Hi everyone,

I have an ESL exam at the end of this semester and I am currently on holidays, so i'm preparing for exams so im doing practice exams. I need someone to check what i wrote for errors. Please, can people also suggest improvements to the structure or anything you wouldn't do for any reason, weather it be that it makes it sound better or more complex or whatever. Below are the two things i would like to be checked. The first is an essay (very short ~ 500 words) and the second is a letter (extremely short ~ 100 words). Thankyou very much:

Essay - Should online learning be encouraged?

Online learning is becoming more and more popular and has helped many students, however encouraging it might not be the best option for some subjects. There are several advantages, such as that is overcomes social and geographical barriers, and disadvantages, such as the inability to teach some subjects online, the students not communicating with the teachers face-to-face and the costs being very high. These disadvantages will be discussed and based on them it will be decided if online learning should be encouraged or discouraged.

There are numerous advantages of online learning online. Firstly, students who were shy can now ask questions. Many students complained about being shy from asking questions in class becauyse they were afraid of looking stupid. With online learning, students can post questions online and it will not be a problem because the teacher would know.

Another advantage of online learning is that is overcomes geographical barriers. Many students live long distances away from their school. Online learning now allows students to study from home. Also, students who can not go to school because there is no school nearby and have to travel for hours to go to school, now have access to education provided they have an internet connection. All these advantages of online learning encourage the use of online learning.

Even though there are several advantages of online learning, there are also several disadvantages. Firstly, not all subjects can be studied online. These subjects are subjects which require laboratory equipment. An example of such a subject is Chemistry or Physics. For students to do practicals, which is likely to occur, students will require laboratory equipment. This limits the ability to learn online.

Another disadvantage of online learning is that students do not meet teachers face to face, but rather have to email teachers to ask questions. This is inconvenient as students do not receive a reply to their questions instantly, but have to wait.

Another disadvantage of online learning is that is is costly. This is because teachers have to be trained to use the new software and new software and courses have to be developed or bought. There are also the added costs due to the added difficulty of administrating, timetabling and communicating. All these significant disadvantages discourage the use of online learning.

Online teaching offers many advantages, such as it overcoming social and geographical barriers. It also has several disadvantages, however. Some of these are that not all subjects can be taught online, students can not communicate with teachers face-to-face and that it will be costly. Since these disadvantages are significant, online teaching should not be encouraged for primarily the sciences as they require equipment which is not available through the internet, such as laboratory equipment. For subjects which can be taught online, however, online learning should be encouraged.

Letter - A letter based on an image of a congested airport terminal.

Dear Mr. Jones,

I am writing this letter to inform you that I will be arriving late to the interview today.

I am currently waiting in the airport because our flight has been delayed due to an unknown reason. I am anticipating that it is a technical issue with the plane, however we have not been told the reason for the delay. I have prepared all the papers which you have asked me to bring and I am ready to go to the interview. I apologise for any inconvenience. We could re-schedule the interview to tomorrow five p.m. If this is not a possibility then please do not hesitate to call me so that we can arrange a time for the interview. My phone number is 0402503200. Thank you for understanding the situation which I am in.

Yours sincerely,

Firstname Lastname (Mr.)