The Perfect Match? How is technology affecting our relationships?

You are going to

• watch a short film
• use adjectives to describe personality
• discuss relationships 
• discuss technology 
• watch and discuss a short film

Note these are discussion activities for a speaking class based around a short 8 minute silent film called "97%"
(The film provoked considerable discussion when I used it in my FCE / CAE / CPE classes...)

Before you watch

A) Discuss personality

• Why do friends get on well with each other?
• How would you describe yourself to other people?
• Physically - choose any 3 words - eg tall, brunette, fair, dark-skinned, brown-eyed etc
• Personality - choose 5 words from the list below

• Who else in class has chosen the same words as you?

B) Discuss relationships

• How many of the personality adjectives above would you look for in a partner?
• Are you in a relationship? Do you have a partner/ boyfriend / girlfriend or are you married?
• What is a "perfect match" in a relationship? Is your partner a perfect match for you? Do "perfect matches" exist? Is personality important when choosing a partner?
• What do you look for in a partner?
• Would you accept a 50% match?

C) Discuss technology

• Do you have a smartphone?
• What do you use it for?
• Do you use social media (facebook, instragram, twitter)?
• What apps do you use?
• Are you addicted to it?

D) Watch
Watch the film below
What do you think the 97% in the title refers to?



97% (Short film) from Ben Brand on Vimeo.

E) After you watch - Discuss the film

• What do you think is the "message" of the film?
• Do you agree with it? Why / why not?
• What is the most important scene in the film? Why?
• What do you think is the man's attitude towards a) his phone? b) romantic relationships? c) other people? d) life?
• Do you think technology is changing the way we relate to each other? Can you give any examples from your own experience?
• Do you think using a phone app or a dating site is a good way to find a partner?
• Do you think technology will play an increasing role in our relationships and behaviour?

F) Write 
Choose 1

A) Write a review of the film discussing the film's ideas.

Plan
Introduction

• What is the name of the film? 
• What kind of film is it?
• What is the message of the film?
• Give a short (1 or 2 sentences) summary of the story. Do not give spoilers.

Main text

• Discuss the message of the film?
• Which scene best illustrates its message?
• Discuss the importance, prevalence and role of technology in our lives, our possible addiction to it and the effect it may be having on us and our relationships with each other.

Conclusion

• What is your opinion of the film's ideas and message?

B) "Our relationship with technology is having a damaging effect on the way we relate to each other." To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Plan
Introduction (3 sentences)

• Introduce the subject - modern technology 
• Introduce the idea to be discussed - our relationship with it.
• Introduce the question - What exactly are the effects it may be having on us?

Main text

• Discuss at least 3 examples of technology affecting our relationships or behavior. Give pros and cons. Support your ideas with specific examples.

Conclusion.
What is your opinion? Do you agree with the statement? Can you summarize your ideas in one sentence?

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Writing An Article - "The Amazon Echo"

You are going to 

• watch an advertisement
• answer some questions
• discuss technology
• write an article / review

Discuss

• What computer technology do you have / use?
• What activities do we use ICT (information and communication technology) for?
• What is your favourite device / app / website / online activity?

Watch
Watch the commercial for the Amazon Echo below
Answer

• What does it do?
• What questions do people ask?
• Would you like one?

Answers
How many of the questions can you answer?
Highlight below
What is it?
Is it for me?
How's it going?
Is it on?
Can it hear me right now?
What does it do?
What time is it?
Is that where we are going to put it?
How tall is Mount Everest?
How can it know so much?
How many teaspoons are in a table spoon?
What day is it?
What does a dog say after a long day at work?
How do you spell "cantaloupe"?




Discuss

1. What is it? How would you describe it one word?
2. What does it do? Give a summary of what it does in one sentence.
3. Is it important? Will it be popular? Why?
4. Is it useful? What are the advantages of having this product? Give 5 examples of the most important / useful things it does.
5. Does it have any drawbacks / disadvantages / negative aspects? Can you think of any problems it might have?
6. What do you think of it? Would you buy one? Do you think the Amazon Echo will be useful / popular? Could you use it to learn English?

Answers
Highlight below

1. A device called the Amazon Echo
2. It answers questions and performs a number of tasks
3. Student opinions
4. Student ideas - eg It answers questions, tells jokes, plays music, is an alarm clock and takes shopping orders ...
5. Arguments between family members? Privacy concerns? Is it listening to you? What does it know about you? Can it be hacked into?
6. Student opinions

Write
Write an article about the Amazon Echo (150 - 180 words)
Plan your writing

1. How many paragraphs will you use?
2. You can use your answers to the questions above to help you. How would you organize your answers into paragraphs?

Highlight below for answers
4 Paragraphs
Paragraph 1 = questions 1,2,and 3
Paragraph 2 = question 4
Paragraph 3 = question 5
Paragraph 4 = question 6




Read
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/12/with-amazons-echo-you-are-never-alone/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickmoorhead/2014/11/11/amazon-echo-what-you-need-to-consider-before-buying/



 
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Are the machines taking over?

You are going to 

• discuss our relationship with technology
• listen to a BBC radio clip about automation and do a comprehension activity
• look at the future continuous

1) Discuss

• How many machines, devices and gadgets do you use every day?
• What is artificial intelligence?
• What is automation?
• How many automated processes or tasks can you think of?
• When can you hear an automated voice?
• Do you prefer to pay at a self-service check-outs or a normal one when you go shopping?
• Do you think automation is a good thing?
• Do you think machines will replace human workers?
• Are machines getting smarter?
• What relationship will humans have with machines and technology in the future?
• Will we be living and working with robots in the future?

2) Listen.
Listen to this clip from BBC Radio 4's "Today" on "The rise of automated machines." 
A) Take notes.What do you learn about the following?

• The number of self-service check-outs in Britain
• The earliest automated machine
• The importance of automation to business
• Intelligent machines

listen to ‘The rise of automated machines’ on Audioboo

B) Listen again and do the quiz.

Printable worksheet here




3) Discuss
How will we be living in the future?
Practise the Future Continuous
Look at the presentation and discuss the pictures.

Future Continuous from David Mainwood

4) Discuss

• How do you see the future? Are you an optimist or a pessimist?
• Do you think the widespread use of technology has risks for humanity?
• Should we be careful about how technology is affecting our lives?
• Do you agree that in the future "The machines replacing humans might end up being better at being human that we are"?
• Do you think machines will replace humanity or radically transform us? 

 5) Write
Choose one

• We live in an age of technological revolution. How is technology affecting our lives today and should we be fearful of the effects it will have on life in the future?

• We are becoming increasingly dependent on computers. They are used in businesses, hospitals, crime detection and even to fly planes. What things will they be used for in future? Is this dependence on computers a good thing or should we be more suspicious of their benefits? Use specific details and examples in your answer (IELTS).

 



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What is charm?

You are going to

• listen to a discussion about "charm"
• talk about being charming and being polite
• look at adjectives to describe personality / character

1) Discuss

• What is "charm"?
  
• In what jobs do you need to be charming?
• Can both women and men be charming?
• Are people less charming than they used to be?
• What are the origins of the word?
• Are charm and charisma the same thing?
• Can charm be learnt?

2) Listen
Author and critic Stephen Bayley has said the UK is becoming less charming. In this discussion from Radio 4's Today program he debates the subject along with columnist Rowan Pelling.
1) Listen to the clip. How many of the questions above are answered?

Useful vocabulary
You will hear these words. Do you know what they mean?

commodity, acquire, manipulative, sinister, "glass ceiling", detrimental, deprecating, tag, ooze, attribute, disparage, charisma, Machiavellian

listen to ‘Are we becoming less charming?’ on Audioboo

https://audioboo.fm/boos/1988206-are-we-becoming-less-charming


2) Listen again and do the quiz


Printable version here





3) Vocabulary
A) Look at these adjectives

• Do you know what they mean?
• How many are positive ways to describe someone?
• How many are negative?
• How many would you associate with someone who was "charming"

Highlight below to see the positive words
=  appealing, attractive, bewitching, captivating, charismatic, enchanting, engaging, entrancing, glamorous, magnetic, seductive, spellbinding, exciting, hypnotizing, interesting, pleasant


B) Write
Think of some people you know. Describe them in a sentence. Use the adjectives in the list. Say why he / she is appealing, engaging, glamorous etc




4) Discuss
Look at the postcard
What does it tell you about being polite in English?

• Do you think being polite or having good manners is the same as being charming?
• Are being charming and having good manners important?
• Why are we polite to each other?
• In what situations is it important to be polite or charming?
• Are you likely to be more impressed by someone who is polite or charming?
• In what ways do you show politeness or respect in your language?
• Does politeness change according to language and culture?
• How do we show politeness in English? What words or expressions do we use?

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Talking about Music - Why do we listen to music?

You are going to

• discuss music and use vocabulary to describe music
• listen to a discussion about the role music plays in our lives and do some comprehension activities

1) Discuss
Do you listen to music?

• What music do you like?
• Is music important in your life?
• Do you like to listen to music quietly or do you prefer to "crank it out" (play it loud)
• Does listening to old music transport you back to when you were younger?
• What is the role of music in our lives? Why do we listen to music?

2) Discuss
Vocabulary
In one minute how many words connected with music can you think of?
Think of these categories

• Musical instruments - guitar, cello...
• Kinds of music - classical, dance...
• Words to describe music - fast, melodic, jazzy...
• Feelings to describe listening to music - How does it make you feel? - happy, energetic, relaxed...

3) Discuss
Vocabulary for describing music / musicians / singers
Look at these words to describe music.

• How many were in your list?
• Do you understand them all?
• Think of some singers / groups / songs / kinds of music. In your opinion which adjectives describe the music / singer / song best? eg I think ______ is depressing / catchy / funky...

A racket (n.) Amazing Avant garde Awful Awesome Beautiful Bluesy Boring Catchy Commercial

Depressing Fast Funky Gentle Gorgeous Heavy Hypnotic Jazzy Makes you want to cry / dance / sing Melodic

Noisy Modern Old-fashioned Passionate Peaceful Popular Pretty Relaxing Repetitive Rocking Sad

Slow Soft Soulful Soulless Spiritual Stunning Swinging Traditional Tuneless Uplifting Violent

4) Discuss
Music in our lives
Look at these sentences. 
How many do you agree with?

1. All human beings are born musical.
2. Music can take us back to bad times in our lives
3. Music has a useful psychological effect.
4. Music makes you feel more positive about bad experiences
5. Music plays an important part in our lives even before we are born
6. Music transports people back to their formative years.
7. People often listen to music to make themselves sad.
8. People often say the best music was made during their adolescence.
9. Playing music loud at night helps children to sleep.
10. Singing and learning a musical instrument improves hearing.

5) Listen
You are going to listen to psychologist Victoria Williamson discussing the role of music from BBC Radio 4's "Today"
Put the sentences above in the order you hear them (see interactive exercise1 below).




http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01tclqw



1) Drag and drop the sentences on the right to put them in the order you hear them in the radio clip.

2) Listen again and do the comprehension quiz

6) Write
Answer. Why do we listen to music?
Use the ideas in the radio interview to help you.





7) Practise
Try the Interactive Crossword.
Click on a number in the crossword to see the clue and type the answer in the space.




Printable worksheets here
Activities
Crossword with answers




More
Go here and do a listening exercise about the sounds of music in nature
Is There Music in the Sounds of Nature? - The Rhythm of Life Advanced, Environment, Music, Nature, Upper Intermediate

Pop Quiz Games, Intermediate Music, Pre-Intermediate, Question Forms, Questions, Quizzes 

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My favourite kinds of music
Finally, for anyone who is interested I have a blog where I write about my favourite kinds of music here stranger than known

Is There Music in the Sounds of Nature? - The Rhythm of Life

You are going to

• discuss music and nature
• practise some vocabulary connected with music and nature
• listen to a sound from nature and try and guess what it is
• watch a clip about music in nature
• do some comprehension activities

Discuss

• What sounds do we hear in nature? Write a list eg wind, birds singing...
• Are these sounds musical?
• Do you think there is music in nature?

Discuss / Listen

Listen to the sound clip below.
It's the sound of something in nature.

• What do you think it is? Can you guess?
• Is it an animal, an Insect or something else? (Use - It might be a... / It could be.../ it sounds like.... )
• Do you like the sound?
• Could you dance to it?
• Is it music?

listen to ‘The Rhythm’ on Audioboo

 You can find out what the rhythm is in the video clip below. But before you watch...

 

Practise
Vocabulary
You are going to watch a video
Check you know the meanings of the following words which feature in the video clip.
Match the words with their definitions.








Watch
You are going to watch a clip from the BBC TV series "The Rhythm of Life". It's about music in nature and is presented by George Martin.

• What things from nature can you see in the clip?
• What sounds from nature do you hear?
• At 3:40 you will hear the rhythm above. What is it?

• Are you surprised at what the rhythm is?

2) Now do the comprehension quiz

3) Listen again to Bernie Kraus' explanation of how the rhythm is made and fill in the gaps

Download printable worksheets here
Vocabulary match

Video comprehension




Discuss

• Is the sound clip really music? What is "music"?
• Do you agree with George Martin that only humans can make music "because it takes such a high degree of intelligence and organization and we are the only animals capable of doing it" or, like Bernie Krause, do you have a more open mind?

© D. Mainwood

Write
Write an essay discussing one of the questions above. Support your opinions with examples.






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What is love?

You are going to

• look at some vocabulary connected with love and relationships
• listen to someone talking about love, marriage and relationships

1) Discuss

• Have you ever been in love?
• What is love?
• Did you know the question "What is love?" is one of the the most popular searches on google? Why do you think that is?
• How many words connected with love and relationships do you know? Make a list.
• How many of the words below do you know?

Practise
How many of the words on the left can you match with the definition on the right.?









2) Listen
Listen to the clip from BBC Radio Devon's "Pause For Thought" below.
You are going to hear Ali Traherne talk about love and relationships.

• What does she say about the feeling of love when you first fall in love?
• What happens as the years pass?

listen to ‘Pause For Thought with Financial Expert Ali Treharne’ on Audioboo

Listen again and try the gap-fill exercise


Downloadable worksheets here

3) Discuss

• Do you agree that it's important to remember when you first fell in love?
• The Beatles sang "All You Need Is Love". Do you agree?

More
Famous quotes on Love
Do you agree?

Kurt Vonnegut: A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.

Ambrose Bierce in The Devil’s Dictionary:  Love, n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky in The Brothers Karamazov: What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.

James Baldwin in "The Price of the Ticket": Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.

Iris Murdoch: Love is the very difficult understanding that something other than yourself is real.



What is Love? http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/dec/13/what-is-love-five-theories



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The Changing UK - Southampton

You are going to

• watch a clip from a BBC documentary about the effects of immigration on the city of Southampton
• do a gap fill exercise
• discuss / write about immigration

1) Discuss

• How has your life changed in the last few years? 
• Has your city / town / country changed much in the last 10 years? How?
• What are the biggest changes in the world in the last 10 years?

2) Watch
You are going to watch a clip from a BBC documentary called the "The Truth About Immigration". The clip talks about the  changes in the population in the UK city of Southampton in the last 10 years. Southampton is a port on the south coast of England with a population of around 250,000.



Watch and answer

• How has Southampton been transformed in the last 10 years?
• What is special about the school in the clip?
• What nationalities are mentioned?

3) Practise
Do the gap-fill exercise. Watch the clip again if you need to check any answers.

Printable worksheet here

4) Discuss

• Do / Would you like to live or work in another country?
• Why do many people emigrate?
• What problems do you think people have when they emigrate?
• Why do you think so many immigrants have come to the UK in the last 10 years?
• What are the positive contributions that immigrants make to the economy and society?
• Do you think that immigrants have a responsibility to adapt to their new country? Should they learn the language and adapt to local customs?
• What are the effects of migration on both the migrants and the natives? How does it affect culture?
• What can be done to avoid problems in the future? What can politicians do? What should society do? How do you think the media should report immigration?

Many of these questions are discussed in the complete BBC documentary "The Truth About Immigration". If you have time you can watch it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHplEJgevqM

A summary of the documentary is here http://ampp3d.mirror.co.uk/2014/01/08/the-truth-about-the-bbcs-the-truth-about-immigration/

5) Write (IELTS)

Choose one
1) To what extent will migration from the developing world to the developed world become a social and political issue in the 21st century? (250 words) (IELTS Task 2 Academic)

Plan your essay.

• Think about population, work, housing, education, health... What can be done to avoid problems in the future? Also think about culture - what are the effects of migration on both the migrants and the natives?

2) One of the major problems facing the world today is the growing number of refugees. The developed nations in the world should tackle this problem by taking in more refugees. To what extent do you agree with this opinion? (IELTS Task 2 Academic)







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Real English - Popular UK Slang

You are going to 

• look at and practise some very common British slang expressions.
• try and guess the meanings of words from visual context
• do some matching and gap fill exercises

 
Teacher's note
I have seen many students come to the UK thinking they had a good level of English, FCE for example, but still struggle at doing basic things like talking to bus drivers or shop assistants. It's sometimes quite important to teach students "real" English instead of that boring, artificial and antiseptic textbook stuff.

Here is an example. How often do your students come into class with the odd and imperative sounding "Hello! How are you?" instead of the more natural sounding and (in the UK) now ubiquitous "Hiya! Y'alright?"
How many of us actually teach them to use "Hiya!", "Alright?" or "Cheers!" or "See ya!"?
Yet, informally, this is how most people in the UK actually speak to each other.

So, anyway, here are some informal expressions you won't find in many coursebooks or in any exams  but you will definitely hear when you come to the UK.

Warning. Be careful when you use some of these expressions. They are informal and a few may not be suitable for use in class, to your teacher or boss.







1) Discuss
1. How many of these very common expressions do you know?

2. Look at the presentation.

• How many of the words do you know? 
• Can you guess the meanings from the photos?

UK Slang Expressions from David Mainwood

Adapted from 17 British Slang Terms Americans Should Start Using Immediately







2) Practise
1. Try these matching exercises. 
Match the meaning on the right with the slang word on the left. One is done for you.

2. Now try this gap fill

Download printable worksheet (with answers) here






3) Write
Write some short dialogues using as many of the expressions as you can






More
1. One Direction explain some British vocabulary and slang.
How many of the expressions above do they talk about? 

2. English and American slang is different.
Hugh Laurie in The Ellen DeGeneres Show playing a game of American slang VS English slang.
How many of the expressions above do they talk about?

Slang links

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mackenziekruvant/british-slang-americans-should-start-using

http://www.effingpot.com/slang.shtml

http://thoughtcatalog.com/nico-lang/2013/09/71-simple-british-slang-phrases-everyone-should-start-using/

http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/

http://www.slang.org.uk/




Of course there is a lot of UK slang and new expressions come into the language all the time. How many of these do you know?
Maybe we'll look at these next time.
Cheers!
See ya!

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How much have the British changed?

You are going to

• watch a video and read about recent changes in British social attitudes on marriage, relationships, religion and welfare
• practise numbers, percentages, fractions, the language of graphs and statistics
• listen to people giving opinions

1) Discuss

• What are the British like? 
• Are we conservative and traditional or liberal and tolerant?
• Do you think the UK has changed in the last 30 or 50 years?
• Has your country changed in the last 30 or 50 years?
• What changes do you think have happened in the UK in the last 30 or 50 years?

2) Discuss
Look at the opinions in the exercise below.
How many do you agree with?

3) Watch
Changes in British social attitudes since 1983

Watch the video.

1) Put the opinions in the exercise above in the order you hear them.
2) What other information does the video tell you about British views on marriage, religion, welfare and relationships?

source http://www.bsa-30.natcen.ac.uk/





3) Watch again and answer these questions.

4) Discuss
What language do we use to describe graphs, data and statistics?
Look at the words in the questions above. In 60 seconds how many more words or expressions can you think of?
In pairs write a list.
eg  a sharp rise, drop, double, per cent ...







5) Read  
A) How many of these words do you understand?

B) Look carefully at the diagram and do the exercise below.

Changing Attitudes - The 1980s and 2012

6) Read
A) Read the text below and answer these questions. 
Compared with 50 Years ago;

1. Is class still important in British life?
2. Are the British more or less interested in politics?
3. Are the British of today more or less optimistic?
4. Do people think the Queen is still important?

Poll shows our views on class, politics, unions and royalty have all moved on since 1963

Britons are more interested in politics than 50 years ago, but less convinced that the government pays much attention to their views. The survey also found that while trade union power has become less of a concern, the influence of big business persists as an issue for 61% of people, slightly up on half a century ago.

Half a century on, the survey suggests, the influence of class over British politics has diminished, along with a feeling of engagement with Westminster, but it has not been accompanied by a loss of interest in politics – rather the reverse. Significantly, in 2013 only 17% think that "having elections makes government pay a good deal of attention to what people think", against 46% in 1963. Yet in contrast, 28% now say they take "a good deal" of interest in politics, up from 16%, while 43% take "some" interest, compared with 37% in 1963. Politics is alive and well, it appears, but the House of Commons is not the focus.

Among the findings, the 1963 and 2013 polls also underscore the shift in public opinion on social security. In 1963, 77% thought the government should spend more on pensions and social services, while that figure is now 42%. However, given the choice between tax cuts and increases in social services, there has been a small decline in support for tax cuts, from 52% to 46%, and only a similar fall in support for more social services, from 42% to 37%.

The comparative figures reveal a sharp decline in optimism. Today 11% think they are better off than they were a year ago, and 38% feel worse off. The figures for 50 years ago were 33% and 21% respectively.

In 1963, 36% of British people thought Britain should have very close ties with the US. That has fallen to 14% in 2013.

The survey also underlines the decline in support for the monarchy as a political entity – 63% thought the Queen and the royal family were very important to the nation in 1963, compared with 41% now.

Adapted from http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/nov/17/1963-opinion-poll-westminster-public



B) Vocabulary. Look at the text again and do the exercise below.

Printable worksheets here




More
Practice.
The language of graphs. 
Look at the presentation. Try and describe the graphs.

IELTS Task 1 vocab from David Mainwood

Reading.
NatCen Social Research site http://www.bsa-30.natcen.ac.uk/

News
http://www.channel4.com/news/british-attitudes-towards-health-family-sex-and-benefits

http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/british-social-survey-shows-changing-5873917





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