Success at School vs Success in Life

C1 – Advanced

We were often told that we should do well at school as it is the ultimate security in life. Everyone seems to want it so that in time, they’ll have a suitable and comfortable house, career, business, and respect from others.

However, at some point, confusion strikes as we know or meet people who have done pretty well at school but unfortunately failed in life or vice versa.

To understand further, take a look at this video.



Discussion Questions:

  1. Does school assure success in life? Explain your stand.
  2. Do grades determine success in life? Explain your position.
  3. How has school curricular designed and evolved through time?
  4. What are the two tricky things mentioned in this video to have a good life? Do you agree or disagree with it? Why?
  5. What is important to succeed in school and in life?
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8 replies on “Success at School vs Success in Life”

Does school assure success in life?
School doesn’t assure success in life because it only teaches a few things about life and some of them are wrong.

Do grades determine success in life? Explain your position.
I think grades doesn’t determine success in life because they not measure the necessary skills to triumph in life such building good relationships with others or managing emotions and being more sensitive.

How has school curricular designed and evolved through time?
School curricular has been designed by people who has no real experience in the real world beyond the academics e.g. monks in a monastery.

What are the two tricky things mentioned in this video to have a good life? Do you agree or disagree with it? Why?
The two tricky things are being a good boy/girl for twenty years and not believing blindly what you are told so. I agree with this because I think that successful people must have the ability to think by themselves.

What is important to succeed in school and in life?
As I said before, I think it is very important being able to think by myself and not believe blindly in what other people say, even when they have more experience than me.
In order to succeed, mandatory skills are being good at dealing with people and have constancy.

Welcome to the Phone English blog! It is a pleasure to see you practicing your writing skills through this platform.

Now, here is another way to write this sentence:

As I said before, I think it is very important being able to think by myself and not believe blindly in what other people say, even when they have more experience than me.

As I said before, I think it is very important for me to be able to think by myself and to not blindly believe in what other people are saying, even if they have more experience than me.

Keep up the good job! Until your next entries!

I think it is more complex than it seems. Success in life (for me) means being happy with myself and with the activities that I do, it doesn´t matter if I earn a lot or few money. Success is to have a balance between your different activities or parts of your life, it is: the family, the job, the money, the healthy, your body, etc., etc. So, be good at school or not don´t warranty the success in life, but of course that it helps. At school the people learn a lot of things that in some time of our lives could help to do or enhance what we are doing.

Thank you for continuing your writing practice through this exercise. Great efforts!

Here is one sentence you can still revise:

Success in life (for me) means being happy with myself and with the activities that I do, it doesn´t matter if I earn a lot or few money.

For me, success in life means being happy with myself and with the activities that I do. It doesn´t matter whether I earn a lot or little money.

Happy writing!

Does school assure success in life? I do not think so. what do we consider as a success in life? In general, it is related to whether money or political status. If it is our vision about success, there is not doubt that school is a basic pillar to achieve it. In contrast , I consider success in life connected with happiness.
Do grades determine success in life?
If you are a competitive person, it will payback in the short term. However grades will not teach you how to cope with frustration or loneliness.
How has school curricular designed and evolved through time?
I think it has evolved positively. The curricular design, al least in Spain, has been influenced by political issues (language, history, religion…), whenever political issues has been aside, there have been progress. Therefore, it is vital maintain education as neutral as possible.
What are the two tricky things mentioned in this video to have a good life? Do you agree or disagree with it? Why?
They recommended, being a good boy or girl for 20 years and being inwardly rebellious at the same time. I agree, you need to listen what the system wants you to learn ( there are a lot of valid things) but you need to develop your own ideas, not believe in everything that they tell you.
What is important to succeed in school and in life?
I dare say that you should show you as you are, do not pretend to be what society wants you to be.

Welcome to the Phoneenglish blog! We really appreciate your efforts writing your answers down.

Take a look at how you can improve this sentence here with a more accurate word choice:

In general, it is related to whether money or political status.

In general, it is related to either money or political status.

Looking forward to more entries from you!

Does school assure success in life? Explain your stand.
I don´t think school assure success in life. You can success at school but not have some necessary skills for having success in life.

Do grades determine success in life? Explain your position.
I know some people who were good students but when they started their adult lives, they couldn´t deal with other people or manage their emotions and they had great problems. Knowing how to choose the right job and to form satisfactory relationships.

How has school curricular designed and evolved through time?
In Spain students must memorize a lot of things and I think that it could be better to learn through projects, dealing with other people, working in teams, giving their own opinion. It´s also very important self-knowledge.

What are the two tricky things mentioned in this video to have a good life? Do you agree or disagree with it? Why?
The two tricky things mentioned are to be a good boy or girl for 20 years and don´t believe blindly what teachers tell you to study.

What is important to succeed in school and in life?
Be outwardly obedient and inwardly rebellious.

You were able to write your responses well.

To improve this: Knowing how to choose the right job and to form satisfactory relationships., there needs to be a predicate.

So, it is better to write it this way:

Knowing how to choose the right job and to form satisfactory relationships are difficult for them.

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