phone english blogB2- Upper intermediate
Fake news has become rampant not just in social media but in mass media as well. We may have unconsciously helped spread one fake news too. So what can we do to help stop it?
Let’s watch the video and find out.
Discussion Questions:
1. What is circular reporting?
2. Explain the phrase,”A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
3. What online/mass media sources do you find reliable/credible?
B2 – Upper Intermediate
The progressive income tax is one of those economic terms that gets bandied about, but few actually know what it means or how it works. Taxes are the price we pay for civilized society, the progressivity of taxes largely determines how that price varies among individuals. A progressive tax takes a larger percentage of income from high-income groups than from low-income groups and is based on the concept of ability to pay.
Watch the video about the progressive income tax.
Discussion Questions:
B2 – Upper Intermediate
For millions of people around the world, the United States is known as the land of milk and honey. The “American Dream” is something that many aspire to live. There is however, a side to America that people do not know about.
From fast food workers to shuttle bus drivers, many Americans aren’t able to afford housing or pay the bills on current wages. For many, working three jobs is not enough to make ends meet.
Watch the video to learn more about the struggles of the common American.
Discussion Questions:
1. What is the video all about? What problems average Joes are confronted with these days? How does it compare to the plights of the middles class in your country?
2. What is the difference between the American middle class in the 70’s/80’s and today? Also talk about how it was and is like in your country in this context.
3. Talk about the gap between the rich and poor in your own country. How do you think this gap can be bridged?
B1 – Intermediate
Japan has a problem with its aging population. Japanese are getting older but less children are being born. They need a lot of workers but there are not enough people.
The government wants to get workers from other countries.
Find out more about this problem in Japan and the government’s solution to it. Read the article below.
https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1812/181211-foreign-workers-1.html
Vocabulary Questions:
Discussion Questions:
1. Why did Japan decide to open the country to more foreign workers?
2. What do you think would be the positive and negative effects of this new policy on Japan?
3. Would you be interested to move to this country?
4. If you were to live in another country, where would it be?
5. What do you think are the good and bad things about moving to a foreign country?
B2 – Upper Intermediate
During Franco’s dictatorial regime, Spanish fled to Venezuela to seek refuge. Decades later, Venezuelans want to do the same and ask Spain for its compassion now that the tables have turned.
Read more on the Venezuelans’ plea for asylum in Spain in the article below.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45640307
Discussion Questions:
1. Should more Venezuelan refugees be accepted in Spain?
2. What are the positives and pushbacks of providing asylum to Venezuelan refugees?
3. What is your position on this matter?
C1 – Advanced
Capital punishment or death penalty is a practice whereby a person is killed by the state as a punishment for a crime.
Supporters of the death penalty say it is an important tool for sustaining law and order, inhibits crime, and costs less than life imprisonment.
Detractors of capital punishment say it is not a disincentive to committing crime. They say life sentence is a more severe and less expensive punishment than death.
Are there circumstances under which a murderer deserves the death penalty? In other words, should capital punishment be abolished or not?
Discussion Questions:
B2 – Upper Intermediate
Data show that the majority of medium and large companies pay higher wage rates to men than to women. In spite of all these records, skeptics still do not believe in the existence of the idea. See how the video debunks myths about the gender pay gap.
Discussion Questions:
1. Discuss the six myths about the gender pay gap.
2. Do you experience the pay gap in your company?
3. How can we resolve issues about the pay gap?
4. In what other phenomena are men considered to be more privileged than women?
5. In what events are women thought to be more advantaged than men?
B2 – Upper Intermediate
In a small town in Mexico, water is not so readily available. Its residents therefore, have resorted to drinking the much more plentiful Coca Cola instead.
Check out the article to find out more about the dire consequences this situation has brought about.
http://www.thetimesinplainenglish.com/when-you-drink-coke-instead-of-water/
Discussion Questions:
1. What does the article say about this Mexican town?
2. Who do you think is to blame in these circumstances, and why?
3. Do you like soft drinks or soda? Talk about the effects of drinking too much of these.
B1 – Intermediate
More and more young Japanese do not want to get married and start a family. This would affect the economy and the whole society in the future.
To avoid serious consequences of this trend, the Japanese government has decided to change adulthood age from 20 to 18.
Read on about this change through the article below:
Discussion Questions:
B2 – Upper Intermediate
The government’s protection on one’s pursuit of happiness is the main concept of the American dream. People from different parts of the world would like to have a piece of this dream. In order to do so, the first step would be to secure a green card.
There are millions of immigrants who are applying for this to gain residency in America. Every year, a lottery is held by the US government to give out green cards.
Read on to find out more details about the American Green Card Lottery.
https://www.english-online.at/government/green-card-lottery/green-card-immigration-to-the-us.htm
Discussion Questions:
1. What is a green card?
2. What are the benefits of having a green card in the United States?
3. Why do people from many countries wish to live in the USA?
4. Would you ever want to live in the United States of America? Why or why not?