Category: Class

Reasons We Don’t Call in Sick

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Most of us can choose to go on as many sick leaves as we want but for some reasons, we decide not to take advantage of this work benefit.

This BBC article offers explanations as to why many people choose to still go to work even if they are already very ill.

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20161101-the-reasons-we-dont-call-in-sick-when-we-are-ill

Discussion Questions:
1. Kindly name some reasons why people choose not to take a time off of work when sick.
2. Have you ever gone to work even if you were very sick? If yes, Why did you do it? If not, why so?
3. Do you think “Working on sick leave, weekends and vacations has become the norm”?
4. How is absenteeism rate monitored in your company?
5. Talk about leaves (vacation and sick days) in your country.

English Idioms

B2 – Upper intermediate

The use of expressions, phrasal verbs and idioms are one of many ways to increase vocabulary.

The module below will serve as your study guide for expanding your vocabulary through idioms. Feel free to go through the module in sections or chapters and be ready to use them in sentences.

English Idioms

Discuss:
1. When was the last time you were under the weather and had to stay home?
2. Describe a time you were over the moon? What happened?
3. Do you sometimes get butterflies in your stomach?
4. Talk about a time you bought something that cost you an arm and a leg.

Less Stuff, More Happiness

C1 – Advanced

Can having less material things in a room lead to more happiness?
Watch this 5-minute video to get the answer and tips on how you can edit your life.

Discuss:
1. Fill in the blank: In 2013, American homes were about ________ bigger than they were in the 1950’s and 60’s.
2. To which has the accumulation of “stuff” led to in the past 50 years?
3. Discuss the 3 rules mentioned in the video.
4. In your personal life, how can you practice “less is more”?
5.  What is the most important reason to edit your life?

Business Podcast – Selling Nostalgia

B2 – Upper intermediate

There are many things that one considers when buying certain products. Is connection to tradition something that makes you buy a product?

In this lesson, listen to the podcast and discover how some producers use tradition as a marketing campaign.

Discussion Questions:
1. How are traditions used as a means to make people buy some products?
2. What are the factors you consider when you are buying a product?
3. Talk about one product / service offered by your company. How would you sell it to someone?
4. Do you follow New Year’s Eve traditions like drinking Spanish champagne and eating 12 pieces of grapes?

Ways To Drive Traffic To Your Website

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Almost everyone in the world is on the world wide web nowadays. Doing business online has never been more important for businesses in offering their products and services and for reaching out to their target markets.

Read the article below and be ready to answer the questions that follow.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertadams/2017/04/10/23-proven-ways-to-drive-traffic-to-your-website/?sh=668d84ec2654

Discussion Questions:
1. What do you think of Jeff’s idea to compete against yourself? Do you think this would work?
2. What are the benefits and drawbacks for a business to go online?
3. Does your company do business over the internet?
4. What features do you look for in a website when doing some transactions?
5. How do online businesses make the market competitive?

Migrants Storm Border in Spain’s Ceuta

B2 – Upper Intermediate

African migrants usually climb the fence that separates Morocco from Spain. If someone manages to scale those fences, he lands in Europe. Tens of thousands of African and Arab migrants try to do so each year. Many have traveled hundreds of miles already, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, but also from conflict zones like Syria or Somalia.

https://www.thelocal.es/20161101/over-200-migrants-storm-border-in-spains-ceuta

Discussion Questions:

1. Is immigration from one country to another a problem? In what ways do you see it as a problem?
2. Do you think that immigrants (legal or illegal) are treated well in most countries?
3. Do you think immigration and crime are closely related?
4. Should any government limit the number of immigrants entering the country?
5. Is local culture threatened by immigration?

No More Homework!

B2 – Upper Intermediate

For years, schools have always given homework to students every single day. But recently, school officials, as well as parents, are saying no to more homework. A group of parents in Spain have recently gone on strike to protest their children’s school load.

No more homework! Spanish parents go on strike

Children have long complained about homework but parents in Spain are now joining in and have decided to go on strike against their offspring’s school load for the whole month of November.

Called by the Spanish Alliance of Parents’ Associations (CEAPA), a network that covers some 12,000 state schools across the country, the strike targets weekend homework for primary and high school students.

Jose Luis Pazos, president of the CEAPA, told AFP Wednesday parents had launched the unprecedented initiative due to “the absolute certainty that homework is detrimental” to children, damaging their extra-curricular development.

According to a 2012 PISA education report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Spain was the fifth nation with the most homework after Russia, Italy, Ireland and Poland out of 38 countries studied, with 6.5 hours a week compared to an average of 4.9.

The workload does not necessarily translate in better results for Spanish students, whom the PISA report traditionally gives low scores in maths, reading and science.

By contrast, in Finland and South Korea — two of the countries with best student performances according to PISA — the average time spent on homework every week was less than three hours.

Pazos said that education in Spain was still very reliant on the traditional method of rote-learning — memorising work.  

Pointing to the availability of information in current society, he said that “what we have to teach children isn’t to memorise everything, but how to manage information, to be critical, to select what is worth it and what isn’t.”  

“Society has changed deeply, but the environment in the classroom hasn’t.”

Discussion Questions:

1. What do you think of the article?
2. Are you for or against giving homework to students?
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of giving homework to students?
4. What was the most difficult homework you had to do when you were still a student?

Native English Speakers are World’s Worst Communicators

C1 – Advanced

Misunderstandings between native English Speakers and ESL speakers happen more often than you think. There happens to be a certain comprehension between two ESL speakers as compared to a non-native and a native speaker.

Read the article below then express your thoughts. Share some of your experiences as well.

Native English Speakers are the World’s Worst Communicators

Discuss:

1. Have you ever been in a situation where you are in a group listening to a native English speaker and everyone is unsure of the message?
2. Do you ever nod in agreement even if you don’t understand what the person is saying?
3. Do you understand non-native English speakers easier than native English speakers?
4. Do you know any other English abbreviations like ‘OOO’ (out of the office)?
5. Which do you find easier to understand, US English or UK English?

Self-Driving Electric Delivery Trucks

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Here’s a short article about how technology in driving is getting more and more advanced. Read the article below then express your thoughts about it.

http://fortune.com/2017/12/07/anheuser-busch-tesla-semi-trucks/

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think there still should be a human passenger to monitor driver-less vehicles?
2. Do you think having driver-less vehicles will be a positive or negative thing in the long run?
3. Do you know if there have been any testing of driver-less vehicles in your country or laws passed to allow them?

Breakfast: The Power Hour for Success

coffee shop scence with London red bud behind in window. Image shot 2008. Exact date unknown.

C1 – Advanced

It is a well-known fact that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But to some business people, breakfast time is not just for meals. It’s also for meetings.

Read the article below to find out the benefits of having morning meetings and the right time to have after-hours meetings.

Breakfast is the real power hour for success

Discuss:

1. According to the article, what are the benefits of having meetings early in the morning?
2. Do you agree with the points mentioned in the article?
3. How often do you have meetings at work? What time do you usually have them?
4. What is the most productive time for you at work? Are you a morning person or an evening person?