Listening test: Money and social behaviour

Listen to an NPR interview with researcher Emily Bianchi, who has participated in a study on the way money affects social behaviour, and complete the blanks in the sentences below with UP TO THREE words. 0 is an example.

source: NPR

0 Example:
Researchers Bianchi and Vohs analysed the data for nearly 30,000 respondents.

1 The aim of the study is to find out how what we earn affects how we _____________________ .

2 Wealthier people tend to spend _____________________ and socialise less with other people.

3 Wealthier people spend more time with friends but less with _____________________ .

4 People who earn _____________________ socialise less than those who earn $50,000.

5 If you have greater levels of education, you’re more likely to leave your  _____________________ .

6 Even if you lived in the same town in which you grew up, _____________________ dictates the time you spend socializing with your family.

7 Spending less time with family may have a negative effect on a person’s _____________________ well-being.

8 Money may allow people the luxury of choosing relationships more _____________________  .

Does access to money predict social behavior? That’s the question posed by researchers Emily Bianchi and Kathleen Vohs in a new study. They dug into data for nearly 30,000 respondents of the General Social Survey - that’s a long-running sociological survey of American attitude and behavior - to find out how what we earn affects how we spend our time. Emily Bianchi is an assistant professor at the Goizueta Business School at Emory University in Atlanta. Thank you for joining us.
Thank you for having me.
So what is the answer? How does income affect how people spend their time?
Well, what we found is that people who live in wealthier households tend to spend more time alone. And they tend to spend less time socializing with other people.
Any other people or particular other people?
Well, what we found was that people who are in households with higher income tend to spend less time with family, less time with neighbors. But they do spend more time with friends.
Now, what we’re talking about here when we say high-earning people. Give us a dollar.
You know, generally, we’re looking at – the median income was about $58,000. And we’re looking at this in a continuous sense. And we find it - it’s pretty linear. So if you’re in - your household earned $70,000, you’re going to see that people socialize less, on average, than households that are in $50,000.
Well, now, one tempting explanation might be that if you have a lot of money, you can go anywhere you want. If you don’t have a lot of money, you’re in - you’re stuck with the people or you’re happy to be stuck, perhaps, with the people that are right around you.
Yeah. And that was certainly something we wondered about. You know, there is evidence that when people have greater levels of education, they’re more likely to leave their communities of origin. They’re more likely to move away from their childhood homes. And so what we did is we looked at how these effects played out among people who didn’t leave their childhood homes or their childhood communities - and also looked at people who did. And what we found is that it actually didn’t matter. So
even if you lived in the same town in which you grew up, income still predicted the amount of time you would spend socializing with your family.
So why is this important? What do you think this tells us about social class and social connections and the importance of income for class and connection?
Well, I’m not entirely sure yet. I mean, there’s a lot of potential implications here. On the one hand, you know, it’s somewhat troubling because we know that social connections tend to promote mental and physical health. So to the extent that wealthier people are spending less time attending to those relationships, this could have negative implications for physical and mental well-being. On the other hand, you know, we still don’t know a lot about why wealthier people are spending less time with others. And it
could be that money enables wealthy people to limit contact with relatives with whom they have strained or difficult relationships. So it may be somewhat of a luxury to be able to pick which relationships you choose to attend to and focus on the ones that are most supportive and satisfying.
Emily Bianchi is an assistant professor of management at Emory University in Atlanta. Thank you very much for talking to us.
Thank you for having me.

KEY:
1 spend our time
2 more time alone
3 family and neighbours
4 $70,000
5 community of origin/childhood home
6 income
7 physical and mental
8 supportive and satisfying
 

Extensive listening: The truth about Magaluf

Stacey Dooley travels to Magaluf, on the Spanish island of Mallorca, a resort is which is famous for the drunken antics of the British tourists who go there, but Stacey wants to find out what it's like for the thousands of Spanish workers who serve, police and clear up.

What starts out as a regular shift at a bar or cleaning hotel rooms often ends up with Stacey uncovering a darker side that only the workers and residents get to see. Working in a bar Stacey is not only surprised to learn how much free alcohol is on offer to young British tourists, but she's horrified when she witnesses the sexually explicit drinking games the drunk tourists are encouraged to play. When she spends a morning cleaning hotel rooms, not only does she learn about the vandalism and mess tourists leave behind, but she meets one member of staff who's been left traumatised after he saw a young girl fall to her death at the hotel earlier this year, leaving him constantly worried about the safety of inebriated guests. Stacey discovers that the high numbers of tourists who die or are badly injured every year is linked to heavy drinking.

But it's when Stacey rides along with an ambulance crew and a police patrol car over a busy weekend that she discovers things are really getting out of control in Magaluf. She hears how the emergency services have seen their worst year ever, cases of violent fights and rape are on the rise, women posing as prostitutes are ganging up on young, and often British, tourists and robbing them. Sadly this year, they've seen more deaths in the resort than ever before, mainly due to a craze called balconing.

Extensive listening: The key to success? Grit

Leaving a high-flying job in consulting, Angela Lee Duckworth took a job teaching math to seventh graders in a New York public school.

She quickly realized that IQ wasn't the only thing separating the successful students from those who struggled. Here, she explains her theory of "grit" as a predictor of success.

You can read the transcript here.



A few days ago Angela Duckworth was invited to CBS This Morning to talk about his latest book.

View More: Lifestyle News|Live News|More News Videos

Pavlok: A gadget to break bad habits

Pavlok is a wrist-worn motivational device designed to help break bad habits by administering an electric shock every time the wearer shows weakness or succumbs to temptation.



More than 40% of our lives are spent in habit. For most of us, that time is wasted. The secret to transformation is not to try harder, it’s to replace bad habits with the habit of excellence. If you wanted to transform yourself, how would you start?
First, identify the habits that hold you back. Pair them with a negative stimulus like electric shock. Each surge of voltage trains your brain and weakens the neural connection until the bad habit is severed. Next, we place the bad habit with a positive one. Reward yourself when you complete your daily goal. Commit to a penalty if you fail. The fear of loss stimulate your basal ganglia, while the chance of reward motivates your prefrontal cortex. In fewer than 30 days the action becomes a habit.
Pavlok is the first system designed to help you build good habits and break bad ones. Earn rewards when you succeed. Pay the price when you fail. And experience the electric shock that keeps you on track.
Contribute to the crowdfunding campaign today.
Hi. I’m Maneesh Sethi, founder of Pavlok. Now I know that electric shock sounds crazy, but sometimes crazy works. Like many revolutionary ideas, ours started off just as a fun project, but it turned into something much more. Together with my co-founder Jim Lynch we set out to create Pavlok, the world’s first device that just doesn’t track what you do but actually changes what you do.
Here you see Pavlok in it’s wrist band form, but at its core Pavlok is a small module, it’s small enough that it can stick it anywhere on your body. Now, Pavlok is able to vibrate, beep and even electrically shock you on command. But what Pavlok can do is much more.
Instead of me telling you what Pavlok can do, let me show you what Pavlok has already done.
Hi, my name is David Goldstein and I’m hoping to use Pavlok to get me into a better exercise routine. I’m a cancer survivor. I had a heart attack. I was in a wheelchair for a while. I still have some paralysis in both legs. As you can see I’ve put on a great deal of weight and I’m hoping that Pavlok can help me address all of these issues.
I’m at 65 days out of the past 71 of using the Pavlok system. I am down 7 pounds. My arms have got noticeably stronger and my legs are actually the strongest they’ve been since I was paralysed in 2001. I go and play with my kids more during the day. It’s now just part of who I am and what I do.
You see, most of us just don’t know what greatness feels like. We assume we’re going to do what we’ve always done but users like David tell a different story. When they begin to fall back on their old routine, Pavlok jolts them out of it. In most cases, the old routine can be replaced in fewer than 30 days. People are already using Pavlok to begin writing every day, learn new languages, to exercise, to journal, to begin and form dozens of new habits. In fact, there’s infinite capabilities thank to Pavlok’s open developer API.
I know first hand how powerful small habit changes can be, and I’m excited to share Pavlok with the world. That’s why in we go for supporters like you, come in. We’ve built the Pavlok prototype. We’ve begun testing on users. Now we need your help to begin setting up manufacturing, so we can deliver Pavlok. I hope it change the habits that matter most to you.

Should parents be banned from smacking?

Should parents be allowed to smack their children?

Self-study activity:
Watch this short video and answer the questions below. The activity is suitable for Intermediate 2 students.



1 What has the United Nations report recommended?
2 What does '18' refer to?
3 According to the report, what is smacking similar to?
4 What forms of discipline should parents use?
5 When can parents be prosecuted under the current law?

A United Nations report has recommended that (1) Britain should pass laws to ban parents from smacking their children at home. The directions were issued by the UN Human Rights Committee as it published an assessment of legal and cultural issues in the UK. (2) 18 experts - who make up the body - found that the UK should take practical and legal steps to put an end to corporal punishment. Meaning it believes smacking at home to be (3) a form of corporal punishment. The report also says Britain should encourage campaigns which back (4) non-violent forms of discipline. Parents are not explicitly banned from striking their children. The law currently allows for "reasonable chastisement" to control a child's behaviour. But parents can be prosecuted (5) if their actions result in injuries such as bruises, cuts or scratches. On the current policy, a Government spokeswoman said:
Their policy on smacking is clear. They do not condone violence towards children. At the same time, they don't wish to criminalise parents for issuing a mild smack. The review is made up of international experts who monitor the implementation of civil and political rights. It's the first review of Britain since 2008.

London's supercar crackdown

Authorities in London are considering tough measures on noisy supercars around the exclusive district of Knightsbridge.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and complete the gaps in the transcript with the missing words. The activity is suitable for Intermediate 2 students.



Authorities in London are considering a crackdown on noisy supercars in and around the exclusive district of Knightsbridge. Every summer (1) ... car owners from the Middle East descend on affluent parts of the city with their prized motors but residents here say they're being driven to distraction by the revving engines and late-night (2) ... .
The noise that they create is an enormous problem. It's not so bad during the day although I do know that some of the (3) ... residents find it very difficult, but the real problem for us at night when they race up and down Sloane Street amongst other places, revving their cars at high speed and making really horrific noise and it’s quite impossible to sleep.
Now the local council is considering amending the law to ban revving engines, (4) ... and sudden acceleration.
There’s very (5) ... people, particularly from the (6) ... states, but possibly from other places as well in the UK and beyond, who drive these sports cars, these very, very upmarket models which have the facility to (7) ... into sports mode, which means that they can make an incredible amount of noise even when they’re (8) ... just by revving the engine and we know that people are racing the cars, they’re driving in convoy, very often there’s loud music attached and generally it's creating enormous (9) ... in the highly populated, highly residential streets.
But some drivers feel the criticisms levelled against them are unfair.
We come from a lot of different countries (10) ... there are local people here, there are super cars as well. Whenever you’re in a country that is not yours, you gotta respect the (11) ... in the end, so drive carefully, respect the people who live here, don't try to rev a lot, to make a lot of sound, in the end you don’t gonna be in their place. So… it’s not always Arabs who do this. A lot of Europeans do this as well.
Any (12) ... that are introduced for noisy drivers are likely to be too late to stop this summer's supercar assault. The proposed changes are under consultation and will (13) ... so until the autumn.

KEY:
1 wealthy 2 racing 3 elderly 4 racing 5 wealthy 6 Gulf  7 switch  8 stationary 9 disturbance 10 plus 11 rules 12 penalties 13 remain

Man walks 200 miles to prove how kind strangers can be

As part of Airbnb’s Daily Kindness bulletin film maker Leon Stuparich travelled from London to Glastonbury relying on the kindness of strangers.

Self-study activity:
Watch the news item and answer the questions below. The activity is suitable for Intermediate 2 and Advanced students.



1 How much money did Leon Stuparich have on his pilgrimage?
2 What did the lady on the campsite offered?
3 What exactly did the man they found on the road bring them five minutes later?
4 What was the group doing in the arts centre?
5 Where was the house they were offered?

The idea of the peace pilgrimage really to try and take the lessons I learned from the Dalai Lama when making Road to Peace and put it to the test and to see if kindness and love is enough that we can survive on in 21st century Britain, doing a walk 200 miles, (1) without money, penniless, from London to Glastonbury to see if it was really possible to live through kindness; would people take us into their homes, would we even find somewhere to stay.
When you meet somebody with a smile and you take time to understand that story as well, people come forward and they will naturally be kind. People automatically turn round and say, well what can we do for you, what can we offer?
One lady came out the campsite one morning and we said, oh, we're on a pilgrimage, you know, going walking two hundred miles, and she said, oh, (2) would you like some rice? I cooked some rice last night I've got a load leftover I can give me some!
Where we stayed the first night was literally by the side of the road and we woke up to this guy walking his dog, and he's like I'll come back in five minutes. You guys like a cup of tea?, and he turns up with (3) a kettle, mugs, tea bags and the kettle with boiling water inside just making us all cups of tea.
It was probably the most drastic night where we didn't, we didn't know where we're going to stay and one of the group, she got really sick and (4) we were screening the film Road To Peace in an arts center that night and then somebody in the Arts Center said, you can come in, you can come and stay in our flat, you know, here's the keys. Let yourself come and go as you please; it's actually (5) across the road from the hospital. Giving somebody the key to your house that four hours before you'd never met and trusting them with that, I think there's something really special about that.

Madrid Teacher: Ridiculous requests

In our weekly Madrid Teacher series, a group of teachers discuss some ridiculous requests people sometimes make.



I read in the newspaper the other day the English asked the postal workers to walk more quickly in order to, to deliver more letters.
That’s ridiculous.
Have you ever heard any ridiculous requests?
Well, when I was a student I worked at this fast food place and they made me wear a chicken suit and stand in front of the fast food place.
To bring customers…
Well, basically to give out flyers with discounts and, yeah, attract more customers.
I’m sure that they did, yeah.
Well, yeah, a was a bit of an attraction, standing there, cold weather, hot weather, warm weather, standing…
Yeah, the same happened to me but I had to be a part of birthday parties at a fast food place so I was with a big suit, enjoying the children, I was like what…
You know what I mean
… how hot is inside.
Last weekend I saw a man in a funny children's outfits skiing, you know, drawing the kids’ attention [Yeah.], it looks like fun.
For a while maybe.
I had to dress up one year as a jester. I was in a catering business and they made us dance down this aisle during one of our events and sing Christmas carols to all the people.
So you were singing?
Singing and dancing in a costume.
I had the same thing.
And what did you do if you didn’t know the words?
You’re supposed to memorize them.
You are.
So it’s part of the job, yeah.
But they were classical novels, carols I mean.
Yeah, yeah, like Jingle Bells and things like that.
That’s all dressing up, though. Have you ever had any other requests?
Well, there was this company and they decided they were cutting back so it’s a big company and so instead of, for example, cutting back on the executives, different important things, they decided they would take out this washing liquid in all of the company…
Did everyone get sick?
You know, that's an excellent question because, of course, after that I just thought it wasn’t a good environment to work in.
That was, that was.
Who knows.
So we are all washed up.
We’re all happy now.

Reading test: The etiquette of reclining seats on flights

In this week's reading test we are going to practise the kind of vocabulary and grammar task we are likely to have to do in the exam. Read the BBC article The etiquette of reclining seats on flights and choose the option a, b or c that best completes each of the gaps 1-12. 0 is an example.

You can see the nervous (0) ... on any flight when the seatbelt light is pinged off, as each passenger anxiously (1) …: "Do I have a recliner in front of me? Are my precious seven inches of legroom safe?"
Incursions into personal space are a familiar source of aggravation at high altitudes. (2) … it's not surprising that, according to reports, a United Airlines flight from Newark to Denver was (3) … when a passenger prevented the woman in front of him from leaning back using a $21.95 (£13) lock called a Knee Defender. The plastic clips go on the metal arms of the tray table, physically preventing the seat in front from being reclined. The clips come with a card that can be given to affected passengers to explain the motivation of the user.
After the passenger allegedly (4) … requests from cabin crew to remove the Knee Defender, the un-laid back fellow traveller in front allegedly (5) …a glass of water at him.
The man's methods may be extreme, but some travellers - unable to work on their laptops, eat, or simply enjoy the meagre proportions of economy class to the full (6) … leaners-back - will sympathise. For some time now, a backlash against reclining has been under way.
Earlier this year, a frequent business traveller's call for a "revolt" against reclining seats went viral. A survey by Skyscanner in 2013 suggested nine out of 10 travellers wanted (7) …  . Another poll for CabinCrew.com indicated that more than 60% of international cabin crew had observed an argument between passengers due to them.
It's not just the manufacturers of the Knee Defender that have sought to capitalise. In May Monarch Airlines (8) … plans to scrap reclining seats, following the example set by Ryanair.
But recliners can offer (9) … excuses. They may be very tall or affected by other physical impairments. On a red-eye, different rules apply - everyone wants to maximise their chances of catching an hour or two of sleep.
So what to do? The advice offered by Debrett's is to "ease your chair gently into a reclining position, (10) … will avoid a sudden invasion of the limited legroom of the passenger behind".
Etiquette expert Jean Broke-Smith takes a firmer line. On overnight flights there is a tacit understanding that everyone (11) … lean back when the lights go off, she says. On long-haul journeys it is acceptable. (12) … , she says, "I think it's very rude." She adds: "At the very least, you should turn around and say, 'Excuse me' first." Asking passengers to talk politely to each other? Fasten your seatbelts now, please.

0 a) blinks    b) glances   c) stares

1 a) asks    b) says   c) wonders

2 a) Because   b) However,   c) So

3 a) cancelled   b) diverted   c) re-directed

4 a) denied   b) opposed to   c) refused

5 a) broke   b) hurled   c) hit

6 a) as a result of   b) because   c) owing

7 a) see them banned   b) they were banned   c) to see them banned

8 a) advertised   b) announced   c) informed

9 a) extravagant   b) reasonable   c) sensitive

10 a) that   b) what   c) which

11 a) is to   b) will   c) would

12 a) Likewise   b) Otherwise   c) Similarly

Key:
1C 2C 3B 4C 5B 6A 7C 8B 9B 10C 11B 12B

Man makes money from cold calls

A man being bombarded with calls offering to help him reclaim payment protection insurance (PPi calls) is making money from the marketing companies with his own higher-rate phone number.

Self-study activity:
Watch this short BBC video and answer the questions about it.

The activity is suitable for (strong) intermediate 2 students.



1. How much money has he made since he bought a 0871 phone number?
2. Why did he decide to buy the 0871 phone number?
3. What does '20 or 30' refer to?
4. How much do callers pay when they phone this number?
5. Why do his friends and family not have to pay any money when they call him?
6. What's the first requirement to have a premium number?
7. Has Lee got into trouble for getting a premium number?

I was sick of being bombarded with PPI calls. I worked out, there must be a way to make money, I bought a 0871 phone number, attached it to my landline, only £10 plus VAT. It was working. I make a 7p a minute.
So basically you set up your own premium phone line, so every time they call you, they have to pay, so do you make much money from it?
I’ve made a £300 (1) since 2011 November time, and that’s it, yeah.
That doesn’t sound like a lot of money but you didn’t do it for the money really, did you? It was about the annoyance…
At the start I was so annoyed (2) I wanted them to stop, that’s why I bought that Western Wood number, but I didn’t think they would call me, but they found a way.
So in terms of what difference it’s made, now if you say the number of calls you get go down…
They’ve dropped. I was getting between 20 and 30 last year (3), this year is only about sixteen this month so far.
And how do they get that number then, is it something when, whenever you have to tell people it’s a premium number…
I do. Legally I need to say it costs them 10p. a minute (4).  An X amount of minute, legally I need to say that.
What about your friends and family, though? Do they have to pay?
No, they still have my Leeds number.
Right, so they can call you, so this is a second line essentially.
It’s on the same line but two numbers work on the same line, from my friends and family I’m a 0113, businesses I’m 0871 (5).
Yeah. And Fergus, just explain to us, when we are told about the story because Lee obviously acquired a big publicity from this, the regulators are now saying, you know, we should not all be going out to do this. What are the health warnings about this?
Well, I think the first thing to say is that if you’ve got a premium number you’re supposed to offer a service (6) and Lee is not really offering a service. And I think one has to ask how he’s managed to get past the regulator for that, but they’ve got rules, they say when you should be offering a service to as Lee already says you’ve got to tell people that you are charging and how much you’re charging them. And you’ve got a fairly robust claim, complaint handling procedures in place should people not want, you know, want to complain about the service you’re providing, so… It’s not a service, it’s not a thing for everyone to do. We have reasons for doing it. He’s got the motivation to do it. He works from home, he’s got, he’s got the time and flexibility to be able to do it. But it’s not something, we don’t want all to be charging our mum and dad to phone and ask us how you enjoyed the holiday, you know.
Have you been in any trouble for it? Has anyone kind of said…
I’ve read the regulator’s statement has come out this week, while they do discourage it, I’m not breaking any code at all (7).

Cover up or face fines in Majorca

The Balearic Island chain has long been a popular destination for European holidaymakers. But now tourists heading to the island of Majorca are being warned to cover up before leaving the beach or face being fined.

Self-study activity:
Watch this BBC video and answer the questions about it. The activity is suitable for Intermediate students.




1 How many tourists visited Greece last year?
2 What kind of tourists does Majorca want to attract?
3 What made the local authorities in Palma change some local laws?
4 What do 50€ and 200€ refer to?
5 What's the difference between Palma and New Jersey?
6 When are tourists expected to start paying fines if  inappropriately dressed?
7 What do critics say about this new regulation?

To check your answers you can read the transcript below.

In recent months some of the Mediterranean countries hit worse by the Euro-zone crisis as seeing their resorts filling up once again. More than 15m international arrivals landed in Greece last year (1) while Spain saw almost 60m. But have these countries learned any lessons.
Well, for the Spanish island of Majorca the answer is maybe. There they’re talking not only about recovery, but also redefining their product. In short, Palma is going up market (2). That’s why there’s been a huge investment in top of the range hotels here, more than twenty built in the last three years, and there are many more planned. And along with wanting more high-end tourists (2), locals now have higher expectations of the way they want their visitors to behave. So, less of this, and more of this. And that’s partly why they’ve introduced the good citizen plan.
Authorities in Palma say the good citizen plan and the subsequent changes to local laws came about at the request of residents (3), some of whom were so fed up with tourists coming off the beach into the old town inappropriately dressed.
The penalties which make up the good citizen plan start at €50 for anyone not wearing a top or T-shirt away from beach areas, €50 for riding a bike on the pavement and €200 if you’re caught buying merchandise from illegal street traders (4). And it’s not just places like Palma where local sensibilities are being offended by tourists, in May authorities in Qatar brought in new rules for visitors to dress modestly in public and respect the Islamic country’s values. Meanwhile in New Jersey in America, it’s the tourists who have the upper hand after laws were passed banning locals from wearing saggy jeans or pants on its boardwalks following a number of complaints from visitors (5).
There tends to be people wandering off the beach and not being aware of the fact that they might cause offence, you know, by wearing inappropriate clothing, you know, speedos, bikinis, with everything hanging out, you know. Let’s be frank, it’s not that pleasant.
Local journalist Anna Nicholas has lived in Majorca for more than 10 years and says she can see why the city council is following in the footsteps of other European cities like Barcelona, which introduced a similar plan last year.
I’ve heard they won’t slap fines immediately, maybe give people a little bit of warning for the first few months of this summer, maybe next year bring it in and come in a bit heavy once people know what’s going on (6), but I think, you know, the idea is that tourists are welcome here, you know, it’s not an idea to just slap fines on people and they have a horrible holiday.
But for unwitting tourists the laws could mean they find themselves on a more expensive holiday than they bargain for.
It was very awful to go through the city and be in contact with people they don’t wear shirts, yeah, you know, it’s not, it’s a question of aesthetic.
The fine is just €50 so, so people could learn from it because if you go in this area, by the beach, for me it’s fine if people just go in their, their swimming suit. It’s not proper if you want to go to the downtown, for example, to the restaurant to have a drink or to some shops, that time for sure you should wear something.
While critics have suggested this is just a money-making venture (7), Palma city council insists this is not true.
No, no, absolutely not. This is a manner to, to still being a relaxing city that we are, we are a really… we are in, in a good position to be a new destination for the next twenty years.
And what happens if a tourist simply says I have no money?
What happen if I go to Piccadilly Circus and I say to the police, I’m sorry, I don’t have money? What happen? It is the same in London, it’s the same in Berlin, it’s the same in… wherever. If I go to Rome and I say a police, I don’t have money, the police say, okay, come with me. And at the end, I pay. It’s quite simple, so… here’s the same.
And the vice-mayor is hopeful that other towns in Majorca will soon follow suit and adopt their own good citizen plans. But for now, it’s simple. If you’ve got it, don’t flaunt it, at least not here in Palma, as it could cost you dearly.

Madrid Teacher: Painting the town

In this week's Madrid Teacher video three teachers discuss the problem of graffiti in our cities. Once again, we can use the video as a springboard to get familiar with some features of spoken English.

First of all, watch the video through to get the gist of what the conversation is about.

Watch the video again. This time, pay attention to the following characteristics of spoken English we can hear.

• Giving emphasis to the information we give: quite; really
• Use of fillers to gain thinking time: erm; er; sort of
• Hedging our opinion so that we don't sound so categorical: I guess
• Showing the speaker that you're paying attention: Yeah; Was it a nice fountain?; Oh, OK; Oh , I didn’t know that; Right
• Use of actually to introduce a piece of surprising information
• Use of so as a linking word

Now it's over to you. Get together with a relative or friend and discuss your take on graffiti. Is it art? Is it vandalism? Don't forget to use some of the features of  spoken English we have heard on the video.

Have you both heard about Keith Herring?
Erm, rings a bell.
Yeah? He was a very famous artist, no longer living, he was a graffiti artist, and a lot of people were quite impressed with his work and he would leave a lot of erm… works, I guess you could say, all over the streets, on subway cars etcetera. And then it was something that sort of created an art movement, and different people were, also thought it was really cool and then of course I’m sure you’ve heard of tagging, for people, then to write codes in different places, to communicate. But then of course, erm… in different countries, different kids for example they wanted to be bad, so instead of smoking, they decided they’d get out their spray can and write, I don’t know…
Anything.
… I don’t know “ Pepe loves Wilma”.
Yeah…
The other day I was in, I was in the park, and I was there with my dog and I saw these two people, a father and a son… doing something. I said, “What is that?” And they had a spray can, and they were... graffiti, putting graffiti on the fountain, and I was shocked, and I said to all the people around me, “Shouldn’t we do something just other than watch them?” It didn’t phase anybody else….
Was it a nice fountain?
It was a nice fountain. It was a nice park! It’s upsetting.
I would, I would take issue. No it’s funny but the way graffiti is an actual legitimate art form, it’s actually, yeah, branched out of the delinquency factor… Because nowadays it’s actually quite a worthwhile investment, if you have, if you happen to own a piece of art by someone like Banksy, who’s a graffiti artist of renown in London and Birmingham.
Oh, OK.
And actually, recent er, recent acquirers, celebrity, erm, fans of his include Cristina Aguilera and Angelina Jolie.
Oh , I didn’t know that.
And they have works of his in their own homes, so, I don’t know if that means they have bits of wall all around.
Right.
But yeah it’s worth really quite a substantial amount of money.
So then… artists should start branching out!
Yeah, I suppose so.

Etiquette classes for a chance Obama meeting

First Person is a series of video features published every Monday on the BBC News website which tell the stories of unique individuals from all walks of life in their own words.

In this episode First Person talks to Crystal L Bailey. The etiquette teacher runs classes for children in the US capital who need to know how to behave on social occasions.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions.

The activity is suitable for intermediate 2 students.



1 How old are the children admitted to Crystal's school?
2 Why is it important for children who live in Washington to know how to behave in public?
3 What does Crystal teach at the start of every lesson?
4 What sport did one of Crystal's students play with one of Obama's daughters?
5 What do American people associate tea with?
6 What quality does Crystal want her students to feel after each lesson?

You can check your answers by reading the transcript below.

I’m Crystal L Bailey, director of the Etiquette Institute of Washington, here in our nation’s capital. And I teach children etiquette from ages all the way from three and a half to eighteen. Well, the young people that I work with, they run the full gamut. But being in Washington DC, you never know if you’re being called to dinner to the White House with Sasha and Malia, so these young people have to be prepared, whether they’re eating one course or ten.
I start off every lesson we’re teaching how to make a great first impression. Eye contact and that firm handshake and a smile will get you farther than any type of education that you may have, and so being in Washington DC, and make sure that these young people are prepared, and that they don’t become nervous even if they are meeting a big way.
Now let me see how everyone use a napkin if they had to use a napkin.
One of my students told me that she was good friends with Sasha, President Obama’s daughter, and that they played soccer and she hoped the girl was not mad at her because she had kicked her with a ball. So, I just never know who my students are or what experiences they may have had.
I was able to come right here in Washington DC and get to talk to Senator Mark Warner about the importance of government for funding juvenile diabetes, and also last year I was able to get a personal tour of the Capitol building and the White House.
It’s just great for her to always have her manners on and to be able to hang herself with grace and poise when she is in front of someone, is able to speak to someone in such a capacity.
So let us move over to the tea table.
I think for Americans a lot of time we see tea is having something with the Queen, and so it’s really a unique and regal experience for young people. It transports them to a different place and really a different time.
Just check and make sure it’s not too hot on your lips.
As we talk about those things in what will it be like immersing yourself in a different culture or going to a different country.
And I just want to see how quiet you can be.
After a lesson I really want my young people too feel a sense a confidence that they can walk into any situation and really handle it with an A-plus personality. I know that as I work with these young people and they go on, they’ll be representing their parents well with their meeting partners at a law firm or meeting associates from on the Hill.

Your body language shapes who you are

Amy Cuddy's talk at TED  in June last year, Your body language shapes who you are, focuses on how non-verbal language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves.

Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist, shows how if we stand in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident, can affect the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success.

Her research on body language reveals that we can change other people’s perceptions — and even our own  — simply by changing body positions.

Remember you can activate the subtitles to watch Amy Cuddy's talk and you can also download the video clip and full transcript from the TED site.

Talking point: Great conversations

Are you a good conversationalist?
Do you know anyone who is?
Do you remember the last time you had a good conversation?
Who did you have the conversation with?
What was it about?
How long did the conversation last?
What made it such a good conversation?
How important do you think face-to-face conversations are?
Do you think we’re having fewer and fewer conversations as we communicate more and more through texting and social media?
Do you ever find it difficult to have a conversation in person? Why or why not? 


This week's talking point, from The New York Times Learning Network, deals with the art of conversation and the way we seem to be losing it. In preparation for your session with your conversation group, you can read professor Sherry Turkle's article in The New York Times, The Flight from Conversation, published in April this year.

Photographs by Peter DaSilva and Byron Smith, for The New York Times

Talking point: family stories of sacrifice

We all love family stories. They are usually a must in family gatherings, and we never get tired of hearing the same good old stories being told over and over again.

I have a vivid memory of my grandfather telling me anecdotes about the Moroccan war he fought in and the way he once risked his life for a drink of water; or my father getting up at 5 in the morning and having to ride his bike for 10kms every day to bring parcels for the family business before he set off for work; or one of my nephews, who used to ask me to tell him about the day my car broke down in the fast lane on one of the busiest ring roads in Madrid.

As it is stated in The New York Times Learning Network, family stories often include events in which people make a sacrifice: Perhaps relatives fled political oppression in their home country or moved to a place where their children and grandchildren were likely to have more opportunities. Perhaps they worked long hours to provide for the family. What stories are there in your family story of personal sacrifice?

Get together with the members of your conversation group and discuss how the actions and decision of your parents, grandparents or other relatives spoke, or speak, to their hopes for their children. What did they do? How have you benefited by their sacrifices, hard work or planning? What have you learned from their examples?

To gain further insight into this topic you can read The New York Times article by Sam Borden and Keith Bradsher “Tight-Knit Family Shares Lin’s Achievement,” where they tell the story of basketball sensation Jeremy Lin’s parents.

Copyright 2012 The New York Times Company

I've never been so insulted

In mid May The Telegraph published the article I've never been so insulted by William Langley where he compiled a number of famous  insults and rude remarks carried out in the public arena. He divided the insults in categories:

Political insults
Personal insults
Royal insults
Film star insults
Literary insults
Shakesperean insults
Men vs women insults
Sporting insults

Drop by The Telegraph to find out the subtle and acrymonious art of name-calling in the UK.

H/T to It's for Tweeters.

The Power of Vulnerability

At the end of 2010, reseacher named Brené Brown gave a talk at TEDxHouston. That talk, The Power of Vulnerability, has become a web-video phenomenon since, being viewed and shared by millions of people, for whom Brené's words on shame, vulnerability and honesty moved them, inspired them, helped them make change in their own lives.

Brené Brown studies human connection -- our ability to empathize, belong, love. In a poignant, funny talk at TEDxHouston, she shares a deep insight from her research, one that sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to understand humanity.

She poses the questions: How do we learn to embrace our vulnerabilities and imperfections so that we can engage in our lives from a place of authenticity and worthiness? How do we cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection that we need to recognize that we are enough – that we are worthy of love, belonging, and joy?

Remember you can activate the English subtitles to fully understand the talk.

Talking point: Bullying

What is a bully?
Describe a bully from your school days.
What are some different types of bullying?
Why do bullies behave this way?
When does bullying become criminal behavior?
What personality traits do bullies typically have?
Have you ever witnessed or taken part in bullying? What did you do? Do you wish you had acted differently?
What type of bullying is worse, online bullying or bullying that is face-to-face?

Do you agree or disagree with these statements?
Bullies are typically people who have more confidence than others.
Banning social media networks on school campuses will help prevent bullying in schools.
Students who are bullied need more help from teachers than their bullies do.
Gossiping is one of the worst forms of bullying in schools.
If a victim commits suicide, the bully should be charged with murder.

Today's conversation topic is about bullying. Get together with the members of your talking group and discuss the questions above.

In preparation for your talking session, you can read the article from The New York Times Behind Every Harassed Child? A Whole Lot of Clueless Adults, which reviews Bully, a documentary by Lee Hirsch released in the US in late March. Here's the trailer of the film.



Here's the transcript for the trailer.

The last couple days, we had heard that Tyler had his head shoved into a wall locker.
They said he's a geek.
My concern is that you are making someone feel so uncomfortable, that they didn't want to be in school.
I feel kinda nervous on school days. I like learning, but I have trouble with making friends.
They said he's a geek, and some kids told him that he's worthless, to go hang himself.
And I think he got to this point to where, enough was enough.
Tonight a tragic situation... A Perkins boy, just 11 years old, believed to have been desperate enough to take his own life.
This is an awfully complicated and difficult issue.
Kids will be kids, boys will be boys.
They're just cruel at this age.
Here, what we get, is "nothing's wrong"? We didn't do anything? Everything's fine.
They punch me, strangle me.
Take things from me. Sit on me.
Give it to him hard!
He's not safe on that bus.
I've been on that bus. They are just as good as gold.
My voice is not going to fall silent.
I will go to my grave, until a difference is made.
I reached out to parent's who've lost kids, parents of kids being bullied all over the world, and it took off like wildfire.
All it takes is for one person to stand up.
Be the difference. Go out and find that one child, that new kid, standing over there by himself. Be willing to stand up for him.
Everything starts with one, and builds up. Eventually, we have an army.
If we all do it together, we will change the world.

Speakout Upper-intermediate: Good or bad manners

What kind of behaviour in public places gets on your nerves?
Give a recent example of when you experienced good or bad manners.
Do you think our attitude to behaviour changes as we get older?

Public behaviour is today's topic in a new installment of the Speakout video podcasts, Longman. Watch the video and note down the answers the people interviewed give.



Now it's over to you. If possible, get together with someone who also speaks English and answer the questions above about you. Try and use some of the expressions you heard on the video podcast.

You can read the transcript here.