IELTS Speaking Part 2 & 3 Topic: Describe a course you would like to study (or, do).

Digital technology has reshaped the world in more than one way during the last decade. As a result, a new way of living and working has also prevailed among people, especially Millennials. If you’ve heard about “digital nomad” – a work-from-anywhere kind of employee, you already know how a specific digital skillset can improve and simplify your life, which is why I take great interest in and set Photoshop – one of the most powerful graphic design tool to be my next challenge to conquer.

Being known as an incredible image editing program, Photoshop has earned its reputation for good reasons. Created and maintained by Adobe, Photoshop provides users with a complete and advanced tool set to maximize their creativity. It can do anything regarding online media, for example, creating 3D images, resizing, color correction and even editing video. Fancy as it sounds, to acquire Photoshop skill would be a painstaking process. Due to complex features and even more complex applications, Photoshop is not for those without patience and constant practice. Furthermore, the program usually gets updated with more usages, therefore, you would have to keep learning to avoid being obsolete.

Graphic design is a critical skill in this digital era which affords anyone flexibility as well as attractive income. Therefore, it would definitely be on top of my must-learn skill in the near future. Actually, I have already schedule my timetable and squeeze in some hours for Photoshop 101 course for next month and I hope it would go as well as it could be.

1. Should schools teach both arts and science?

Arts and science play equal roles in human development, hence, I don’t see no reason that schools shouldn’t include both in their teaching curriculum. While science provides interesting facts and implications of how it improves our life through the advent of technology and hundreds of other inventions, arts deliver mental messages and benefits to our better understanding of how people entertained in the past and reflect the spiritual lives of our ancestors. Both offer us insights to fully consider human beings and the environment around as they truly are, giving us the best of both world.

Curriculum (noun) any programme or plan of activities

Reflect (verb) to show the existence or nature of something

2. What kinds of courses are useful for university students?

Courses in university should be practical and constantly updated in terms of knowledge and pedagogical approach to provide students with applicable skills and hands-on experience in preparation for work life. Lots of graduates are lacking certain kinds of skills to advance in their career path such as communication, problem solving, time management and analytical thinking. For that reason, it is worth considering making these skills an official course for university students to be well-prepared before entering real working environment.

Pedagogical (adj) academic; advanced

Hands-on experience (phrase) training involves you doing something rather than just reading about it or watching other people do it

3. Why do some students dislike studying at school?

I think it came as no surprise that some students don’t enjoy going to school. This can be explained by the fact that lots of students are being bullied at school by their peers and too afraid to speak up, which only has detrimental effects on their physical and mental health. Another possibility might be the heavy workload students have to deal with every night. Teachers tend to assign more homework than they used to, hence, kids feel more pressure and depressed that they would be grounded or get detention unless they finish them all.

Workload (noun) the amount of work that a person or organization has to do

4. What school activities are good for schoolchildren?

As children are hyperactive and at the age of exploration and discovery, it would be best to have them engaged in outdoor and social activities rather than in-class ones only. One of the most common extracurricular activities is camping or picnicking, which helps boost up kids’ engagement with their classmates, raise awareness about environment issue as well as introduce them to the world outside the four walls. In addition, school trips to local museums and zoos can contribute substantially to their general knowledge with hands-on experience instead of theories, exclusively.

Hyperactive (adj) very active and finding it difficult to concentrate or relax

Hands-on experience (phrase) training involves you doing something rather than just reading about it or watching other people do it