TOEFL
Essay Sample: #032: Is it better to stay in one
place or move around?
This essay was written by me (Erin
Billy) and has 444 words. Even though this essay
is relatively long, I wrote it in under 20 minutes.
Your essay should have 300 - 500 words.
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Estimated
TOEFL Essay score: 6.0/6.0
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It seems like the world is becoming
smaller and smaller, almost by the minute. When I was
a child, I had never met anybody from outside my hometown,
much less somebody from another country. However, nowadays
I routinely interact with people from all over the world.
I might discuss a topic with my classmates from Iran,
Korea, Brazil, or Palestine; buy computer parts from
the shop run by Chinese; have lunch at a Mexican restaurant;
or buy Russian pastries at the café near my house. In
these experiences I can see the product of a world in
which borders are falling and people are free to move
about as they wish. There is nothing more invigorating
for me than being a part of this emerging “global village.”
I have now lived in three different
countries, Argentina, France, and the United States
and am convinced that I am a better person for it. In
each country I found something different. I remember
the warmth of the human interaction of my hometown in
Argentina; I enjoyed the great sense of culture and
wit in France; in the United States, I am impressed
by the feeling of liberty and acceptance. In each country
I have learned a different language, experienced a different
climate, conversed with people in different ways. I
have learned that each place has something special about
it and that no place on Earth is a perfect place. We
may lose one thing when we leave a country, but we always
gain something else in its place.
So, the greatest benefit of
having met so many people from all over the world has
been learning that each person and each culture has
a different yet valid way of seeing the world. I cannot
say that Argentines have a monopoly on how to view the
world; nor can I say that the American system of doing
things is best. I can only say that from my experience
each system works for each culture and that each one
is a valid way of seeing the world.
Perhaps this point is the most
important one for the coming age of information and
technology and falling political and trade barriers.
As people from all over the world migrate more freely
in search of better lives, they will necessarily have
to learn to be tolerant of different worldviews. People
who do x will learn to accept people who do y and perhaps
even experiment with the new way. By accepting cultures
different from our own, we learn more of the broad range
of the human experience and we are richer people for
seeing beauty and truth in its many forms.
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