Tag: B1 – Intermediate

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.

Eating Out, An Unhealthy Habit

B1 – Intermediate

Dining out was once reserved for the wealthy or a special occasion. Not anymore. Now more than a third of the food Americans eat is made up of so-called “away-from-home” foods, which include both restaurant food and prepackaged or prepared foods purchased at supermarkets. And about 40 percent of that comes from fast-food restaurants serving the likes of cheeseburgers and French fries.

It seems then that the more you “buy out”, the more likely it is that you will have a calorie and fat rich diet that is poor in nutrients.

Let’s read the article to learn some of the issues with eating “out of the home” and talk about the questions that follow:

http://www.amdietetics.com/articles/eating-out-an-unhealthy-habit

  1. What do you think about eating out? Do you consider it an unhealthy habit? Why or why not?
  2. What are some of the negative consequences of eating out on our health/body?
  3. Share your thoughts on this statement, “The more you “buy out”, the more likely it is that you will have a calorie and fat rich diet that is poor in nutrients.“.
  4. What are ways to prevent eating out so much?

Conversation with Colleagues

B1 – Intermediate

Business is all about good communication. While communicating with customers is important, internal communication must be given attention, too.

Communicating effectively with your colleagues minimizes misunderstandings and increases work efficiency. Active communication also produces healthy working relationships. This, in turn, creates a more pleasant and less stressful work environment.

Watch the video about a conversation with a colleague.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Is it easy to communicate with your colleagues? Why or why not?
  2. What do you often talk about with your colleagues?
  3. What are ways to communicate effectively with colleagues?
  4. Talk about a situation when you had a miscommunication with your colleagues. How was the problem resolved?
  5. What can be done to avoid miscommunication at work?

Rip-off Restaurant

B1 –  Intermediate

Japanese tourists were allegedly ripped off their meal at a Venice restaurant. The tourists reported the incident to the police which was then escalated to the mayor.

Let’s find out more by clicking on the links.

Audio  (Listen before reading the text)

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1801/180124-rip-off-restaurant.html

Discussion Questions:

1. What’s your take on the issue?
2. What do you think of the mayor’s reaction?
3. Have you ever been ripped off? If so, how and why?
4. Do you check TripAdvisor.com for a certain establishment’s rating?

Millennials on Dating Apps

B1 –  Intermediate

Does it feel like the dating game is taking over your life?

Well it probably is, sort of. It’s likely to be taking around 16.8% of your life, which is quite a bit when you think about it.

A recent study  found that millennials are spending 10 hours a week trawling through dating apps like Tinder.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/dating-apps-millenials-10-hours-week-tinder-bumble-romance-love-a8174006.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. Have you ever gone/Would you ever go on a date with someone you met on a dating app? Why/why not?
  2. What are the good and bad things about online dating?
  3. Why do you think people, especially millennials, are so obsessed with dating apps?
  4. If you could design your own dating app, how would it work?
  5. Is love really that difficult to find these days? Explain.
  6. What are other things define millennials?

Why Does Society Value Beauty Over Brains?

B1 – Intermediate

The ideal for beauty includes flawless skin, shiny, healthy hair, big eyes, even features and a proportioned body shape. This ideal has remained true throughout our history.

People seem so obsessed with beauty that a pertinent question might not be what it is, but why it is so important to us?

Click the link below to have a better understanding why most of us value beauty more than intelligence.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/quora/2014/01/11/women_and_beauty_why_does_society_value_looks_over_intelligence.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you think beauty affects self-esteem?
  2. How do you define beauty, using your own words?
  3. How popular is plastic surgery in your country?
  4. What are some of the negatives about being beautiful?
  5. Do you think beauty is related to power?

11 Ways to Tell If You’re an Annoying Neighbor

B1 – Intermediate

From apartments to tiny houses, noisy neighbors can be a terrible nuisance to deal with.  Noisy neighbors can really be irritating at times, disturbing your sleep and regular activities.  However, we too, are neighbors to other people and sometimes, we may not know we’re bothering others.

Read the article below to see if you fall into the category of nice or annoying and be able to discuss the questions that follow:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-corbett/are-you-an-annoying-neigh_b_6016682.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are the most common neighbor complaints?
  2. Do you get on well with your neighbors?
  3. What kind of neighbor are you?
  4. Have you ever had problems with your neighbors? Explain.
  5. What is it that neighbors do that peeves you the most?
  6. Have you ever considered suing your neighbor? Why?
  7. Do you treat others as you’d like to be treated?
  8. How do you keep your neighbors from complaining?

How to Improve your English Speaking Skills

B1 – Lower Intermediate

Have you tried almost every technique to study English? Are they effective? Do you want to try another technique that will help you improve your English speaking skills? Then, let’s watch the video below. We can practice or start a discussion later.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What kind of techniques or methods have you tried to improve your speaking skills?
  2. Which is the most effective method?
  3. What do you think about the technique in the video?
  4. What are your weaknesses and strengths in English?

Headaches

B1 – Intermediate

Almost everyone suffers from a headache at least once a year. In most cases, they are not dangerous and the person suffering it can still function normally. 

Headache is usually described as pain anywhere in the region of the head or neck. Headaches are very common and their effect can range from mild to worst.

Read on to know about the types of headaches, their causes, and ways to treat them.

https://www.english-online.at/health_medicine/headache/headache-disorder-of-nervous-system.htm

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you often suffer from headaches? What type of headache do you often suffer from? What usually cause them?
  2. What do you do when you have a headache?
  3. Do you think people should see a doctor immediately when they have a headache? Why/why not?
  4. Some say that physical activities such as exercise can help with relieving headaches. Do you agree or disagree with this? Explain.

Snow in Spain Traps Thousands

B1 – Lower Intermediate

Spain has experienced drought last year but at the beginning of this year there was a huge amount of snow fall which trapped thousands of people on the road for more than 13 hours.

Let us read the full story of the article from the link below and let’s start a discussion.

Snow in Spain traps thousands of people in cars overnight

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think of the drastic changes of the weather?
  2. Have you ever experienced being stranded in a place because of snow?
  3. Do you think this incident could have been avoided? How?