SESSION 12: EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION AND FINAL TASK
2. EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION
2.1. RESOLUTIONS: What resolutions do you have for 2011. Why did you decide these? What do you think are the chances of success?
- study
- family and friends
- health
- money
- habits
- other
2.2. PREDICTIONS: What are your predictions for this year in relation to these topics:
- money
- technology
- sport
- environment
- war
- weather
- your English
- your country
2.3. 2011 DISCUSSION: Here are some questions you can try asking yourself before you come to our discussion on Wednesday:
a) What springs to mind when you hear the year ‘2011’?
b) When a new year comes, do you normally think about the year that has finished and what it has meant in your life? How was 2010 for you and your country?
c) What do you think 2011 will be like?
d) Do you like the way your country celebrates the end of the year and the beginning of the new one?
e) Do you enjoy celebrating the end of year? How do you usually celebrate a new year arriving?
f) Do you know other countries that celebrate the end of year and beginning of the new one in a different way?
g) Do you make / keep New Year’s resolutions?
h) If so, do you repeat the same resolutions every year?
i) Do you think New Year´s resolutions are useful?
j) How could 2011 be the best year ever?
k) Do you think more people will be lifted from poverty?
l) What’s your prediction for the environment for 2011?
m) Are you going to study English more this year? How?
n) Are you going to try and spend more quality time with family and friends?
o) Do New Technologies get in the way of being with family and friends?
p) Do you need to get fitter?
q) Why do so many of us not keep our New Year’s resolutions?
r) What resolutions should your country and its government make?
s) What will you do to make 2011 a great year?
t) What questions would you like to ask the futurologists? Do you normally trust futurologists on TV, magazines, etc?
PREPARING A DISCUSSION IS FUNDAMENTAL:
THIS MUST BE DONE IN TWO DIRECTIONS:
FIRST, YOU NEED TO LEARN NEW VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO USE FOR THE DISCUSSION.
SECONDLY, YOU HAVE TO PREPARE THE TOPIC BY LOOKING UP INFORMATION IN THE INTERNET, BOOKS, ENCYCLOPAEDIAS.
THIS WAY YOU WILL FEEL MUCH MORE CONFIDENT AND AT THE SAME TIME YOU WILL HAVE MUCH MORE TO TALK ABOUT.
FINAL TASK:
HERE IS ONE FINAL TASK THAT YOU MAY DO IN ORDER TO COVER THE FOUR SKILLS YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON WHEN LEARNING A LANGUAGE: LISTENING, READING, SPEAKING AND WRITING.
Write a composition and leave it in the blog as a comment to Session 12, I will edit it in the blog so that everybody can learn from other people´s opinions. Choose one of these two options:
- 'Futurologists cannot be trusted in their predictions' Express your opinion.
- Make your own predictions of the year 2011, focusing on your country and its problems.
Future, future, future… qué será, será? whatever will be, will be. Who knows what will happen this year, not even futurologist can know it. After reading the text, all the supposed good things are going to happen do not look very important in general.
ReplyDeleteIf we listen to what the media says everyday, we should surely be pessimist, crisis is one of the star in the news and predictions are not very encouraging, not to talk about increasing violence all over the world, religious terrorism, etc.
Trying to be a little bit optimist, we must pay more attention to small things, forget about richness and luxury and take care of those we love, spend time with them, kiss them, caress them, in short, make them happy, so we will be happy too
It is believed that futurologist can predict the future and everybody should trust in them. Every year after Christmas we have on TV, magazines, newspapers, etc the same optimistic thinking by these people. Always, at the end of the year, we can realize that everything is told by them are simple words.
ReplyDeletePeople think about futurologist’s prediction like something which is expected to be better. First at all, they dream about several desires such as, winning a lottery, getting a new job, or getting fitter. As a result, they usually spend lots of money in lottery during all year without winning something. Besides, in their best, they manage to keep their job in spite of get a new one. And finally in the second month of getting fitter they usually give up doing sport.
However, people need to think about positive thinking when the year begins. They read everything is said by futurologist, astrologer or palmist in magazines and newspapers, so it is the reason why many people start the year in their best way because everything they say is positive. Furthermore, they encourage everybody to achieve goals, for example, quitting smoking. It is a good point, because if they do not manage give up smoking, at least they will have been some time without doing it.
To sum up, everybody trusts that futurologists say at the beginning of the year, but eventually, people realize that everything continue in the same way. Even though sometimes some fortunate people achieve their goals and it makes us think that we will be the next ones who are going to change their lives.
I wish i could have a better outlook for 2011. Unfortunately, my opinion is that the Spanish economy is not going to recover and unemployment will stay still. Fuel and food will be more expensive. Consequently, it will affect tourism negatively (the area where i am working). All in all, we will go through more difficult, unpleasant situations.
ReplyDeleteWhat bother me the most is that the government is not changing and it will keep wasting time and money in useless projects and nothing but projects!!!!
All this will affect to our personal lives. Probably we will be more supportive and will appreciate life differently. We will be more concern about wars, environment, money and the people close to you.
I wish you a happy New Year