A TOEFL Independent Essay: Who enjoys life more, the young or the old?

The following essay was written in 30 minutes, the time allotted to write the Independent Essay in the TOEFL. The writer, Aisse Sow, is from the Netherlands and took the TOEFL Preparation course at NYLC as she may decide to apply to U.S. universities in the future. To learn more about Aisse, visit our main blog after you read her essay below.


Young people enjoy life more than older people
by Aisse Sow

I agree with the following statement: young people enjoy life more than older people. I think young people enjoy their lives much more than older people for the following reasons. First of all, most young people have fewer responsibilities than older people. Second of all, younger people usually have more freedom than older people. And third of all, younger people have time to discover who they really are.

Most young people have (a lot) less responsibilities than older people, such as a fulltime job, children you have to take care of, maintaining good contact with your busy friends, working out, resting, keeping your house clean and the list goes on. These are all tasks and responsibilities a lot of young people have nothing to do with, yet. All the stress that comes with the responsibilities is obviously not making people happier and that is why younger people are definitely happier when it comes to this point.

A TOEFL Independent Essay: Do the young enjoy life more than the old?

This Independent Essay by Jesus De Luna was written within 30 minutes in class during a TOEFL writing task. To learn more about Jesus, please visit our main blog after reading his essay below.


Essay on who enjoys life more, the young or the old
by Jesus De Luna

Life is full of special and unforgettable things, which make it beautiful. Do all people, regardless
of their age, enjoy these things equally? Sadly, age is an important factor on this matter. Young people can get all the benefits that life offers, hence they do enjoy life more. Not only do the young have better health and more energy than the elderly, but they also have more people by their side. In addition, young people experience the diverse pleasures of life for the first time, which increases the power of these feelings.

The young have better health than the elderly. One of the main goals in any person’s life is to
acquire and maintain  good health. Unlike the elderly, the young do not need to struggle too much to lead a healthy life. Moreover, young people are less likely to suffer from some diseases that affect the elderly at a higher rate. People in their twenties are the epitome of an energetic human being. The elderly on the other hand, have less vigor as their age increases.

Johnny's reflection on life in New York

Our latest student writing posted at our main blog is from Johnny, who is from China and who has been in New York for six months now. He writes about his goals, his observations about New York, and his determination to succeed and pursue his passions. Head over to our main blog to read about it.

Thanks for the contribution, Johnny!

A student essay on urban sprawl

Read an essay written by Iris Lin, who is working on building her TOEFL-taking skills at New York Language Center. This essay is an integrated writing task where students read a short passage, listen to a short lecture on the topic, and respond to a question.

You'll find the first two paragraphs of her essay below; the full essay and Iris's background are at our main blog.

           Urban sprawl is the growth of cities in an unplanned manner. U.S. cities and towns are experiencing urban sprawl, leading to the rise of anti-sprawl movements such as New Urbanism. Urban sprawl has some negative and positive effects. In the passage, we learn about how New Urbanism principles can help solve the problems of urban sprawl.

            Urban sprawl problems include four parts. First, suburban cities grow outward and use land that should be left to nature. Second, single-family homes cause sprawl. Third, there are traffic jams between suburbs and cities. Fourth, there is lack of social interaction. For instance, in the 1990s,L.A., Atlanta, and Houston experienced urban sprawl. It is very harmful, and environmental groups such as the Sierra Club call sprawl “irresponsible,” a “cancer,” a “virus,” and misuse of the land.

For the full essay, please head over to our main blog. 

A quick note: To streamline our messages to our visitors, NYLC will now post all articles and student writings at our main blog. Please stop by for a visit and spread the word! :-)

Haiku by Felipe

I am a good person
the book is very nice
I work slowly.


That is a nice car
I love the flowers
you're a good footballer.

Living in the city is a bit difficult
I need a good job
summer is a very nice station.


Felipe Ramirez Bautista is from Mexico. He was born in Ometepee, Guerrero, near Acapulco, and moved to the United States at the age of 21.  He started working in the fields as a child to help his parents, and he has worked very hard to give a better life for his family. He is studying at New York Language Center, and he is very disciplined.  He thinks that New York Language Center teachers teach very well. He invites you to study at this school.

Accessories & Body Art in Early Civilization

Jin Feng at the American Museum of Natural History with classmates from NYLC. 

by Jin Feng

Although nowadays we have totally different cultures from each other, our ancestors had unbelievably common interests in accessories and body arts. We can discover that from the exhibition about human origins and cultures. Not matter where they were from, Africa or Asia, America or the Pacific, before they wore clothes and wrote history, they already started to make holes in their nose, earlobes, cheeks, under lips, and any place else on their body. They wore masks, necklaces, earrings, rings, bangles, belts, headgear, etc. made of bird’s feathers, animal’s bones, shells, seeds, stones and wood.

A tiramisù recipe from scratch!

Annamaria is sprinkling the finishing touches on her Tiramisù during our small
birthday party for Eliana in the TOEFL class. She shares her recipe below!

by Annamaria Malvolti

I would like to share with you a little history of tiramisù. In Italy, we have a lot of amazing desserts, but tiramisù is the one that is famous around the world as the most delicious and fancy Italian dessert. Its origin has been claimed by different Italian regions. However, it was "born" in 1970 in Treviso, in the north of Italy, from an idea of putting together simple and nutritious ingredients. Do you know what tiramisù means? It literally means "lift me up". Figuratively, it means "make me happy" or cheer me up.

These are the ingredients that we need to serve 8 people:

In EUROPEAN UNITS:
400 grams of ladyfingers
6 eggs
1 cup of espresso or coffee
120 grams of sugar
500 grams of authentic Italian mascarpone cheese
unsweetened cocoa powder

Two trays of tiramisù for Eliana's birthday!

IN AMERICAN UNITS:
400 grams of ladyfingers
6 eggs
1 cup of espresso of coffee
10 tbsp of sugar
2 1/3 cups of authentic Italian mascarpone
unsweetened cocoa powder

UTENSILS:
2 large glass bowls
1 whisk
1 soft spatula
1 deep pan casserole dish or aluminum tray for less formal occasions
colander

Now, let's get cracking and make it from scratch!

PREPARATION:

First of all, crack and separate 6 eggs, and put the yolks in one large glass bowl. Add half the sugar to the yolks and beat with a whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved. Now it is time to add the mascarpone cheese and stir it in till we have a creamy mixture of mascarpone and sugar.

In the other bowl, beat the egg whites vigorously with the rest of the sugar until it forms stiff peaks or a thick, white consistency. The result should be a white foamy mass. Now, delicately put the white foam into the bowl with the mascarpone mixture and gently mix everything together. (Remember, beating the egg whites with the sugar briskly is essential to end up with a dense consistency.)

My last days in New York

Selin hanging on to the U.S. flag in Brooklyn with her friend, Zeynep.

by Selin Tekin

Last Monday was my first whole day at home. Normally, I have really good reasons to go out, but since that day, I couldn’t find any reason to head into the city, so I decided to study for the TOEFL. First, I woke up and decided to prepare breakfast. After that, I listened to music, then I watched a sitcom. Before I knew it,  it was already 5 pm, and I decided to run in a park near our house. When I got back home, I went shopping with my cousin. As you can see, I did everything except study and the next days continued like this.

Actually, I want to talk about the one day that was different--last Saturday. First I decided to see my old classmates, and we had dinner together. Then we went to a bar to have a drink and talk about my last days here. After the bar, we wanted to go to one of our friends' birthday party in Hudson Terrace. Actually, I definitely hate nightclubs and I always say no to parties, but this time was one of my good friends' birthday and I felt obligated to go.

Problems with directions & prepositions

Selin (center) with some friends experiencing their first Holi festival in Queens. 

by Selin Tekin
TOEFL Preparation Class

These are text messages that led up to my first Holi experience.

The day before the event:
     Chris:  I can’t come tonight. There is a concert in Bushwick that I really want to see later tonight.
     Me: Ok. See you later.

Four hours later:
     Chris: Tomorrow is “Holi” in Queens.
     Me:  What is Holi?
     Chris: Indian festival where people throw colored powder at each other in a park
     (As usual, I didn’t pay attention to the details in the text.)
     Me: Seems nice. Ok I will ask my friend if she wants to see Brooklyn. We are gonna go to Brooklyn. But if she wants to see Holi we’ll go there.
     Chris: Don’t wear nice clothes!!!
     (Again I didn’t pay much attention to the text.)

The next day:
     Chris: Hey!!  You coming to Holi?
     Me:  Yes we’ll be at Port Authority at 1 pm. Seems as if we’ll be late.
     Chris: Ok take your time. We can meet at Singh’s Roti Shop. On Liberty Avenue. Last stop on the A train. A train to Lefferts Boulevard.

Writing creatively with new vocabulary

This exercise lets students write creatively using vocabulary learned and practiced in class.

by David Sanchez Redondo
TOEFL Preparation Class

A boring summer evening is the best time to rethink your life or start a new hobby. That was what Jane should have thought before opening her umpteenth can of beer. She did not even make a SUBTLE gesture of getting up from the sofa when the telephone rang, suspecting it would be her mother as it usually is every evening. The TACTICS she usually used not to speak to her were very KEEN, but deep inside she felt guilty. A few years ago, when her father passed away, she ABRUPTLY changed her personality.

Her relationships were DEBILITATING, too. She was always elusive with people and everybody thought that she was doing illicit things. Now and then, Sofia, her best friend, would try to ELICIT from her what was happening in her mind, but without success. Definitely, she had lost her SPONTANEITY and the happy personality that used to characterize her.

SUBTLE - present but not obvious
TACTIC - strategy
KEEN - sharp; strong
ABRUPTLY - happening suddenly
DEBILITATING - weakening
ELICIT - draw out; extract information
SPONTANEITY - acting without planning

Will there be fewer cars in the future?

In this independent essay for the TOEFL iBT, the writer has to agree or disagree with the statement: In twenty years, there will be fewer cars in use than there are today.

by David Sanchez Redondo
TOEFL Preparation Class

In my point of view there will be fewer cars due to two reasons. First, people will use more public transportation, or we will use more bikes or other kinds of transportation. The other reason is we will run out of oil.

Let’s start with the first reason. Most people, especially in big cities, would say that buying a car is their last option. It is expensive and there are a lot of traffic jams. This change will be noticed less in small cities obviously because there is not a good system of transportation like in big cities. Another reason that there will be fewer cars is the fact that people will use more bikes. It is a good option as long as the cities are adapted for this. London and Amsterdam are good examples of such cities. I think they are the cities of the future, and many cities look up to them. In any case, the more people take care of themselves, the more they will accept this idea.

The other reason is the limited amount of crude oil. It is well-known that someday we will run out of oil.  No doubt that when technology keeps advancing quickly, many things will be affected; one of them is cars. Realizing the fact that twenty years is not far from now (we won’t have cars flying around the cities yet).  Nevertheless, there will be an important change in this industry. Hybrids or electrics will be the cars of the future. However, because all of them will be expensive, families will only be the ones who can afford them, and each family will only be able to buy one car.

In conclusion, imagining cities with fewer cars in the next twenty years is utopist, but we do not have to lose hope. Instead, we can keep visualizing that having three or four cars for every family will indeed disappear for a better, cleaner world.

Practicing collocations

This is a creative-writing assignment to practice verb-noun collocations.

Homer is going to celebrate getting his new job at Trader Joe’s. He used to earn a living composing music in the subway. However, he allowed himself to be influenced by people who told him that he had to realize music wasn’t his future even though he thought he had already achieved great success.

by David Sanchez Redondo
TOEFL preparation class

A wish to travel to Egypt

The Reading & Writing Class recently practiced words that show contrast or surprise (EVEN THOUGH, ALTHOUGH, DESPITE, IN SPITE OF, HOWEVER, BUT, YET) and wrote a paragraph or two about a favorite activity, place, thing, et al, using these words.

Here's Isabelle Dao's paragraph about her desire to visit Egypt someday.

I love traveling around the world. In the future, I want to visit Egypt. Three days ago, I met a classmate who told me that going to Egypt now is dangerous. HOWEVER, I strongly desire to go there. Egypt is the cradle of knowledge, and I need to learn more about this civilization. EVEN THOUGH I learned the stories of this civilization at school and from books, I would like to go to Egypt, myself, with a person who knows this country very well--for example, with an Egyptian guide. EVEN THOUGH this trip will cost a lot of money, I will go to Egypt because it's a dream that I have had for several years now.

My plans and my hopes for Nepal

This article is written by Isabelle Dao, who is currently taking our Reading and Writing class at our Midtown branch. This is titled My plans and my hopes for Nepal and in it, Isabelle talks about her upcoming journey to the highest mountain in the world. This is originally posted on Isabelle's own blog Nepal From Another Viewpoint.

My plans and my hopes for my trip to Nepal:

My name is Isabelle DAO, and I've always wanted to meditate on the "roof ot the world', and this next spring I am going to Nepal. This journey is not just a simple hiking trip around Nepal but also a hiking trip within myself.  This explains the title of this blog.

Itinerary:

This journey is planned for the 20th of April 2013 for 3 weeks. The first step is our arrival at KATMANDOU. We will stay two days in a guest house managed by Mathieu RICHARD. Mathieu RICHARD is a Buddhist Monk (of French origin), photographer, and author, who graduated in Cellular Genetics and has studied with the Tibetan "Grand Masters" of Buddist Meditation. He is particularly interested in the relation between science and Buddhism. He researches the long term effects of mental discipline on the human mind at the Universities of Madison (WI), Princeton, Berkley in the United States and in Switzerland.
After our stay with Mathieu Ricard, my group and I will go to the base of Mount Everest to the East of Katmandou at about 3800 meters of altitude. This is in the Buddhist region of SOLUKHUMBU, in the Sherpa Country, which was once the high spiritual and retreat center of Nepal.

Trekking and Activities:
In the morning, we will go hiking for 3 hours and in the afternoon, we will practice the fundamental techniques of Buddhist meditation, concentration and inner vision. Different techniques will be taught including Yoga, Qi Gong, relaxation, silent walking, isolation, ayurvedic massages and discussions.

The Aim of this Trip:

The goal is physical and spiritual well-being, a return to our basic qualities and to rediscover our senses.

The Teaching: 
The teaching will be conducted by a Nepalese Lama Guide. We will take our time to listen, observe and live the experience and our encounter, as we breath in nature and breath out life. As in my own field of Sophrology, we will strive "to be aware of what we are actually living". Sophrology is the science of conciseness and the value of existence. It is a technique consisting of a set of physical and mental exercises for reducing stress and promoting well-being. 

Feeling comfortable with the energy & the spirit of ambition in NYC

by Vanessa Rueda

Vanessa (third from left) at Bryant Park in Midtown with friends from NYLC 

Today is a special day. I arrived in New York 3 years ago today. It's been a while since I move here from Colombia, and I could write a book about it, but I definitely want to mention one thing that I really love about all my experiences in this city.

On so many occasions, days, parties, business meetings, I've witnessed the rhythm of the city, from personal experiences, professional ones, tourists, friends, everything. Everyone seems obsessed with the energy of New York and of course with the opportunities found here. What I really liked about being an outsider first was being able to see this city as a big chance for success and a powerful force. Later, when you really belong here and become a real New Yorker, you understand why everybody proudly mentions all about what they do or have done in the past or even what they will do to achieve prestige or success.

I've noticed every minute of this crazy, funny and tough city as it talks about this sense of achievement. It's like a mirror or like a fragrance; you always feel it. Even in the most fragile and tough minutes, you can smell an avid aroma.

In the beginning, I didn't like this at all. I remember being in a huge party, maybe it was my first big party. I was anxious because so many people asked me the same questions: so you came to study? What do you do for a living? So you are an artist? What kind of art do you do? What are your plans?

I still remember this and felt the pressure then, but the difference is I'm different now, and I get it. These questions (even if sometimes the people who ask are too focused on themselves to listen) push you to find your own answers, to find a way in this city, to actually find yourself and to finally be able to answer these questions.

So now I'm the one who asks. I understand the aim of asking and answering. It takes so long to feel comfortable answering the same questions, but at the same time, without them, I wouldn't have felt the motivation to achieve so many skills and goals not just professionally but also personally, making tons of things, learning from all these brilliant, kind, fearful people who work hard and stay humble.

I believe that curiosity and being a fulfilled human being are both key to being a good artist.


Vanessa is a fine artist and custom jewelry designer. She has her own line of jewelry. She is also the Arts Projects Coordinator at Sunday Morning NY. She's preparing to take the TOEFL in order to apply to a Master of Fine Arts program. She wrote this on September 25, 2012, the third anniversary of her first day in New York.

Visiting a Brooklyn art exhibit

by Marina Milone

I went to an interesting exhibition in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, on Friday night, July 20. Philipp Rabovsky, a teacher at NYLC and about ten other artists were showing their paintings in their house.

Philipp in rougher times

The title of the exhibition was Sweet Fuckups and Happy Accidents. All the paintings talked about accidents in different ways. The most impressive painting was Philipp's because it showed his face when he had an accident in Budapest. The painting represented his face completely destroyed with one eye dark and closed, and he had scars with blood all over his face. When I asked him about his self portrait, he told me the story.

He was in Budapest to learn Hungarian, which he can now speak fluently, and one night, he got drunk. He was walking on the street and suddenly bumped into a group of guys who screamed at him. He instinctively gave them the finger and immediately the gang started to beat him quite violently. He had a tooth broken and suffered some internal hemorrhaging, so now when he drinks he gets a huge headache. When it happened, a friend of his took some pictures and then he was able to make the self-portrait. Now he is ok, and I think the painting is great!

Most of the other paintings talked about accidents during the process of painting. There were two curators of the exhibition. It was interesting to see a show in a real Brooklyn house, and the fact that anyone could enter the house and enjoy the exhibit was quite amazing. Actually, the door was open to everybody.  I was also thrilled that I could see an artistic lifestyle in Brooklyn.

the venue

the exhibition

Marina, who is studying journalism, is taking the TOEFL class at NYLC. She will soon take the TOEFL and travel around the U.S. before heading back to Italy. Thanks, Marina, for checking out the exhibit and for showing us Philipp's artistic side.

My favorite holiday in Kazakhstan

by Yevgeniya Khatskevich

There are many holidays in my country; among them are Easter, Trinity, New Year's Day, Christmas, Nauryz, the Feast of Unity of the Peoples of Kazakhstan, Victory Day, Day of the Capital, Constitution Day, Independence Day of Kazakhstan, International Women's Day, and Days of the Defenders of the Fatherland (on February 23 and May 7). These are formal holidays. Informal ones consist of Halloween, Valentine's Day, the Old New Year and others.

Each holiday has special meaning and reasons for celebrating. Actually, I like all holidays in my country because most of them are days off, which means that you don't have to go to work, and you can do whatever you want for fun. You can celebrate in traditional or non traditional ways. Holidays are rare times of the year when you can just enjoy life. They are times to stop and take a deep breath before work begins to drive you crazy again.

The holiday which I like more than the others is International Women's Day or the 8th of March. Of course, my first reason for loving this day is that I’m a woman. It's very pleasant to receive presents, flowers, and hear wonderful words addressed to you. In addition, you get a lot of attention from men. But hello, they do it because they have to do it, so it's no big deal.

Actually, the main reason why I like this day is my mom because it's another chance to tell her about my love and respect for her and to say thanks for having me and for raising me to become who I am today. When I was a child I made presents for my mother by myself. We did it in preschool and in kindergarten. We drew cards and made albums; we learned short poetry and read it for our mothers. All the words that we wrote in the cards or read were about love and words of thanks. It was a very beautiful time. I haven't made presents since I was a child. Instead, I buy them. But the point of my presents is still like it was in childhood: to say “I love you, mom, and thank you."

We all grow up, and our lives become very busy with all our very important to-do lists; we forget to say very important words to very important people in our lives. I think this is the point of many holidays: just to stop, take a deep breath and remember the people in our lives. The 8th of March is one of these special days.

Telling a story with new vocabulary!

When I talked on the phone with my friend, my sister often interrupted me, so I blamed her because I couldn't concentrate on what my friend and I were talking about. My sister and I talked about resolving the issue by not going to each other's room when one of us was talking on the phone with someone. This would benefit us because then we won't have to argue. I want to avoid being interrupted when I talk on the phone.

submitted by Hye Han Lee
class: Contemporary Topics 1

More vocabulary practice!

1. I don't want to give my doggy snacks more than three per day, but I always give in to my dog when he looks up at me with eager eyes.
2. If I don't get enough sleep, I can't concentrate in class.
3. He blames God for destroying his house during the tsunami.
4. The Libyan militia resolved the Libyan civil war by killing Gadhafi.

submitted by Sky Hanseul Lee
class: Contemporary Topics 1

Practicing English with more vocabulary

1. I'm trying to avoid smoking.
2. My boss has a positive approach for my career. I think I’ll move up in the company.
3. If I like the circumstances, I will accept that job.
4. My brother and I are having a conflict because he doesn’t agree with my ideas.
5. This year two major companies made an agreement. They are first-class manufacturers of carpet fabric.
6. I should concentrate more because I made a lot of mistakes in the last exam.
7. If you often interrupt your brother, he will get angry.
8. I don’t want to live with you. I have resolved to move to a different home.
9. I like your studying technique; I think I will apply it, myself.
10. I don’t want to confer with you; you broke my heart.

submitted by Deniz Atasever
class: Contemporary Topics 1