Category: Class

Spikes Stop People Sleeping in the Streets

B1 – Intermediate

Over the last year, many buildings have installed “anti-homeless” spikes like these to stop people sleeping in the streets. The spikes are appearing in major cities such as London and Manchester, outside shops and under bridges where homeless people usually sleep.

The shops and businesses believe that when homeless people sleep near their buildings, this gives a bad impression to customers and it might stop people entering the buildings.

These spikes were installed outside Selfridges, a luxury department store in Manchester, on the 1st December last year.

The store says it has installed these spikes because customers have complained that people who sat here smoked and left litter. This made the front of the shop look ugly.

The phenomenon of “defensive architecture” such as this is very controversial. Over 3,000 people have signed a petition to remove the spikes from Selfridges saying that these spikes are “inhumane” and that they will not help solve the problem of homelessness in the UK. It will only move the problem to a different place.

The Guardian newspaper says that this type of architecture is a type of apartheid: it stops homeless people living in public places. It makes them invisible to the rest of society.

The UK is not the only country to install “anti-homeless” architecture. Spikes are also used in China. In New York City a famous bookstore has used water sprinklers to get rid of homeless people from the front of the shop.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your opinion about “defensive architecture”?
  2. Why is “defensive architecture” a controversial issue?
  3. What do you think can be done about homelessness in general?

Spain Sets New Rules for Airbnb

B1 – Intermediate

Airbnb connects people looking to have their homes rented with those who are trying to find a place to stay in specific locations. Airbnb offers its users a lot of options on different kinds of houses or properties and a stress-free way for house or apartment owners to make money by renting out their property.

However, Airbnb’s popularity has not come without any problems in some countries and their governments are quick to respond.

Read the article below on the new set of rules in Spain on Airbnb rentals.

In Barcelona and Madrid, Airbnb hosts will be required to register the rental property with the city government before listing it. New York and Paris already use this rule.

Spanish provinces are cracking down on Airbnbs. They have put in place several new rules that will limit the number of Airbnb rentals in Spanish cities including Barcelona, Madrid, Mallorca, Valencia, and Andalusia.

In Madrid, the city has proposed a rule (it’s not law yet) that would limit apartments to be rented only 90 days out of the year. It would also require that every property in the city center have a separate entrance for Airbnb guests. This proposal came after Madrid natives protested against tourists, saying that Airbnb has caused the city to have a lot more tourists. Some also believe that housing prices went up since Airbnb became so popular. With these new rules, 95% of Madrid’s existing Airbnbs would become illegal.

In Palma de Mallorca and Ibiza, the rules have already become laws. Starting July, only houses, no apartments, will be allowed to be rented out as an Airbnb. In addition, every property must be registered. As of right now, only 700 out of 20,000 properties are correctly registered. Airbnb is expected to remove illegal listings from the site. This means that a lot of people who rented properties in July and August will lose their reservations.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your opinion about the new rules set for Airbnb rentals?
  2. What is your opinion on this: “With these new rules, 95% of Madrid’s existing Airbnbs would become illegal.”?
  3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of putting up properties on platforms like Airbnb for rental?
  4. Have you used Airbnb before? What are the good and bad things about using it to book accommodations? If you haven’t, are you interested to try it out?
  5. What kind of accommodations do you prefer when you travel and why?

Things That Should Never Be In Your Bedroom

B2 – Upper Intermediate

A full night’s sleep is basically important for health. In actuality, it is just as essential as eating healthy and exercising. However, there are factors that interfere with natural sleep patterns, and as a matter of fact, they are found just right inside our bedrooms.

View the gallery to know what’s not to keep there.

https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/organizing-tips/g3745/things-to-throw-out-your-bedroom/

Discussion Questions:

  1. Describe what your room looks like. What are important things that you should have there and what are those that you keep out?
  2. What do you think your bedroom says about your personality?
  3. If you could give your room a makeover, what would you put and remove from it?

Children Benefit from Learning a Foreign Language

B2 – Upper intermediate

More young people are studying abroad and traveling the globe than ever before. Schools, teachers, and even parents are stressing to children, teenagers, college students, and young adults the importance of opening one’s mind to learning about and embracing other cultures, and the perspective and enrichment it brings to one’s life.

The majority of us who took a foreign language course for a couple of years in high school – and perhaps even college – might remember a few words or phrases here and there, but most likely the language never quite took root, and after your brief vacation in France or Spain or Japan, your brain quickly dumped the information.

Children who grow up learning a foreign language from a young age – starting as early as three years old- benefit tremendously. Children’s brains are able to soak in a foreign language at an impressive rate. Not only that, but they are essentially able to learn to speak the language perfectly and without an accent.

Here are our Top 5 Reasons Your Child Will Benefit from Learning a Foreign Language

1. Better Linguistics

Exposing a child to a foreign language at an early age (as early as 3 years old) will result in much easier and better fluency than if they learn later in life. Ever heard of children referred to as “sponges”? That statement couldn’t be more accurate when it comes to a child learning a foreign language. Children’s brains are developmentally ready to accept and learn a foreign language, and fluency comes fairly easily, rapidly, and without accent.

Between ages 8 and 12, your child will lose the ability to hear and reproduce new sounds as they did when they were younger, making foreign language acquisition not impossible, but more difficult.

2. Cognitive Benefits

Research shows that language learning is more cognitive than linguistic. Here are just a few of the cognitive benefits to learning a foreign language:

  • the concept of “object permanence” develops at a younger age
  • better problem solving skills
  • better critical thinking skills
  • more creativity
  • better flexibility of mind
  • enhanced memory
  • better multi-tasking abilities

3. Higher Academic Achievement

Along the same lines of the cognitive benefits mentioned above, learning a foreign language can also provide academic benefits. Bilingual children have been shown to have better critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, and greater mental flexibility. All these things result in better academic performance.

Bilingual students have been shown to have higher math skills and standardized test scores (including SAT). And, contrary to popular belief, not only does learning a foreign language not inhibit the child’s English language proficiency, it enhances and improves it!

4. Cultural Enrichment

Every conscientious parents wants their children to be well-rounded, to have a love for learning and an appreciation for other cultures, and to grow up to be a successful, contributing member of society.

Learning a foreign language opens doors that would not otherwise be opened. Bilingual (or trilingual) individuals have access to resources, people, places, and things that the rest of us do not. Not only can a foreign language provide a competitive edge in the workforce, but it creates a deeper understanding of and appreciation for humanity and culture, which enriches one’s life and personal experiences in the world.

5. Societal Contributions

Want your child to change the world? All parents can relate to that. We have high hopes and dreams for our children – not only for our own pride in them, but for the betterment of society and the world at large.

According to this article by the Nanduti project:

Americans who are fluent in more than one language can enhance America’s economic competitiveness abroad, maintain its political and security interests, and work to promote an understanding of cultural diversity within the United States. For example, international trade specialists, overseas media correspondents, diplomats, airline employees, and national security personnel need to be familiar with other languages and cultures to do their jobs well. Teachers, healthcare providers, customer service representatives, and law enforcement personnel also serve their constituencies more effectively when they can reach across languages and cultures. Developing the language abilities of the students now in school will improve the effectiveness of the work force later.” (Benefits of Being Bilingual by Kathleen M. Marcos)

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you agree with some or all of the reasons mentioned in the article?
  2. Are there any disadvantages to children learning a foreign language at an early age?
  3. Would you let your child learn a new language at an early age? Why or why not?
  4. What language or languages would you like your child to learn? Why?

Should Animals Be Used in Laboratory Testing?

B2 – Upper intermediate

Research on living animals has been practiced for a long time. Millions of animals are used every year for scientific and commercial testing. They are used to develop medical treatments and check the safety of products for humans. However, opponents of animal testing say that it is cruel and inhumane to experiment on animals.

Read the article and be able to discuss the questions that follow:

https://www.livescience.com/41123-is-animal-testing-necessary.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think about animal testing?
  2. What are the pros and cons of it?
  3. Does animal testing go against animal rights? Why or why not?

 

Amazon Alexa to Reward Kids

B1 – Intermediate

Where have all the manners gone? Rudeness is prevalent, while nobody seems to care and it seems that technology is behind it.

Amazon is changing this view by creating a version of Alexa that is helping children to be polite.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1804/180428-saying-please-2.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. In your opinion, does technology teach children to be rude? Can devices or apps teach kids to be polite?
  2. How important is it for children to learn to be polite?
  3. What’s the best way to teach children manners?
  4. Are people in your society becoming ruder or more polite?
  5. What rude behaviour do you see in public every day?

Can Envy Be Good?

C1 – Advanced

Envy is defined by Cambridge dictionary as the feeling that you wish you had something that someone else has.  Do you ever feel envious when you see someone like a neighbor getting a new furniture? Do you ever wonder why this feeling overwhelms you? Is it normal to have an impulse of comparing yourself to others?

https://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/can-envy-be-good-for-you

Discussion Questions:

1. Is there something we need to learn about envy?
2. How are envy and admiration different?
3. When is envy good?
4. How do you deal with envy?

 

Showtime in Singapore

B2 – Upper Intermediate

The world’s most powerful man meets one of the most notorious and controversial dictators in history. Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un hold a conference in Singapore to discuss matters that concern not just their countries, but perhaps the entire global community as well.

Read the article and share your thoughts about this monumental event.

http://www.thetimesinplainenglish.com/showtime-in-singapore/

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is this meeting all about?
  2. What is your opinion about nuclear weapons? Does you own country have any?
  3. Is it right for a country to have a stockpile of nuclear weapons? Explain.

A Surprise Medical Treatment: Hypnosis

B1 – Intermediate

For centuries, people have been wondering and debating about hypnosis. Science has yet to fully explain how it actually works. But nowadays, more and more people are turning to this method to cure various ailments. But does it really work?

Read the article to find out more about this alternative treatment

This is how it works.

The patient settles into a chair. She stretches her feet onto an ottoman.

In a soothing voice, the doctor says, “I’m going to count from one to three, and as I count, your eyelids will get heavy. They will close whenever it feels right.”

The patient relaxes each part of her body. The doctor guides her to “a place of rest and comfort and healing.”

She tells the patient, “Enjoy the beauty of this natural, healing place. And as you do, something very powerful and healthy and positive is taking place deep inside your body. Your body knows what it needs to maintain healing your gut. It knows how to keep pleasant sensations in. How to avoid pain and discomfort.”

This is hypnotherapy. Patients enter a trance-like state. They experience relaxation and visual images. Medical centers are now using hypnotherapy. The purpose is to treat gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. GI disorders include digestive conditions such as acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and ulcerative colitis.

The treatment usually is about seven sessions scheduled over a three-month period. People practice at home between sessions. Studies show the treatment works in more than half of patients. Treatment outcomes can last more than a year.

A doctor said, “Some patients get a little uneasy about the word ‘hypnosis.’ It brings up images of some guy in Vegas making you bark like a dog. It takes some education to explain to them.”

The doctor says about one-third of patients are open to trying hypnosis.

Faulty signals between the brain and the gut cause the body to have a bad reaction. It results in internal pain. Why does hypnosis work? Because it shifts the brain’s attention away from those signals. Hypnotherapy provides healthy suggestions about what is going on in the gut.

The problem does not go away. The GI tract is still upset. But the patient does not feel the pain in the same way. It is less intense.

Hypnosis works well on IBS patients. There are few treatments for IBS. Hypnosis has become a major treatment. A doctor said, “It sounds crazy, but we have been having great success with hypnotherapy.”

A patient says hypnotherapy helped rid him of pain in his abdomen. His doctor told him that his diagnosis of IBS was incorrect. The real problem was related to his brain.

The patient thought he had nothing to lose. Nothing else had helped him for two years. The pain disappeared in fewer than ten sessions. He said, “Sometimes it creeps back a little, and I just do one or two [home] sessions and it goes away.”.

Hypnosis is now an accepted treatment for some medical conditions. Most insurances cover it. Medical centers all over the country are using it.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is hypnosis? Explain how it is done.
  2. What is your opinion about this treatment?
  3. Talk about its positives and negatives.
  4. Would you try it out yourself? Tell us why or why not.
  5. Share about other things you know about hypnosis.

Divorce Exam

B1 – Intermediate

The number of couples getting divorced is increasing in China. The government is taking actions in order to reduce it.

Click the link below to read more about this:

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1806/180605-china-divorce-4.html

Discussion Questions:
1. What is your reaction to this?
2. Do you think this would be effective in your country?
3. What might be other ways to reduce the number of divorce in a country?