate by keeping silent. Thus, there should be no fire/ light, no travel/ walking, no entertainment, no work, and Hindus is suggested to fast.

The average temperature hovers around 30 degree Celcius all year. There are two seasons in Bali i.e. the wet season and the dry season. The wet season runs from October and lasts on March while the dry season runs from April and lasts on September.

There’s very little manufacturing industry in Bali, so industrial pollution is not a big problem. Amongst all the industries, tourism accounts for about one-third of Bali’s formal economy.

Bali has some traditional food such as lawar, spit-roasted pig, Betutu Chicken, and Siobak. Those foods are all spicy. There are also snake fruits and salted peanuts that you can find in supermarkets or traditional markets.

Regrettably, Bali has limited public transportation. Still, we can travel to many places by taxi, car, motorbike or minibus. So, if you were looking for a tropical island holiday, then Bali would be well worth a visit.

Prepared by Arima and Ady ADS6mE

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