Tag: audio

Martial Arts

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Women nowadays are becoming even more independent. However, that does not mean that they can brave the deserted narrow alley without hesitation and fear. Hence, the rise of women learning martial arts. Having the skills and knowledge in martial arts gives you the upper hand over your attacker.

Listen to this audio and read the transcript on martial arts.

Martial Arts

Discussion Questions:

  1. What situation is the woman in?
  2. Have you ever been robbed? Is this a common crime in your country or city?
  3. How do you protect yourself from street robbery?
  4. Do you know any form of martial arts? If yes, how and why did you learn it/them? If no, would you be interested to learn one? Which martial art appeals to you?
  5. Do you think this is an effective form of self-defense?

Building Rapport With Others

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Building rapport is a great way to connect with others. Each person has a different way of doing it. Furthermore, doing so is important if you want to get on well with others socially or at work.

To add, a book written by Emily Alison identified four main communication styles: the friendly and cooperative monkey, the bossy lion, the passive mouse, and the conflicting t-rex. Not surprisingly, Alison thinks that the best at building rapport is the friendly and cooperative monkey. 

Let’s click the link below and know more about the different communication styles.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english/ep-210617

Discussion Questions:

  1. Please describe each communication styles mentioned in the audio. Which style best fits/describes you?
  2. What is building rapport? What are effective ways to establish a connection with others?
  3. What is the importance of building rapport?
  4. How would you describe the way you build rapport with other people?
  5. When is building rapport difficult? Share some of your related experiences.

Meeting Singles

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Being asked out on a date isn’t always as flattering as we see in the movies. There are times when you are just not into the person and they have absolutely no clue about it. Do you accept the invitation or do you turn down the person right off the bat?

Listen to the audio about meeting singles.

Meeting Singles

Discussion Questions:

  1. How did Doug find out where Diane lives? What do you think of this action?
  2. Does Diane seem interested in Doug? What excuses did she make up?
  3. How would you describe Doug based on his responses to Diane’s refusal?
  4. Have you ever declined a date invitation? How did you do it?
  5. What tips do you have for letting people down easily?

Career Search

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Assigning a job as “male” or “female” hurts both genders. It lessens the chances of the excluded gender to be considered in the same position regardless of how highly-qualified the person is. There are jobs that are gender-stereotyped such as firefighters, hairdressers, nurses etc. Fortunately, gender lines are blurring in the recent years.

Listen to the audio about career search.

Career Search

Discussion Questions:

  1. What career does the woman want to pursue? How about her boyfriend?
  2. What’s Ryan’s opinion on their career choices?
  3. Do you agree that some jobs are gender-specific? If so, give examples.
  4. How did you decide on your chosen career?
  5. How easy/difficult was it for you to establish yourself in your chose field? Share your experience/s.

Drones Can’t Fly Over Paris

B1 – Intermediate

A drone is something like a flying robot. It is operated by humans from a remote location or it can work by itself when it is set. Drones are very popular and widely used because of its functionality and efficiency when capturing images and videos. However, there are some concerns about using them in Paris.

Listen to the audio and read the transcript to find out why Paris decided to impost strict laws against drones and be ready to answer the questions that follow.

https://www.newsinlevels.com/products/drones-cannot-fly-over-paris-level-2/

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your opinion on Paris prohibiting drones? Is there such a law in your city or country too?
  2. What do you think of drones?
  3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using drones?
  4. Why do you think they are gaining popularity nowadays?

A Student Credit Card

B2 – Upper Intermediate

It’s getting harder these days for students to afford their day-to-day expenses. In fact, the majority of fresh graduates in the US incur thousands of dollars in debts even before they can start making money. As a result, many of them take out loans. This is an opportunity for banks to offer credit cards to students. Having credit cards help students pay their daily expenses. However, it could also be the cause for students to sink further into debts and ending up in the red.

Let’s click the link and listen to how the woman used her student credit card.

A Student Credit Card

Discussion Questions:

  1. Is it common for students to take out loans in your country?
  2. What is your opinion about having student credit cards?
  3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of owning credit cards when you are still a student?
  4. How was your financials when you were still a student?
  5. What were your sources of funds when you were still studying?

Zip it

B1 – Intermediate

The phrase “zip it” originates from literally closing a bag by zipping it. Zipping the mouth of the person talking incessantly so that he or she could stop giving more information that others shouldn’t hear. This phrase is used more as a slang since it may sound rude to others specially in a formal conversation.

Let us hear more about the phrase “zip it” in the audio below.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/the-english-we-speak/ep-210503

Discussion Questions:

  1. Are you talkative? Why or why not?
  2. Do you usually tell people to zip it? What are some reasons?
  3. Do you find it rude when someone stops you when you’re speaking?
  4. What are the topics that you don’t normally talk about with others?
  5. How do you stop someone from talking when you want them to zip it?

Slay

B1 – Intermediate

There are multiple meanings of the word “slay”. It may often mean to kill a person or an animal, sometimes it means to make someone laugh very hard, it could also mean that something is quite impressive but most of the time it means that someone is looking attractively fashionable.

Let us hear more about the word “slay” in the audio below.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/the-english-we-speak/ep-210524

Discussion Questions:

  1. What comes to your mind when you hear the word “slay”?
  2. Are you a fashionable person? What kind of clothes do you wear?
  3. Do you easily get impressed? What things do you find interesting?
  4. What memory do you have that you have slayed something?

Noob

B1 – Intermediate

There is no exact origins of the word “noob” but this is a very popular expression online specially for gamers that means a “newbie” which most of the time is used as an insult. This word may also be used in the real world for people who are part of an activity but not yet well experienced and quite knowledgeable thus, not performing very well.

Let us hear more about the word “noob” in the audio below.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/the-english-we-speak/ep-210607

Discussion Questions:

  1. Is being a noob always necessarily a bad thing?
  2. How are usually you like as a newbie?
  3. How can we tell that someone is a noob?
  4. What activities are you a noob at?
  5. What are you good at or an expert on?

Food Superstitions

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Do you ever believe in bad or good luck? Well, perhaps most of us do and the food culture is no exception as we have different beliefs on how it brings good or bad luck, in other words, superstitions.

Listen to the podcast about food superstitions and learn more.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Are you superstitious? Are most people in your country superstitious?
  2. What are food superstitions you know of?
  3. Can you share any food superstitions you have in your country?
  4. Do you believe in any food superstitions? Why or why not? What are examples of food superstitions do you believe?
  5. Could traditions lead to superstitions? Explain your thoughts.