Extensive listening: OK GO, How to find a wonderful idea

Where does OK Go come up with ideas like dancing in zero gravity, performing in ultra slow motion or constructing a warehouse-sized Rube Goldberg machine for their music videos? In between live performances of This Too Shall Pass and The One Moment, lead singer and guitarist Damian Kulash takes us inside the band's creative process, showing us how to look for wonder and surprise.

Singer and video director Damian Kulash, Jr. and bassist Tim Nordwind met at summer camp in 1987, and a decade later they formed OK Go. With Dan Konopka as drummer and Andy Ross as guitarist and resident computer programmer, they've built a unique career at the intersection of music, visual art, technology, and science. They're among an emerging class of artists whose 21st-century brand of experimental creativity dissolves the traditional boundaries between disciplines.

'When our band started, music and art were actually different things,' says Kulash. 'Musicians made plastic discs and artists made objects for galleries. Now we all make ones and zeros, so the categorical distinctions don’t make much sense anymore.'

You can read a full transcript here.

Last call for the phone booth?

Yes, there's nothing like reaching out and touching someone from a phone booth. They used to be everywhere, but they are now rare coin-operated curiosities. CBS's Mo Rocca looks into the history of the once-ubiquitous phone booth, and of the wi-fi kiosks that are now replacing them in New York City.

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



1. What kind of birds attacked Tippi Hedren in The Birds?
2. What question did Peter Ackerman’s son ask him one day?
3. What does ‘1889’ refer to?
4. How many pay phones were there in America in the 1990’s?
5. What does the Payphone Project consist of?
6. What services are the kiosks replacing the phone booths in New York offering?
7. How much does a telephone call cost in the remaining telephone booths in Manhattan?

It’s Sunday Morning on CBS and here again it’s Jane Pauley.
Those tumbling boxes in the 1980 film Aeroplane are wooden telephone booths like this shinier 1950’s era model with its rotary phone. For some of our younger viewers, a phone booth might as well be a monolith from another world. With Mo Rocca, we remember the good old days...

[What is this made of?] Some of you may recognize this coin-operated curiosity: [It’s ringing! Hey! Where are you, it’s Mo.] It’s called a phone booth.  Phone booths used to be everywhere, providing an office for agent Maxwell Smart and a sanctuary for Tippi Hedren from killer seagulls in The Birds. Now, they’re so rare that Peter Ackerman wrote a children’s book about this one, one of only four remaining outdoor phone booths in all of Manhattan.
I walked past this phone booth every day with my kid when he was three years old, and at a certain point, he said to me, ‘Why is that phone in a box?’ And I realized that he didn’t know what a phone booth was, which is so bizarre!
Are you coming to use a phone booth?
He is.
Are you serious?
Yes.
For kids, the phone booth has become something of a novelty.
Kids today hanging on the phone all day long.
But grown-ups [It’s a phone booth.] can’t be bothered.
Now you can call anyone but it sounds better if you use the pay phone.
Would you like to use one? [No.] Could you make a call? You can call anyone with it! Okay.
The first public coin-operated pay phone appeared in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1889. The first phone booth debuted in the early 1900s. The 1970s brought those semi-enclosed pedestal-style pay phones which, for most of us, Superman included, found lacking. By the 1990s there were nearly three million pay phones in America. But now just a small fraction remain.
Hello?
Hi! Is this Mark Thomas?
Hi, this is Mark, yes.
Mark, I think this is far easier if we do this face to face.
Oh, look at that.
I’m Mo, I was just talking on the phone.
Mark Thomas  created the Payphone Project, an online database that keeps track of the remaining pay phones around the world.
What did the payphone do to deserve this?
Well, the payphone didn’t do anything; the cell phone came along.
That’s right, our phones got smart, so smart they began putting pay phones out of business.
Do you see the cell phone as sort of an arriviste, as someone that sort of came along and stole the thunder of the payphone?
It stole its relevance, and it made communication so simple and so trivial even, that this became a laborious way to make a phone call.
In New York, and maybe coming to a city near you, pay phones are being replaced by kiosks offering phone calls, free wifi, Internet service, and a port to charge your cell phone.
Aren’t people with their cell phones enough?
Jen Hensely is with the company installing them.
Well, people are on their phones all the time, and this allows them a free way to offload their data plans for people who don’t have access to mobile plans or data. We’re offering that for free. So we think it’s a really important public service.
I approached this sleek and shiny upstart gingerly and called the only person whose number he actually still remembers: his mother.
I’m calling you from a special free phone on the street. You’re on TV right now!
Oh! What channel?
CBS, Ma. The show that I’m on. CBS Sunday Morning.
Okay, okay. I’m going to look.
No, wait, Ma, you’re not on live right now. Are you still there?
My mother hung up on me, but I can’t blame the kiosk for that. Yet even with all these bells and whistles, my heart belonged to the old-timey phone booth.
I’ll make a call.
I knew you would! I knew you’d come around!
You can call anyone.
Adam?
Yes, there’s nothing like reaching out and touching someone from a phone booth.  Oh, and it turns out Manhattan’s four remaining outdoor phone booths are free of charge.
Now everyone will want to use the pay phone!
So, yes, we got our quarters back.

KEY:
1 (killer) seagulls
2 Why is that phone in a box?
3 the year when the first pay phone appeared
4 almost three million
5 an online database that keeps track of the remaining pay phones around the world
6 phone calls, free wifi, Internet service, and a port to charge your cell phone
7 Nothing, they are free of charge

Extensive listening: Asking for help is a strength, not a weakness

We all go through challenges — some you can see, most you can't, says Michele L. Sullivan.

In a talk about perspective, Sullivan shares stories full of wit and wisdom and reminds us that we're all part of each other's support systems. "The only shoes you can walk in are your own," she says. "With compassion, courage and understanding, we can walk together, side by side."

Michele L. Sullivan is known for her sustainable and collaborative approach to philanthropic investing.

Sullivan strongly believes monumental and sustainable change in our largest global challenges can only happen through partnerships and collaboration between public, private and non-profit entities. This strategy resulted in the Caterpillar Foundation's transformation into one of the most influential corporate foundations and, ultimately, the launch of the Foundation's collaborative impact platform, Together.Stronger.

You can read a full transcript for the talk here.

Talking point: The art of communication

This week's talking point is the art of communication. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

Do you know anyone who is a good listener?
Do you remember an occasion when there was an awkward silence in the conversation?
Can you think of situations in which you have misunderstood someone or someone has misunderstood you?
How easy or difficult do you find it to make small talk (polite conversation about unimportant things)?
When did you last hit it off with someone? (like each other from the very beginning)
Do you remember an occasion when you put your foot in it (accidentally do or say something which embarrasses or offends people)?
Do you know anyone who tends to dominate the conversation?
Are you good at putting people at ease (make someone feel relaxed and confident)? If so, how do you do it?
Who in your family is good at telling interesting stories in family reunions?
When did you last have a row?
Do you know anyone who has a pleasant/unpleasant voice?
Do you ever talk to yourself?
Do you dread going to places where you don’t know many people?
Is how you say something as important as what you say?
Is gossip always harmful?
Do you think a person should never raise their voice during a discussion?
To what extent is technology having a negative effect on the quality of conversation?

What advice would you give a visitor to your country about the following:
- personal space?
- common gestures?
- interrupting?
- making eye contact?
- conversation topics to avoid?

To illustrate the topic, you can watch Julian Treasure's talk at TED How to speak so that people want to listen.

You can read the transcript here.

Nokia 3310 mobile phone resurrected at MWC 2017

Nokia's 3310 phone has been relaunched. Many consider the original handset iconic because of its popularity and sturdiness.

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



1. When was the Nokia 3310 last on sale before its comeback?
2. How long does the Nokia 3310 battery last?
3. What is it said about smartphone Chinese market?
4. Who has launched the BlackBerry Keyone?


Barcelona and, as the mobile phone industry arrives for its annual jamboree, there is nostalgia in the air. Nokia, a name that used to rule the mobile world, is making a comeback. For the Finnish firm which has licensed the brand, this was its first chance to make a big splash and, along with a range of new smartphones, it unveiled something very retro, last on sale in 2005.
Let me reintroduce the iconic Nokia 3310.
You can't do much with this phone except make calls and play a game of Snake, but the battery lasts forever. Well, almost.
We were just listening to our consumers. We asked, "What is the most iconic device that you have ever seen from Nokia?" And we thought, why not? Let's have some fun and we created this device for the consumers.
Now this may be fun, but let's face it, it is a bit of a gimmick. If Nokia is to become a major force in the mobile world again, it won't through the 3310, but for its new range android smartphones.
The company claims this model is already selling well in China, but competition in a market where all smartphones look much the same is tough. So, perhaps, it was smart to look back as well as forward.
By bringing out this truly iconic device, which has got bags of nostalgia, for many people it was
their first mobile phone, it catches their attention and people will know Nokia is back.
But will the new and old Nokia appeal to the phone-buying public?
Maybe with my parents that would work, but I don't think with our generation that that would be something people would be interested in.
I would switch my Apple phone for that thing.
Even if it couldn't go on the internet?
No internet? Oh, well, then, I think I will change my mind!
And here's another phone trying for a comeback. This is the BlackBerry Keyone, launched by a Chinese firm which has licensed the brand. Two once-great names making an unlikely bet that they can be big again in our mobile future.
Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC News, Barcelona.

KEY:
1 in 2005
2 (almost) forever
3 all the smartphones look the same
4 a Chinese firm

Extensive listening: How to have better political conversations

Robb Willer studies the forces that unite and divide us. As a social psychologist, he researches how moral values — typically a source of division — can also be used to bring people together.

Willer shares compelling insights on how we might bridge the ideological divide and offers some intuitive advice on ways to be more persuasive when talking politics.

Robb Willer is a professor of sociology, psychology and organizational behavior at Stanford University. He studies the role of morality in politics. His research shows how moral values, typically a source of ideological division, can also be used to bring people together. His political research has investigated various topics, including economic inequality, racial prejudice, masculine overcompensation and Americans' views of climate change.

You can read a full transcript for the talk here.

Extensive listening: A better way to talk about love

In love, we fall. We're struck, we're crushed, we swoon. We burn with passion. Love makes us crazy and makes us sick. Our hearts ache, and then they break. Talking about love in this way fundamentally shapes how we experience it, says writer Mandy Len Catron.

In this talk for anyone who's ever felt crazy in love, Mnayd Len Catron highlights a different metaphor for love that may help us find more joy — and less suffering — in it.

Originally from Appalachian Virginia, Mandy Len Catron is a writer living and working in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Catron writes about love and love stories at The Love Story Project and teaches English and creative writing at the University of British Columbia. Her article "To Fall in Love with Anyone, Do This" was one of the most popular articles published by the New York Times in 2015.

You can read the full transcript here.

Talking point: Teams

This week's talking point is teams. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

What do you think are the qualities needed to be a good team player?
What different roles do team members perform in a team?
What problems usually arise in teams?
What teams have you been in?
(You can also talk about your experience with team sports)
How successful were they?
What was your role and contribution to those teams?
Does a team always need a leader?
Is team learning more beneficial than individual learning for you?

To illustrate the point you can watch the video 5 Golden Rules for building a Great Team.

Extensive listening: Your smartphone is a civil rights issue

The smartphone you use reflects more than just personal taste ... it could determine how closely you can be tracked, too.

Privacy expert and TED Fellow Christopher Soghoian details a glaring difference between the encryption used on Apple and Android devices and urges us to pay attention to a growing digital security divide.

"If the only people who can protect themselves from the gaze of the government are the rich and powerful, that's a problem," he says. "It's not just a cybersecurity problem — it's a civil rights problem."

Christopher Soghoian researches and exposes the high-tech surveillance tools that governments use to spy on their own citizens, and he is a champion of digital privacy rights.

You can read a full transcript here.

Extensive listening: Why you should talk to strangers

"When you talk to strangers, you're making beautiful interruptions into the expected narrative of your daily life — and theirs," says Kio Stark.

In this delightful talk, Stark explores the overlooked benefits of pushing past our default discomfort when it comes to strangers and embracing those fleeting but profoundly beautiful moments of genuine connection.

You can read the transcript for the talk here.

Extensive listening -Why I keep speaking up even when people mock my accent

Artist Safwat Saleem grew up with a stutter — but as an independent animator, he decided to do his own voiceovers to give life to his characters.

When YouTube commenters started mocking his Pakistani accent, it crushed him, and his voice began to leave his work. Hear how this TED Fellow reclaimed his voice and confidence in this charming, thoughtful talk.

You can read the full transcript here.

Talking point: Language learning

This week's talking point is languages. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

When did you start learning English?
How long was it before you could hold a conversation in English?
When did you first put your learning into practice?
Have you progressed as well as you expected?
Have you even been immersed in an English-speaking country?
How important is it to you to speak accurately?
What level of competence would you like to attain eventual?
In your experience, are native English speakers good at speaking second languages? Why / Why not?
Apart from English, what's an important second language in your country? Why is it important?
Do you speak this language? Is it widely spoken? Why / Why not?


Interaction
How can these factors have an impact on second language learning?

the right mentality

financial limitations

distractions

opportunities for interaction

first language interference

natural competence

the prestige of knowing a second language

To illustrate the topic you can listen to this BBC recording on the difficulties Britons have to speak foreign language and polyglot Susanna Zaraysky's opinion on how to best learn a foreign language.

London pigeons to wear pollution monitoring backpacks

A flock of pigeons are being fitted with lightweight pollution monitoring backpacks. Report by Jessica Wakefield.

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



1 When did pigeons use to carry vital messages?
2 Why can’t the company use drones?
3 What part of the day is the company particularly interested in?
4 How high do pigeons fly?
5 How many people die in London as a result of air pollution?
6 How can you find the pollution levels in the place where you are?

Some consider them filthy vermin likening them to flying rats but could pigeons offer the chance of cleaner living?
Okay, pull the wing out. Just lift it a couple of seconds up.
A flock of the birds are being fitted with lightweight pollution monitoring backpacks, a modern version of paper letters being tied to them.
Many years ago, in the First and Second World Wars, pigeons used to carry vital messages and saving many lives and when the company approached me, said would we do this, they showed me this very good gadget on the back of the pigeons and I thought we could link the two together once again, our little feathered friends, the athletes of the sky, are providing a very good service.
We already have fixed positioned air-pollution monitors but could the birds soaring through the skies offer a new way to assess air quality?
You know, you're asking why, why pigeons I… we could’ve… people say, oh you could have used drones but actually you can’t fly drones over London and because we are particularly interested in rush hour and obviously there's a lot of traffic and you can't really circulate quite easily, so we’re like how can we go across the city and uncover as much pollution data as possible and that's when we thought about pigeons. They fly pretty low, around a hundred feet high, so the data we get is quite relevant for the people in the street as well.
Latest research estimates that air pollution causes 9,400 premature deaths a year in London.
It’s monitoring NO2 and ozone. We track two gases that impact your health. Diesel, for instance, and traffic would create NO2. Ozone comes from NO2 being transformed by photochemistry. This is really complicated science but what we know is that these are things that are bad for your health, and so if you can track how this pollution changes, broadly speaking you understand better how environment impacts our health.
And you can find out local pollution levels by tweeting @pigeonair along with the place you're in London, and they'll tweet you back telling you about the air that you're breathing in. The next evolution will be mini-monitors worn by humans as we try to get a clearer picture of London's invisible killer.

Talking point: Mind your language

In this week's talking point we are going to talk about language. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas flow more easily when you meet up with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

• In what situations do you use a different language? Give examples.
• In what situations do you prefer to communicate electronically?
• When do you prefer face-to-face communication?
• How do you usually greet the following: friends; family; work colleagues; people you meet for the first time?
• How do people communicate with their pets?
• Which non-verbal gestures are commonly used in your country?
• How has your language changed over the years? Why?

To illustrate the point you can watch the New York Times video Italian hand gestures, a short story.

Why do Italians talk with their hands? For many, it’s something in their blood. Some scholars argue that gestures have been in Italy for centuries. They came with the ancient Greeks that once colonized southern Italy. These gestures survived. They’ve been passed down through generations for centuries, even more than language.
Be careful.
Professor Poggi has identified around 250 hand gestures that Italians use in everyday conversation. It’s a language of its own with its own complex vocabulary.

What is the World Wide Web?

The World Wide Web is used every day by millions of people for everything, from checking the weather to sharing cat videos. But what is it exactly?

Twila Camp describes this interconnected information system as a virtual city that everyone owns and explains how it's organized in a way that mimics our brain's natural way of thinking.

Self-study activity:
This video clip is part of a Ted-ed lesson that comes complete with comprehension questions, additional resources to delve deeper into the topic and ideas for discussion.

I think a good way to go about it would be trying to answer the TED comprehension questions in the first place and then watch the video lesson to check your answers.

The activity is suitable for intermediate 2 students.



The World Wide Web, where you're likely watching this video, is used by millions of people every day for everything, from checking the weather, ordering food, and chatting with friends to raising funds, sharing news, or starting revolutions.
We use it from our computers, our phones, even our cars. It's just there, all around us, all the time. But what is it exactly?
Well first of all, the World Wide Web is not the Internet, even though the terms are often used interchangeably. The Internet is simply the way computers connect to each other in order to share information.
When the Internet first emerged, computers actually made direct calls to each other. Today, networks are all around us, so computers can communicate seamlessly.
The communication enabled through the Internet has many uses, such as email, file transfer, and conferencing. But the most common use is accessing the World Wide Web.
Think of the Web as a bunch of skyscrapers, each representing a web server, a computer always connected to the Internet, specifically designed to store information and share it.
When someone starts a website, they are renting a room in this skyscraper, filling it with information and linking that information together in an organized way for others to access.
The people who own these skyscrapers and rent space in them are called web hosts, but anyone can set up a web server with the right equipment a bit of know-how. There's another part to having a website, without which we would be lost in the city with no way of finding what we need.
This is the website address, which consists of domain names. Just like with a real life address, a website address lets you get where you want to go. The information stored in the websites is in web languages, such as HTML and JavaScript.
When we find the website we're looking for, our web browser is able to take all the code on the site and turn it into words, graphics, and videos. We don't need to know any special computer languages because the web browser creates a graphic interface for us.
So, in a lot of ways, the World Wide Web is a big virtual city where we communicate with each other in web languages, with browsers acting as our translators. And just like no one owns a city, no one owns the Web; it belongs to all of us. Anyone can move in and set up shop. We might have to pay an Internet service provider to gain access, a hosting company to rent web space, or a registrar to reserve our web address. Like utility companies in a city, these companies provide crucial services, but in the end, not even they own the Web.
But what really makes the Web so special lies in its very name. Prior to the Web, we used to consume most information in a linear fashion. In a book or newspaper article, each sentence was read from beginning to end, page by page, in a straight line until you reached the end.  But that isn't how our brains actually work. Each of our thoughts is linked to other thoughts, memories, and emotions in a loose interconnected network, like a web.
Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the World Wide Web, understood that we needed a way to organize information that mirrored this natural arrangement. And the Web accomplishes this through hyperlinks. By linking several pages within a website or even redirecting you to other websites to expand on information or ideas immediately as you encounter them, hyperlinks allow the Web to operate along the same lines as our thought patterns.
The Web is so much a part of our lives because in content and structure, it reflects both the wider society and our individual minds. And it connects those minds across all boundaries, not only enthnicity, gender, and age but even time and space.

Reading test: 7 Ways to Ensure Your Emails Get Read

In today's reading test we are practising the heading matching type of task.

It is based on a blog post by Tom Searcy, 7 Ways to Ensure Your Emails Get Read, who contacted email expert Jonathan Borge  to get some tips on how to master the art of getting emails answered.

Match headings A-H with their corresponding paragraph 1-7. There is an extra heading you don't need to use.

A Be careful with the timing 
B Do your homework
C Email content
D Give them time
E Mind your image
F Sound accessible
G What the recipient actually sees is essential
H Your sign-off

1.
Remember that only 20 percent to 40 percent of your emails will actually get opened, though most of your subject lines will be seen. To boost your open rates, think of short, catchy, and informative subject lines. You should try to dangle compelling information ("The future of sales emails"), and you can even try adding some mystery ("Strange question"). We also recommend personalized subject lines, if possible ("Hunter Sullivan suggested I contact you").]

2.
Portray yourself as someone that other people can connect to. You'll want to show your recipients that you care about hearing back from them... so you can't simply sound like you're just sending another mass email. Never use "Dear sir or Madam," and stay away from overly formal language.

3.
 Make your emails short, simple, and easy to quickly digest. Your leads are busy people with jobs, too, so you need to maintain their interest. Do your research and find out what resonates for your prospects. Try to get an introduction to them or, if that's not possible, figure out in more detail what they or their company do. Tell them why you're emailing them, specifically. Talk about how you can solve a problem for them.

4.
End your emails with a definitive, clear call to action. Make it dead simple for your recipients to say yes-;whether it's to a meeting, phone call, or product demo. Don't ask them for permission. If you want a phone call, then say "Call me right now at X for more details."

5.
Reach out to your leads when they're not too busy. Make sure you avoid heavy traffic times like Monday mornings. Based on our tracking data, we recommend the middle of the week, mid-day, as the best time to send emails.

6.
First impressions are important both in person and online. The tone and formatting of your email is all your recipients have to judge you by. Make sure you are being professional, clear, and easy to understand. Stay away from over-formatted emails that look gimmicky, but don't hesitate to call out important information in bold or bullet points.

7.
Send yourself a sales email. Put yourself in your leads' shoes. If you were them, would you open this email? Would you spend more than two seconds reading it? If so, what would you do next?

Key:
1G 2F 3C 4H 5A 6E 7B

Big City Apps

In this video clip, BBC presenter Adam Shaw tests San Francisco's Open Data initiative to share government information with the city's residents. This has led to apps on which citizens can rate restaurants in line with the local government's health ratings and find a nearby parking space.

Self-study activity:
Watch this BBC segment from BBC Horizons, a programme which tries to cast a look at the future of global business and communication, and say whether the statements below are true or false.

The activity is suitable for intermediate 2 students.



1 You have to pay for the software.
2 The Thai Idea Vegetarian Restaurant is three miles away.
3 Adam is using the same application to find the restaurant and to find a free parking space.
4 The first parking space Adam finds is only available if you pay.
5 The same application allows you to report any problem to the council.
6 The apps can be improved technically, although they seem to be useful enough.
7 At the end, Adam tells us how long it took him to find the parking space.

To see if civic apps can make life in the city easier, I’m testing one which uses open data to help people find safe, healthy places to eat. I’m also going to be trying to overcome the age over an issue –finding somewhere to park.
So I’ve got my app. We are off to the Thai Idea Vegetarian. Very close, a third of a mile or so. So, let’s go. If only I could find an app that could drive! So I’ve used an app to find a vegetarian restaurant close by for which users have access to local government’s health ratings, and then combined it with their own ratings of the restaurant.
Ok, so [it] should be here. Before we actually go in, we have to find a place to park. So that’s what we’re going to use the next app for. It’s called SF Park. This is a very clever system, supposedly anyway. So parking space is still available according to the app. Not this right but the next right. Driver error, driver error has meant we have passed the parking space. I’ve never been so stressed. Look at the sweat on my head. It is now next on the left. Tension mounts. Right turn here, there’s a right turn here. There is a space. Curiously there is no meter. No, no, because this one says ‘permit parking only’.
Mission control. We’re going to go round the corner again to find the parking space. Ok, we are almost there. We are here. I’ve found a parking space. However, can Adam park a car? The answer is not this year.
So as I was driving along I saw and felt this rather large hole in the road. But there’s no problem. I can report it immediately to the local council using one of their SeeClickFix apps. So I want to make a report. Please select a location. Yes, it’s found my location.
Well, actually, I haven’t done too badly. The apps haven’t done too badly. A few teething problems I think, and it’s not city wide yet, but indeed it enabled me to find the parking space, a restaurant with a good rating from local people, report a problem in the street and doing fairly straight-forwardly.
While easier parking and better dining experiences might seem like a small beginning as the city releases more data and new developers find innovative of using it, the civic app could grow into something altogether bigger.

Key:
1F 2F 3F 4F 5F 6T 7F

Streetlife

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Talking point: What Five Living People Should Be on the New Postage Stamps?

Student Opinion is a regular feature of The Learning Network, The New York Times educational blog. In late September they featured this debate about snail (traditional) mail:

The United States Postal Service announced a few weeks ago that it was tossing out its rule that its stamps honor only dead individuals and will be featuring the living as well.

What five living people would you like to see honored with commemorative stamps?
Do you think the Postal Service is right that stamps featuring living people will “create some excitement and even prompt some young people to engage with snail mail”?
Do you ever mail things these days?
What would be the advantages of the comeback of snail mail?

You can read Katharine Q. Seelye's article Can I Get One Sheet of the Lady Gagas... for background information before you get together with your friends to discuss the topic.

During the conversation with your friends, it's possible that you don't understand something your friends told you. Remember some of the phrases you can use to ask them to repeat what they said.

(I’m) sorry?
(I beg your) Pardon?
Would you mind repeating that?
I’m sorry, I didn’t understand what you said.

I didn't quite catch that. Could you say it again, please?

Five ways to listen better

Julian Treasure shares five ways to re-tune your ears for conscious listening -- to other people and the world around you.

In our louder and louder world, says sound expert Julian Treasure, "We are losing our listening." In this short talk, 5 Ways to Listen Better, he reminds us of the need to slow down and listen to the people and the world around us. At the end of the talk he provides a simple framework for becoming better listeners.

This TED talk may help us in our daily life and as English learners.

Self-study activity:
Watch Julian's seven-minute talk and note down what he says about the following.

Techniques we use when listening
Reasons why we are losing our listening
The five exercises he suggests to improve our listening
What does RASA stand for?

Remember that you can activate the English subtitles if you wish so. You also have the option to go to the TED webpage and copy and paste the interactive transcript of Julian's talk.