Student writing for G.B.C.—What is your favorite TV show and why?

By Di on July 20 2019

Students at the English Farm write some amazing G.B.C. test answers, and we like to share the best of the best.

This piece has had minor corrections by a teacher, but the logic, structure, and word choice are the student's.

Today's question:

 What is your favorite TV show and why?

My favorite TV show is "Find a Japanese in the corner of the world", which is a kind of documentary program. A TV reporter travels to very rural areas to find a Japanese person who lives there. For example, in the last program, the reporter found a Japanese lady who lives in the mountains in Thailand with Thai people, and she has taught them weaving so that they can earn money by selling their products. In another episode, there was a man who has lived in a rural area in Nepal for a long time in order to teach the locals about agriculture. I like this show because I can see many people who have lived in very different situations facing a lot of difficult issues and struggling to overcome them. Their life doesn't look easy at all, but they look satisfied. Whenever I watch this program, I am re-energized through their way of living. If I built a private school in a rural area somewhere in Asia, the crew of this TV show might come and visit me to interview me in the future!

I really like this answer. Why do I like it so much? Because the student describes a TV show I’ve never seen so well that I completely understand how the show works and why the student likes it. This is a very descriptive argument, with lots of specific details.

We hear about two different episodes of the show with just enough information to give us a clear picture of them. In the first one, we’re in Thailand; in the second, we're in Nepal. I can see that this TV show takes you to all sorts of different places to watch people do very different things, which the student—and surely listener or reader—find fascinating.

The other thing I like about it is the excellent reasoning and conclusion, both of which make me want to watch the show. The student is “re-energized” and inspired to create a life where maybe they’ll be on the show in the future! I love that. And it sounds like I would also love this show—I’ll have to see if I can find it on the internet.