Quality and Quantity II

As I said yesterday, "effective" and "efficient" are often confused. The basic meaning of "effective" is "does a good job," so you can use this for things which improve the performance. My strategies for TOEFL speaking are much more effective than speaking "templates," for example. That's why my students' scores are higher than the scores of students at other schools.


On the other hand, "efficient" refers to things that conserve a resource. Time, money, etc. are limited resources, and anything that saves time or money can be considered "efficient."


Here's an example: I live in Makuhari and work near Tokyo Station. Coming by car or train are equally effective ways of traveling between home and work (unless there is an earthquake and the trains stop. Then a car is more effective). But trains are a more efficient way of traveling to work because they are faster and maybe cheaper.


Please use English well!