One of us was taught in high school that “like” should not precede an example:
“I saw many fruits like oranges and apples and pears” supposedly meant “I saw many fruits THAT HAD A DISTINCT RESEMBLANCE TO oranges and apples and pears (but I didn’t actually see any oranges and apples and pears.”
“I saw many fruits, SUCH AS oranges and apples and pears” was correct.
Nobody listened to this rule back in high school, and few care about it today – though “such as” sounds slightly more formal and some style guides still do not admit “like” in place of “such as.”
Slovenian students often ignore “such as” altogether and instead write “like” all the time, which is, like, annoying.
Next time you write an essay, search through for “like” and see if you can use “such as” to add some variety.
Jason Blake and Monika Kavalir