Essay 3 - TOEFL iBT Practice

Most people think that there is only one option when choosing a career. If we recall when we were little we will realize that it is common for adults to ask children what they want to be when they grow up and wait for one specific answer, rather than multiple choices instead. In my opinion, it is not necessary to devote our whole life ("our whole lives" or "one's whole life") to a single job. There is nothing written in stone that indicates that changing careers is not possible. So if my friend wanted to switch her career, I would give her the following two pieces of advice.

First, I would recommend that my friend to do some soul-searching. In order to have a better understanding of herself, I would suggest her to that she think deeply about her strengths and weaknesses because it would give her an idea of what she is good at and what type of career would be best according to (better: suited to) her abilities. For instance, my cousin, after several years working as an electrical engineer, found out that she was more into sculpture. It would be a big change for her, quitting her job immediately after finding out that she was good at sculpting. For that reason she took her time to analyze if she really had the skills enough to start this new career. Doing a soul-searching helped my cousin to finally make a decision, and two years later she started teaching sculpting and opened her own visual art gallery.


I would appreciate any correction.

I only see one piece of advice ;-) But very nice job!

This is part of an essay I just wrote about children and video games :)

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Playing computer games is a waste of time. Children should not be allowed to
play them.
Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Presently, technology offers a lot of different options for children to spend their free time. Computer games and video games in general are, perhaps, the most popular option for entertainment among the majority of kids ("children" is a more appropriate word choice in a formal essay) and teenagers. While some people are totally against the idea of letting children play video games because it can create addictive behavior, and also because some games might contain high levels of violence, I strongly believe that gaming in computers is not a waste of time at all. On the contrary, they  (ambiguous pronoun: replace with "video/computer games") can be a good source for learning and developing important intellectual skills. I also consider that computer games can encourage children to be more curious about computers and the way computers work. I will elaborate on these two points in the following essay.

First of all, almost all video games can stimulate children’s intelligence in one way or another. In order to complete certain games, kids may need to put into practice a broad range of intellectual and social skills such as critical thinking and persistence. If the game has some sort of multiplayer mode, kids would also need to make use of teamwork and communication abilities. Moreover, since lots of popular games are in English, players that speak another language could eventually need to learn new words in order to figure out what to do in the game. All these positive traits, reinforced in video games, can have a meaningful impact in other parts of children’s lives such as in school and in interacting with other kids. My own experience is a compelling example of this. When I was a kid, I remember that I used to spend a couple of hours a day playing Nintendo 64’s Zelda. At first, there were too many words I did not understand because English is not my native language. Therefore, I had to look up these words in the Spanish-English dictionary by myself to fully understand what I needed to do to pass all the missions. As a result, I acquired more knowledge in a second language, and the best part is that I was also having fun. That behavior taught me that I could figure things out by myself, and also helped me later in my English class in school since I could associate some terms in my textbook with those I had discovered playing Zelda.

Very nice work! Almost perfect!

Is working abroad the right choice for the youngest?

Nowadays, most young people must take their luggage ("pack their bags" is a more natural turn of phrase here) and emigrate to look for working opportunities. Everyone should pay attention because this could become to a real problem if it persists for many years. So, we will analyze the pros and cons of the brain drain (I've never heard this term) in order to show the current situation to everyone.

In Spain the (economic?) situation is not especially easy either or stable, and this does not make (better: encourage) young people to (if you used encourage) stay here and look for a job after getting their degree. First of all, getting the first job is not an easy task because almost all companies all look for skilled people who are able to do several kind of works at the same time and that is summed up in (better: "means" or "results in") a lack of opportunities for young people without experience. However, If you are a lucky person, it is possible to get a job, but it is quite likely that the conditions, such as salary, schedule and so on, will be quite poor such as salary, schedule and so on. Apart from all these things, politicians also take place play a role? in this matter, they seem to be missing or not concerned about this major problem that surrounds us. Maybe, this is because they don't suffer the consequences, as we will explain below.

Yep!

Today

Could you correct my mistakes please?

In the last two weeks I had my first english lessons after a three-months break. I recognize again  better: once again realize that learning  a language requires much practice and regular reviewing of rules and vocabulary. Today we have been working on rounding out my CV and now it is ready for publishing on my portfolio website. Yesterday I started making my first website and it wasn't as easy as I was thinking before better: thought it would be. The main difficulty was to interlock the page with a link that I could press the button click on and go to the page. Finally, I managed it, but I'm not sure that the result is exactly what I need. I'm going to continue working on it now.

Hi, I have made and advert and I would like that someone corrects my mistakes. Thanks!

A beautiful cozy rocking chair.


Item condition: used
Starting price: $3000.00
Postage: free shipping
Payment: PayPal, Debit card or cash on delivery.


This beige rocking chair is made of resistant wood with an ottoman by Stork to relax your feet. In addition to being a beautiful rocker, it has a comfortable cushioning. Measures 65.4 cm across, 100.3 cm height and 62.9 cm depth.
This rocking chair has been used only for one month better: has only been used for one month, so the rocking chair it is in ideal conditions to be used better: excellent condition (it doesn’t include the cushion).
Selling because this rocker reminds me a lot of things that I have bought  I have too many similar items (?) and I don’t need it, so I prefer someone else give it a better use.
The rocking chair currently has a cost of $6000. 00 new. This is a great opportunity to buy it at half price. Do not think too much, buy it now!
I accept three ways to payments different forms of payment: PayPal, debit card or cash on delivery and the best part is that the free shipping shipping is free.

Nicely done! The parts crossed out are incorrect grammar, and the highlighted parts I have rephrased to sound more natural/make more sense.