Speaker A. Of course, everybody knows that we need to live and learn. That’s the point of going to schools or universities. But I seriously think that no teacher or professor can make you take in the information if you don’t feel like it. You need to be motivated and you shouldn’t just hope professors will teach you everything. You need to make some effort too. I guess that’s the essence of self-⁠education  — relying only on yourself while studying.

Speaker B. My parents say self-⁠education is a great thing and I tend to agree with them. I remember when I was a child, I would be surprised every time my mom or dad answered a quiz question or did a crossword. I asked them where they had got it from and they said they had learnt a lot because they had read many books  — not the books you have to read but books they simply wanted to read. Now I know the basis of self-⁠education is to be on good terms with books.

Speaker C. With Internet access in every home, I don’t see any point of going to school or entering a university. You can educate yourself taking online courses, reading books and research papers. You can visit practically any museum and see and read about their exhibits, and you can watch documentaries and other educational programs. I think this way you can learn much more than while sitting in a stuffy lecture hall listening to teachers.

Speaker D. I know self-⁠education has many advantages, but honestly it’s not for me. You need to be organized and disciplined for self-⁠education, but I’m not like that at all. I’m lazy and I’ll never do an exercise if it’s not officially announced as homework by our teacher. I do what my teachers tell me to do and I’m happy to have their guidance. Moreover, having teachers means they are somehow responsible for your education and that’s good news for me.

Speaker E. I guess self-⁠education now is a must for everyone who wants to be a real pro. I mean if you’ve graduated from a university  — even if you’ve graduated with honours  — it doesn’t mean you know everything that is necessary to do your job effectively. To be a good specialist you need to learn all the time, look through online publications concerning your job and so on. Graduation shouldn’t be a full stop in your professional development.

Speaker F. I think self-⁠education is fun. It’s so flexible compared with schools, scheduled lectures and things like that. I like to impress my classmates with some quote they’ve never heard or some anecdote they don’t know. It’s not so difficult to do it, you just need to be alert  — it can be some news item on the radio or on TV or a post on Facebook. There are so many opportunities for self-⁠education and it doesn’t even have to be for school!