phone english blogB2 – Upper Intermediate
What leads to success? Richard St. John, a success expert who spent a lot of years researching about it, gives 8 principles to address this question.
Click on the link to find out:
https://www.ted.com/talks/richard_st_john_s_8_secrets_of_success
Discussion Questions:
B2 – Upper Intermediate
Retail therapy is the act of shopping and spending to improve one’s mood. Often seen in people during periods of depression or transition, it is normally a short-lived habit. Items purchased during periods of retail therapy are sometimes referred to as “comfort buys”.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english/ep-171207
Discussion Questions:
1. What do you do to feel better when you are sad?
2. Do you believe in retail therapy or is it just an excuse to go binge shopping?
3. When is retail therapy unhealthy?
B2 – Upper Intermediate
The emergence of the Internet has allowed people to communicate in faster and more efficient ways. Dissemination of opinions and self-expression have been pushed into even more new areas where everything can be exposed with the advent of social media, especially Facebook. For this reason, can this be a tool to hinder corruption?
Discussion Questions:
1. Talk about corruption in your country. What are the government’s actions to fight corruption?
2. If you were to post about your thoughts on corruption on Facebook now, what would you say?
3. How else can Facebook and other social media make a positive impact?
B2 – Upper Intermediate
Has anyone stripped you of your happiness before? As the saying goes ‘Don’t let the silly little things steal your happiness’. Similarly, we should not let toxic people drag us down. Take note of these negative people and avoid interacting with them.
Read this article on different kinds of toxic people you could encounter on a rather regular basis.
https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/8-types-of-toxic-people-you-should-always-avoid.html
Discussion Questions:
1. Share your experience about an interaction with a toxic person.
2. What could be best ways to deal with these eight types of toxic people?
3. Among these eight types of toxic people, which do you consider the most crippling?
B1 – Intermediate
In an era when we can shop whenever and wherever, why do some people choose not to?
Minimalism is a lifestyle where you just own what is necessary in order to focus on more important things, interesting isn’t?
Lets take a look on how Japanese people practice this lifestyle.
http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-japans-extremely-minimalist-homes-2016-6
Discussion Questions:
B2 – Upper Intermediate
One of the most common and serious work issues is work burnout. It is often confused with stress. But there is a big difference between the two.
Listen to the audio and read the transcript to find out more about occupational blues.
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/business-english/podcasts-for-professionals/work-burnout
Discussion Questions:
1. What’s the difference between stress and burnout?
2. What are ways to fight work blues?
3. Share any story about being burned-out.
C1 – Advanced
Robots and Artificial Intelligence are rapidly advancing in the recent years. Are you one of the thousands of people who are worried about job opportunities in the future? Let us see things in a different perspective and learn more from the specialists.
Watch the video below.
Discussion Questions:
B2 – Upper Intermediate
Working part-time while studying used to be the norm in the UK but the trend is changing. The number of student part-timers has decreased in the recent years.
Find out more through this podcast:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english/ep-171214
Discussion Questions:
1. Should schoolchildren have jobs?
2. What are the pros and cons of working while studying?
3. Share your own story about juggling work and studies.
B2 – Upper Intermediate
When you were young, have you ever thought of being a farmer? Do you want to work outdoors or indoors? This new school is trying to teach millennials who want to work on a farm. In a society where technology is everywhere, farming has been often put behind thus creating a huge demand in the workforce for young people to work in the land.
Let’s watch and read the article below about this below:
Discussion Questions:
B2 – Upper Intermediate
Thomas Jefferson said, “All men are created equal.” Everyone should have access to education regardless of his race, gender, religion or nationality.
It may sound absurd because we are already in the 21st century and almost everyone can go to school, but this is a sad reality for some women in third world countries.
Let us read the link below to know more about how educating women can create an impact on the society.
Discussion Questions: