Week 1 A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO WRITING IN ENGLISH FOR UNIVERSITY STUDY

Think about the essay title from this week:

“Discuss the differences between the way of life in your country now and the way of life in the past”

Choose one idea of how life in your country now is different from the past. Think of some examples or details to support your point. Write one paragraph about this change and post it in the discussion below.

Once you have written your paragraph, read through some posts by other participants. Is life in their country similar to your own, or is it different? Leave a comment about the differences, similarities and paragraph organisation.

Remember, you can ‘Like’ and reply to other learners’ comments and don’t forget to take a look at your Replies to see if anyone has responded to your comments.

China is probably one of the countries which developed in past few decades. I was born in the early 1980's, then I will compare the lifestyles now and then from my own perspective.

First thing first, the material life has been enriched considerably.

I still remember the small room my family lived in when I was young, nor kitchen or bathroom. We three share the same bed, and I occasionally ended up on the floor in the morning. A few pieces of furniture, only one desk and some cabinets, and a big tape-recorder. TV was a real luxury then, there was only one in the entertainment room for all staff in that department.

Now my parents own a big house on my home town with big kitchen and nice bathrooms and all along with whole bunch of furnitures and modern electronic equipments.

Secondly, the spiritual life has changed tremendously as well, although it usually insidious.

News was broadcast mainly by newspapers, and radios. Books were the most common carrier of the new knowledge and reading was the main activity people spent their spare time. People really read those word over and over until they could recite them and understood more behind the words.

Nowadays, thanks to the internet, the information overloading might become a real problem. News and words could get spread all over the world in minutes even seconds, but you can not tell if it is the truth.

People's relationship has adapted as well. One can interact with someone in the other side of the world via SNS services, while he/she may never say hello to his/her neighbors. Friends get a reunion, but nothing to share, just to post a new picture on instagram.

Those remind me the old days, when we wrote to each other when we get separated, and went for a bicycle riding picnic, sharing the personal interesting experience when all get together.

Anyway, I'm glad to get involved in such tremendous processes, which gives me a rich experience.