Category: Class

Air Rage

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Do you like to travel? Have you experienced passengers showing aggression during your flight?  Air rage has been a problem among airlines and passengers alike.

Let’s read the article to know how airlines are not doing enough to promote cabin safety to the passengers and even their own employees.

Click to read the article:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92907&page=1

Discussion Questions:

  1. Have you ever experienced air rage?
  2. What do you think causes air rage?
  3. Should airlines make a list of passengers who commit air rage and ban them from flying altogether?

Effective Customer Service during Mergers and Acquisitions

B2 – Upper Intermediate

When a company goes through transition after a merger and acquisition, there are some negative impact on the business’s operations and in some cases, customer relations.

Read more to find out about how to provide effective customer service during M&A.

https://www.linkedin.com/advice/3/how-can-you-provide-effective-customer

Discussion Questions:

1. Explain the three challenges companies face during an M&A transition.
2. Have you ever worked for a company that underwent re-organization? Talk about this period.
3. Give some ways on how to ensure smooth M&A transition.

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Have you had that feeling that you thought you did not deserve the success that you achieved, that you believed you were not intelligent, or that you were over-evaluated by others? Probably, you are one of those who have experienced the Imposter syndrome. Find out how some successful people braved it and what we can do to overcome it.

10 Steps You Can Use to Overcome Impostor Syndrome

Discussion Questions:

  1. Share your experience of Imposter syndrome and how you overcame it.
  2. What are your strengths and how do you put them to use?
  3. What are/were your ‘shoulds’ and how do/did you unwrap them?
  4. Where do you apply the “fake it ’till you make it” advice in your life?
  5. What can you tell a person suffering from Imposter syndrome?

Rejuvenate Yourself

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Do you find it hard to break a routine and find some time to take a load off? No matter how much we have on our plate, we should always remember to give ourselves a well deserved time off.

Below are some downright advice about how to feel revitalized despite a hectic or too ordinary schedule.

Are you one of the almost half of Americans who did not take a summer vacation? Do you often find yourself rushing from A to B with no time to breathe, working seven days a week and not taking time for lunch? If so, it’s time to take a break. When you are building a business or climbing the corporate ladder or assuming others’ responsibilities, it’s easy to become caught up in work and routines and easy to forget that we are not machines. Taking a break is not only necessary for the well-being of our minds and bodies, but a real need. Ironic, isn’t it, that if one waits for the perfect time to take a break, it never seems to come, because there is always something to do and take care of, instead of taking care of ourselves and accepting that well-deserved break.

Taking a Break Doesn’t Have to Take You Away

Summer just came and went. It promised adventure, romance, fun, and leisure; but did your dreams become reality this year? Or did you continue to dream of white sandy beaches, quiet cool mountain views, the solitude of the desert, the excitement of an action-filled adventure vacation, or even of distant lands? The only thing stopping us from fulfilling our dreams is ourselves. There is always a way if we prioritize. Taking a break doesn’t have to be about going away. More and more people have realized that taking a break can be as simple as not answering the phone or e-mail for a week, hanging out in pajamas all day, spending time alone or with friends, and perhaps best of all not having a single plan of what to do, doing absolutely nothing. How about a retreat with no traveling and no financial outlay? You could simply investigate and experience the sound of silence for a few days. Don’t use your voice, communicate when you must with pen and paper. Those who have experienced the bliss of silence are full of praise for the many benefits derived from this simple, yet different approach to taking a break.

Take a Solitary Break

When was the last time you took a break from those that you love? A friend recently found herself taking a real break alone for two weeks. Her husband and children took a trip abroad and she chose to stay at home. It was her first break on her own for over 25 years. She looked forward to it with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. By the end of the two weeks, she reported that she had thoroughly enjoyed her own company and that the single life was a lot simpler and most enjoyable. Even in the most wonderful relationships we can find ourselves again and breathe a breath of fresh air by taking a break from our partners and being even for a short time separate units.

Ten Tips for Taking a Break from Life

If you feel like you can hardly remember the last time you took a break, check the following ten tips for taking a break from life, reality and yourself. You are guaranteed to start to feel rejuvenated, revitalized and ready to take a real break sometime soon.

  • Buy a New Outfit – Make a shopping trip especially for something new to wear which is bright, colorful and just perfect for breaks and vacations. Then leave right away and enjoy your purchase. Your wardrobe with thank you for giving it a new splash of color
  • Give Your Taste Buds a Treat – Take a break from skipping lunch at work and making do with eating fast food. Instead, eat something simple, colorful, fun, exotic or with wild flavors and textures. Enjoy!
  • Indulge in a Day of Silence – Take one day out of your life and vow not to say a single word. Relax, enjoy the peace and silence.
  • Change Your Routine – Drive to work a different way. Break your usual daily habits. Expect the very best all day and be ready for the unexpected.
  • Squirrel Away Some Mad Money –  Dream a dream of your perfect break or vacation. Promise to put a little money aside regularly to make it happen. You’ll be amazed at how easy and painless it is to do.
  • Be Still for Ten Minutes – Take a break from life as you know it by sitting down and being still for ten minutes. Close your eyes and relax. Let your thoughts come and go. Focus on your breathing. Allow your body to relax and your mind soar.
  • Take Down Your Guard, Be Yourself – Take a break from the image that you have of yourself and the image that you project. Just let yourself be whoever you feel like being in the moment. Give yourself permission to be you.
  • Check In – Make a regular practice of stopping whatever you are doing and checking in with yourself to feel how who and where you are at the moment. Keep a gratitude journal.
  • Allow Yourself to Feel Awed – Take a break from reality. Look at a simple object, a flower, a tree, or a building. Imagine you are looking at it as if for the very first time.
  • Step Out of Your Comfort Zone – Take a break from barriers and boundaries. Do something you did not know you could. Overcome your fear and amaze yourself.

Discussion Questions:

  1. How busy are you?
  2. Which among the tips do you do?
  3. What is your own way to change your routine?
  4. What do you do during your alone time?
  5. What are your plans for your upcoming vacation this year? If none, if given the chance, what would you do or where would you go?

Foreign Accent Syndrome

B2 – Upper intermediate

A person’s accent is the product of where they are from and may also be from their social and educational background. For example, someone from Australia will most probably speak with an Australian accent, but in Australia there are also different accents because of differences in social background and education. This is generally the case for everybody in any part of the world. Is having an accent a distinction or a disadvantage?

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1802/180215-british-accent.html

Let’s Talk:

How important is the accent to one’s culture?

Do you find it difficult to understand foreigners because of their accent?

If you were to have the FAS one day, what accent would you like to have?

 

Language to Persuade Someone to Change Their Mind

B1 – Intermediate

As defined by Britannica, persuasion is the process by which a person’s attitudes or behavior are, without duress, influenced by communications from other people.  It often involves manipulation. People get manipulated which can sometimes be offensive while some only try to persuade to stop others from making hasty decisions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/english-at-work/63-language-to-persuade-someone-to-change-their-mind

Discussion Questions:

  1. Is it easy to persuade someone to change their mind? Why or why not?
  2. Talk about your experiences persuading someone to accept your point of view. How did you do it?
  3. Is agreeing on issues or topics the best way to solve a disagreement? Explain.

7 Myths About Owning A House

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Buying a house can be complicated and scary at the same time. There’s also a lot of misunderstanding in some instances. We have a lot of misconceptions when it comes to buying and owning a house.

Read the article about some myths about owning a house.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/myths-about-owning-a-house-that-just-arent-true_us_5a820084e4b0580d3d6d6f8e

Discussion Questions:

  1. How easy/difficult is it to get your own home in your country?
  2. At what age do you think is the perfect time to get your own house?
  3. Do you think home security systems are only for the rich?
  4. Describe your dream house.

Participial Phrases

 

A group of related words that does not have a subject and a verb functioning as a single part of speech is called a phrase. A participial phrase is composed of a group of words with a participle together with all its modifiers and complements. In the following examples, a noun is modified by each of the phrases.

 

Children studying until late at night inspire me.

 

Customer requests unattended for a long time go to the archive folder.

Damaged from cover to cover, the book was unreadable.

 

The participial phrase is studying until late at night.

 

The participial phrase is unattended for a long time.

 

The participial phrase is damaged from cover to cover.

 

It modifies the noun children.

 

It modifies the noun customer requests.

 

It modifies the noun book.

 

 

How to Diagram Participial Phrases

 

The first step is to determine the participle and the noun it intends to modify.

Then put the participle on a bent, slanted line right under the noun it intends to modify.

Determine the rest of the phrases and diagram it correspondingly.

 

Here are the step by step procedure using this example sentence:

 

Smelling flowers at the garden, Jane sneezed.

Step 1: Find the participle. (smelling)

Step 2: Determine the noun it modifies. ( Jane)

Step 3: Determine the rest of the phrase. ( flowers at the garden)

Step 4: Find out what the rest of the phrase is doing.

 

At this stage, your grammar knowledge will be put into test.
In the process of diagramming this sentence, you need to know that flowers is a direct object and at the garden is a prepositional phrase. This prepositional phrase is modifying smelling. As a result, we diagram the prepositional phrase underneath smelling.

 

Dangling

When there isn’t a noun or pronoun to modify, the participial phrase dangles. It is called a dangling participle.

Adverbs of Frequency

What are they?

• They are adverbs that tell us how often or how frequently an action is done.

What are the two types of adverbs of frequency?

Definite adverbs of frequency

Used to describe definite frequency

Examples:

  • hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly
  • every second, once a minute, twice a year
  • once, twice, once or twice, three times

We usually put it in end position of the sentence.

Examples:

  • My sister checks up on me Every hour.
  • We go abroad yearly.
  • We hang out weekly.

Sometimes we put it at the front.

Example:

  • Every day, millions of people suffer from pollution.

Indefinite adverbs of frequency

Used to describe indefinite frequency

We usually put it in the middle position of the sentence.

They go before the main verb (except the main verb “to be”)

  • We usually hang out on Saturday.
  • I have often done that.
  • They are always late.

 

Prefixes and Suffixes

Prefix

-A group of letters added before the root of a word. It usually changes the meaning of the
word.

For example:

WORD                  PREFIX  and Meaning                                               New word

Happy                   Un – not                                                                         Unhappy

Work                     Over -Excessively,extreme                                         Overwork

Understand         Mis-Bad,wrong                                                             Misunderstand

Social                    Anti -Against                                                                 Antisocial

Cursor                  Pre- Before,prior                                                          Precursor

 

Suffix

– A group of words added at the end of a root word.

For example:

WORD                  SUFFIX and Meaning                                             New Word

Like                       Able-able to be                                                         Likeable

Happy                  Er-comparative                                                         Happier

Sad                       Ness-denotes state or condition                           Sadness

Taste                     Less- Not including                                                 Tasteless