A primary school headmistress bans parents from wearing pyjamas to school.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and complete the gaps in the sentences below.
Pyjamas, not the most obviously offensive item of clothing but the (1) ... of this school in Darlington has taken offense of the nightwear being worn during the day. The (1) ... ... of Skerne Park Academy has issued a stern warning to parents requesting they stop coming to school in pyjamas and dress more (2) ... . A letter to parents has gone viral since being shared on social media.
I think over the last months I’ve noticed an increasing (3) ... in parents wearing pyjamas coming to school. Firstly on the school run and then sort of picking their children up from school, and then finally I think it was when they turn up in those in parents’ evenings in pyjamas and also at Christmas performances, when it got to that point I thought I'm going to have to write a (4) ... ... just to say, you know, maybe it's not the best thing to do, coming to school in your nightwear. I can’t tell people how (5) ... ... and I would never dream of trying to. However, I think some things need to be said.
Although the principle behind the pyjama ban is to set a good example for the kids, some parents disagree.
I think people should be able to wear what they want.
But despite the anger from some parents at the school, Mrs Chisholm has said that she's received a largely positive response on an (6) ... that she says ultimately boils down to aspiration and committing to a routine.
I think we strive to increase our outcomes and aspirations for our children in school. We work very hard, it's a fantastic (7) ... and I think, you know, to have that sort of routine where you get in the open you, you… the moment you get dressed in the morning and then you get ready for school, you’re coming and you’re ready, ready (8) ... ..., I think it's a really good routine for children, for the future, and for their future, sort of, and aspirations for their own lives.
Key:
1 head teacher
2 appropriately
3 trend
4 nice letter
5 to dress
6 issue
7 community
8 to learn
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Manners. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Manners. Mostrar todas las entradas
jueves, 2 de junio de 2016
sábado, 21 de mayo de 2016
Reading test: Today’s worship of children borders on the perverse
In this week's reading test we are going to practice the multiple choice reading comprehension task, which is based on The Guardian article Today’s worship of children borders on the perverse by Tim Lott.
Read the text and choose the option A, B or C which best completes each sentence. 0 is an example.
Today’s worship of children borders on the perverse
Every Father’s Day or Mother’s Day, when our children are required for a few hours to acknowledge their parents’ unstinting efforts on their behalf, I am asked by one of them, usually resentfully: “Why isn’t there a children’s day?” The answer reliably comes back: because every day is children’s day. Then I found out there is a children’s day after all – National Children’s Day on 15 May.
Doubtless the idea of this day is to bring attention to those children who suffer hardship and neglect. However, I have a suspicion that were my nine and 13-year-old daughters to find out about this occasion they would simply assume they were going to be entitled to some extra privileges. Nevertheless, I was somewhat encouraged to learn from the press release that it was going to “raise awareness about the importance of adult wellbeing … adult happiness … and [adult] mental health in the UK”.
Adult happiness – there’s a concept I could embrace. However, it sits uneasily with the rest of the release which announces that the way we are to achieve “adult wellbeing” and (apparently incidentally) produce “heartful and mindful” children, is to “enjoy” informal activities such as “a playing out day for local families, carrying out daily random acts of kindness during the week, holding a street party, and ‘a go home on time’ week for working parents to spend time with the family.” Which sounds a lot more like simply more fun for the kids to me.
I may be sounding a trifle sour at the moment. This is because a few days before writing this column a couple of things happened that made me slightly less mindful and heartful than my darling children. As a family we took The Complete Walk of Shakespeare’s plays along the South Bank in London and after an hour or so we reached a screen with chairs in front.
My wife and two younger daughters found chairs, but I couldn’t see one. A little weary, I asked Louise, my nine-year-old, to let me sit down (I am 60, not incidentally) and to sit on my lap. She did so, but a minute later decided she wanted her chair back. I refused. As a result I was turned on as if by a trio of velociraptors, not only by Louise, but my wife and older daughter, who both insisted I was being unconscionably selfish. The atmosphere remained frosty for some time and I found myself looking forward to the catharsis I might get seeing the excerpt from King Lear.
On the tube home, a young couple got up to give their seats to two kids who looked about seven. It seemed strange to someone of my generation. Once upon a time it was normal practice for children to give up their seats for adults.
The most important shift in power in the last few generations is the welcome historical movement away from men towards women. It may be that the shift in power from parents towards children is part of the same phenomenon. But this worship of children does seem to be bordering on the perverse to me – much as I adore my own.
Perhaps now that we have given up on political ideology, romance and God, children are the last place we can go where we might find some kind of religious relationship. For it seems that they have indeed become objects of our veneration. If so, they are better idols to worship than an almighty God, or Karl Marx or a passing romantic fancy. But that doesn’t mean that sometimes it feels like they get spoiled rotten. That is to say, as a worshipper myself, I sometimes to lose my faith.
I only hope my children will find the heartfulness and mindfulness to forgive me.
0 Example:
The writer’s child
A complains about the fact his/her family doesn’t celebrate children’s day.
B doesn’t know there is a children’s day.
C feels gratitude towards his/her parents.
1 Children’s day
A celebrates parents’ happiness.
B draws people’s attention to social inequality.
C is a day for children to receive presents.
2 To celebrate children’s day
A families are encouraged to help other people.
B parents are allowed to leave work earlier.
C street parties are organised.
3 A few days ago the writer and his family
A saw some Shakespeare’s plays in the open.
B went to the park with a book by Shakespeare.
C went to the theatre.
4 During the trip
A everybody found a chair eventually.
B the writer felt tired.
C the writer got angry with his daughter.
5 On the tube home.
A a child gave his seat to the writer.
B the parents left their daughters their seats
C the writer was surprised by a young couple’s behaviour.
6 The writer points out that
A children are also gaining power.
B children have become dictators.
C women have taken away too much power from men.
7 These days it seems
A children are all spoilt.
B children are the centre of attention.
C religion is making a comeback.
KEY:
1B 2A 3A 4B 5C 6A 7B
Read the text and choose the option A, B or C which best completes each sentence. 0 is an example.
Today’s worship of children borders on the perverse
Every Father’s Day or Mother’s Day, when our children are required for a few hours to acknowledge their parents’ unstinting efforts on their behalf, I am asked by one of them, usually resentfully: “Why isn’t there a children’s day?” The answer reliably comes back: because every day is children’s day. Then I found out there is a children’s day after all – National Children’s Day on 15 May.
Doubtless the idea of this day is to bring attention to those children who suffer hardship and neglect. However, I have a suspicion that were my nine and 13-year-old daughters to find out about this occasion they would simply assume they were going to be entitled to some extra privileges. Nevertheless, I was somewhat encouraged to learn from the press release that it was going to “raise awareness about the importance of adult wellbeing … adult happiness … and [adult] mental health in the UK”.
Adult happiness – there’s a concept I could embrace. However, it sits uneasily with the rest of the release which announces that the way we are to achieve “adult wellbeing” and (apparently incidentally) produce “heartful and mindful” children, is to “enjoy” informal activities such as “a playing out day for local families, carrying out daily random acts of kindness during the week, holding a street party, and ‘a go home on time’ week for working parents to spend time with the family.” Which sounds a lot more like simply more fun for the kids to me.
I may be sounding a trifle sour at the moment. This is because a few days before writing this column a couple of things happened that made me slightly less mindful and heartful than my darling children. As a family we took The Complete Walk of Shakespeare’s plays along the South Bank in London and after an hour or so we reached a screen with chairs in front.
My wife and two younger daughters found chairs, but I couldn’t see one. A little weary, I asked Louise, my nine-year-old, to let me sit down (I am 60, not incidentally) and to sit on my lap. She did so, but a minute later decided she wanted her chair back. I refused. As a result I was turned on as if by a trio of velociraptors, not only by Louise, but my wife and older daughter, who both insisted I was being unconscionably selfish. The atmosphere remained frosty for some time and I found myself looking forward to the catharsis I might get seeing the excerpt from King Lear.
On the tube home, a young couple got up to give their seats to two kids who looked about seven. It seemed strange to someone of my generation. Once upon a time it was normal practice for children to give up their seats for adults.
The most important shift in power in the last few generations is the welcome historical movement away from men towards women. It may be that the shift in power from parents towards children is part of the same phenomenon. But this worship of children does seem to be bordering on the perverse to me – much as I adore my own.
Perhaps now that we have given up on political ideology, romance and God, children are the last place we can go where we might find some kind of religious relationship. For it seems that they have indeed become objects of our veneration. If so, they are better idols to worship than an almighty God, or Karl Marx or a passing romantic fancy. But that doesn’t mean that sometimes it feels like they get spoiled rotten. That is to say, as a worshipper myself, I sometimes to lose my faith.
I only hope my children will find the heartfulness and mindfulness to forgive me.
0 Example:
The writer’s child
A complains about the fact his/her family doesn’t celebrate children’s day.
B doesn’t know there is a children’s day.
C feels gratitude towards his/her parents.
1 Children’s day
A celebrates parents’ happiness.
B draws people’s attention to social inequality.
C is a day for children to receive presents.
2 To celebrate children’s day
A families are encouraged to help other people.
B parents are allowed to leave work earlier.
C street parties are organised.
3 A few days ago the writer and his family
A saw some Shakespeare’s plays in the open.
B went to the park with a book by Shakespeare.
C went to the theatre.
4 During the trip
A everybody found a chair eventually.
B the writer felt tired.
C the writer got angry with his daughter.
5 On the tube home.
A a child gave his seat to the writer.
B the parents left their daughters their seats
C the writer was surprised by a young couple’s behaviour.
6 The writer points out that
A children are also gaining power.
B children have become dictators.
C women have taken away too much power from men.
7 These days it seems
A children are all spoilt.
B children are the centre of attention.
C religion is making a comeback.
Photograph: Alamy for The Guardian
KEY:
1B 2A 3A 4B 5C 6A 7B
miércoles, 6 de enero de 2016
Talking point: Good manners
This week's talking point is good manners. 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.
How would you define “good manners”?
To what extent are good manners important?
Do you think our society in general is becoming less civil and more rude? Why or why not?
Do you remember an occasion when somebody was impolite to you?
Do you remember an occasion when you could have been more polite to someone else?
What examples of good manners do you think are most essential?
What examples of bad manners annoy you the most?
- Someone not saying please or thank you
- Holding the door open for women
- Someone picking their nose
- Burping when eating or drinking
- Boasting about money
- Talking about your achievements
- Slapping someone on the back
- Someone invading your personal space
- Arriving late for a meeting or a date
- Staring at people
- Putting your elbows on the table when you eat
- Not covering your mouth when yawning
- Not giving your seat to an elderly person on public transport
- Staring at someone
- Swearing
- Telling rude jokes
What eating habits do you consider unacceptable?
What are your feelings about public displays of affection?
Do you usually complain if you have a problem in a shop or a restaurant?
Who do you habitually defer to: e.g. your parents, older people, your boss?
Do you have a laid-back attitude to life or are you more uptight?
To illustrate the point you can watch the Speakout video Behaviour, where a number of passers-by answer these questions:
Give a recent example of when you experienced good or bad manners.
Do you think our attitude to behaviour changes as we get older?
What kind of behaviour in public places gets on your nerves?
P: Hello. City life can be quite impersonal, so I try to smile at people and thank them whenever they behave kindly, but some forms of anti-social behaviour really do get on my nerves.
Today I’m talking to people about good and bad behaviour. What kind of behaviour in
public places gets on your nerves?
H: I think what mostly gets on my nerves is when people listen to their music really loudly on a
stereo when you’re on the train, or in a lift. I think that’s a bit anti-social.
C: Um, probably noise more than anything actually. I suppose it’s one of those sorts of things
you see in effect in towns, areas now get louder and louder – probably later into the night
as well.
A: Well, screaming babies, in, like, shops and just generally around and the parents, kind of, standing there and not really, and just, kind of, ignoring the child and you just want to, just,
tell the baby to just ‘shut up’ but, obviously, you can’t.
Co: Loud noise: people with loud voices. People, er, bad manners.
G: When you’re on public transport, like on a train, and couples start kissing in front of you.
S: Smoking within the vicinity. As someone who, personally doesn’t smoke, I find that it can, it
can get on my nerves at times.
P: Give a recent example of when you experienced good or bad manners.
S: The other day, just as an example, recent lack of manners I think, was in a local park and there was a rubbish bin nearby but that person instead of taking the extra effort to just simply walk over and drop it in, decided carelessly to just drop their rubbish on the ground
where they were.
C: I travel a lot on the trains and things like that so I find, increasingly, the actual noise on
trains from people using mobile phones, things like that, really.
H: Well, recently, I’ve seen it a few times, you know, when you’re shopping or you’re in a restaurant and you’re trying, you’re speaking to the person that’s serving you and maybe somebody’s, they’re on their phone, or they’re not really paying attention. You see that
quite a lot, I think, in London particularly.
G: On the bus this morning, when an old gentleman got on and someone got up to give him a
seat.
P: Do you think our attitude to behaviour changes as we get older?
H: Yeah, I think it does. I think as you get older you become, probably, a bit more intolerant of certain, sort of, anti-social behaviour and, as, when you’re younger you’re probably not as
aware of it.
Co: I think the older people, definitely appreciate manners, good behaviour and a good attitude.
C: I suppose so. I suppose we learn how to be more tolerant of it. We can be, probably, more short-tempered of it because we’ve probably had it all of our lives and we want it to, sort of, come to an end, but I think we learn how to, sort of, either walk away from it or ignore it,
that sort of thing.
Ch: Yeah, definitely. It becomes more important as you get older. You have to impress more
people, therefore, you have to be more polite.
A: Yeah, and you gain a conscience as you get older as well. As kids, like, you just say
whatever you want to each other, kids, but you kind of realise what you can and can’t say
as you get older.
How would you define “good manners”?
To what extent are good manners important?
Do you think our society in general is becoming less civil and more rude? Why or why not?
Do you remember an occasion when somebody was impolite to you?
Do you remember an occasion when you could have been more polite to someone else?
What examples of good manners do you think are most essential?
What examples of bad manners annoy you the most?
- Someone not saying please or thank you
- Holding the door open for women
- Someone picking their nose
- Burping when eating or drinking
- Boasting about money
- Talking about your achievements
- Slapping someone on the back
- Someone invading your personal space
- Arriving late for a meeting or a date
- Staring at people
- Putting your elbows on the table when you eat
- Not covering your mouth when yawning
- Not giving your seat to an elderly person on public transport
- Staring at someone
- Swearing
- Telling rude jokes
What eating habits do you consider unacceptable?
What are your feelings about public displays of affection?
Do you usually complain if you have a problem in a shop or a restaurant?
Who do you habitually defer to: e.g. your parents, older people, your boss?
Do you have a laid-back attitude to life or are you more uptight?
To illustrate the point you can watch the Speakout video Behaviour, where a number of passers-by answer these questions:
Give a recent example of when you experienced good or bad manners.
Do you think our attitude to behaviour changes as we get older?
What kind of behaviour in public places gets on your nerves?
P: Hello. City life can be quite impersonal, so I try to smile at people and thank them whenever they behave kindly, but some forms of anti-social behaviour really do get on my nerves.
Today I’m talking to people about good and bad behaviour. What kind of behaviour in
public places gets on your nerves?
H: I think what mostly gets on my nerves is when people listen to their music really loudly on a
stereo when you’re on the train, or in a lift. I think that’s a bit anti-social.
C: Um, probably noise more than anything actually. I suppose it’s one of those sorts of things
you see in effect in towns, areas now get louder and louder – probably later into the night
as well.
A: Well, screaming babies, in, like, shops and just generally around and the parents, kind of, standing there and not really, and just, kind of, ignoring the child and you just want to, just,
tell the baby to just ‘shut up’ but, obviously, you can’t.
Co: Loud noise: people with loud voices. People, er, bad manners.
G: When you’re on public transport, like on a train, and couples start kissing in front of you.
S: Smoking within the vicinity. As someone who, personally doesn’t smoke, I find that it can, it
can get on my nerves at times.
P: Give a recent example of when you experienced good or bad manners.
S: The other day, just as an example, recent lack of manners I think, was in a local park and there was a rubbish bin nearby but that person instead of taking the extra effort to just simply walk over and drop it in, decided carelessly to just drop their rubbish on the ground
where they were.
C: I travel a lot on the trains and things like that so I find, increasingly, the actual noise on
trains from people using mobile phones, things like that, really.
H: Well, recently, I’ve seen it a few times, you know, when you’re shopping or you’re in a restaurant and you’re trying, you’re speaking to the person that’s serving you and maybe somebody’s, they’re on their phone, or they’re not really paying attention. You see that
quite a lot, I think, in London particularly.
G: On the bus this morning, when an old gentleman got on and someone got up to give him a
seat.
P: Do you think our attitude to behaviour changes as we get older?
H: Yeah, I think it does. I think as you get older you become, probably, a bit more intolerant of certain, sort of, anti-social behaviour and, as, when you’re younger you’re probably not as
aware of it.
Co: I think the older people, definitely appreciate manners, good behaviour and a good attitude.
C: I suppose so. I suppose we learn how to be more tolerant of it. We can be, probably, more short-tempered of it because we’ve probably had it all of our lives and we want it to, sort of, come to an end, but I think we learn how to, sort of, either walk away from it or ignore it,
that sort of thing.
Ch: Yeah, definitely. It becomes more important as you get older. You have to impress more
people, therefore, you have to be more polite.
A: Yeah, and you gain a conscience as you get older as well. As kids, like, you just say
whatever you want to each other, kids, but you kind of realise what you can and can’t say
as you get older.
jueves, 22 de octubre de 2015
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
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
sábado, 6 de diciembre de 2014
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
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
martes, 24 de junio de 2014
Madrid Teacher: Awfully annoyed
In our weekly Madrid Teacher series, four teachers discuss things that annoy them.
Watch the video through to get the gist of the teachers' conversation.
Watch the video again. This time pay attention to the following features of spoken English:
Use of so as a connector.
Use of like as a connector.
Showing agreement: Oh, yeah; absolutely; It's true
Use of really to emphasize the information we are giving.
Use of you know as a filler to gain thinking time.
Use of erm as a filler to gain thinking time.
Use of I mean to paraphrase what you have just said.
Use of vague language when we can't be very precise: kind of
Involving listeners in the conversation by asking them questions.
Use of actually before giving some surprising information.
Use of anyway to return to the main point in the conversation.
Now it's over to you. If possible, get together with a friend and talk about the small things in life that annoy you. You can also talk about the situations the Madrid Teachers discussed.
Make a point of using some of the features of spoken English they used.
Louise: So I was walking down the street the other day. I hate to be stuck behind somebody who walks slowly. It drives me crazy.
Thomas: Oh, yeah.
Louise: I can feel the steam coming out of my ears.
Thomas: Absolutely.
Louise: Is there anything that really really gets you mad?
Thomas: You know, going along with that, I feel the same way but then when I see someone rushing past me, I’m, like, why don’t you just leave a little earlier.
Vicky and Louise: Ha, ha, ha.
Thomas: Really, it’s gotta be my pace exactly, anything slower, anything faster drives me nuts.
Joyce: Or one thing that really bothers me is like, you know, I usually walk down the stairs or sometimes I walk up, you know, those escalators and then, you know, if I’m walking down and somebody’s like behind me like they want me to go faster so it’s like "Excuse me" I’m already walking, like, you know.
Thomas: This is a life or death situation here, I mean, we’re on moving stairs.
All: Ha, ha, ha.
Louise: They could eat you right up.
Vicky: Or when people stand on the wrong side of the escalators and block the passage to walk.
Joyce: Oh, I always tell them to move. I always say, Please can you please move to the right. I always tell them.
Louise: It’s true. Getting places seems to be a source of annoyance. I mean the airports, the metro, all those kinds of places seem to be, seem to be ripe for creating situations that can be annoying. Have you had any bad travel experiences, annoying things when you’ve been traveling?
Vicky: Oh, yeah, actually, you know, over Christmas there was a lot of snow everywhere. My flight was delayed, erm, by four hours. I was flying with Easyjet. It wasn’t so bad but you know how after you’ve been delayed for a certain amount of time, I think it’s two hours or two and a half hours the airline or the company are actually obliged to give you something like a sandwich or a drink or something.
Thomas: Wow, I’ve never heard of that.
Louise and Sophia: They are.
Thomas: All airlines? Is this…
Vicky: It’s a blanket thing, they’re obliged to give you something because they are putting you in a situation where you may not have currency for that country left over, or you’re in a situation where you weren’t expecting to be in, for a long period of time plus the airport’s extortionate, there’s not very much selection, there’s not much choice, anyway, but with Easyjet, nothing, got on the plane and they said finally after five hours now because we waited on the runway for that, OK, you’ve got a budget of 4 euros fifty to have a snack and a drink, a non-alcoholic drink, OK, fine, whatever, but then I said OK, so can I have this sandwich for two euros fifty, a hot sandwich ‘cause I’m starving and this drink, can I have a Coke? "Oh, no". The total came to four euros. And they said, "You can’t have hot food included in this.”
Louise and Sophia: It’s so petty.
Vicky: But then I said, fine, so can I have a Snickers and a packet of nuts and the drink. "Oh no, no, sorry you can only have one snack and one drink. Even though it doesn’t come to your budget.”
Joyce: Well that’s absolutely ridiculous.
Vicky: Ha, ha, ha.
Louise: I feel a bit annoyed just listening to that story. Those petty rules that they put on you they’re just too much.
Vicky: Yeah. Ha, ha, ha.
Watch the video through to get the gist of the teachers' conversation.
Watch the video again. This time pay attention to the following features of spoken English:
Use of so as a connector.
Use of like as a connector.
Showing agreement: Oh, yeah; absolutely; It's true
Use of really to emphasize the information we are giving.
Use of you know as a filler to gain thinking time.
Use of erm as a filler to gain thinking time.
Use of I mean to paraphrase what you have just said.
Use of vague language when we can't be very precise: kind of
Involving listeners in the conversation by asking them questions.
Use of actually before giving some surprising information.
Use of anyway to return to the main point in the conversation.
Now it's over to you. If possible, get together with a friend and talk about the small things in life that annoy you. You can also talk about the situations the Madrid Teachers discussed.
Make a point of using some of the features of spoken English they used.
Louise: So I was walking down the street the other day. I hate to be stuck behind somebody who walks slowly. It drives me crazy.
Thomas: Oh, yeah.
Louise: I can feel the steam coming out of my ears.
Thomas: Absolutely.
Louise: Is there anything that really really gets you mad?
Thomas: You know, going along with that, I feel the same way but then when I see someone rushing past me, I’m, like, why don’t you just leave a little earlier.
Vicky and Louise: Ha, ha, ha.
Thomas: Really, it’s gotta be my pace exactly, anything slower, anything faster drives me nuts.
Joyce: Or one thing that really bothers me is like, you know, I usually walk down the stairs or sometimes I walk up, you know, those escalators and then, you know, if I’m walking down and somebody’s like behind me like they want me to go faster so it’s like "Excuse me" I’m already walking, like, you know.
Thomas: This is a life or death situation here, I mean, we’re on moving stairs.
All: Ha, ha, ha.
Louise: They could eat you right up.
Vicky: Or when people stand on the wrong side of the escalators and block the passage to walk.
Joyce: Oh, I always tell them to move. I always say, Please can you please move to the right. I always tell them.
Louise: It’s true. Getting places seems to be a source of annoyance. I mean the airports, the metro, all those kinds of places seem to be, seem to be ripe for creating situations that can be annoying. Have you had any bad travel experiences, annoying things when you’ve been traveling?
Vicky: Oh, yeah, actually, you know, over Christmas there was a lot of snow everywhere. My flight was delayed, erm, by four hours. I was flying with Easyjet. It wasn’t so bad but you know how after you’ve been delayed for a certain amount of time, I think it’s two hours or two and a half hours the airline or the company are actually obliged to give you something like a sandwich or a drink or something.
Thomas: Wow, I’ve never heard of that.
Louise and Sophia: They are.
Thomas: All airlines? Is this…
Vicky: It’s a blanket thing, they’re obliged to give you something because they are putting you in a situation where you may not have currency for that country left over, or you’re in a situation where you weren’t expecting to be in, for a long period of time plus the airport’s extortionate, there’s not very much selection, there’s not much choice, anyway, but with Easyjet, nothing, got on the plane and they said finally after five hours now because we waited on the runway for that, OK, you’ve got a budget of 4 euros fifty to have a snack and a drink, a non-alcoholic drink, OK, fine, whatever, but then I said OK, so can I have this sandwich for two euros fifty, a hot sandwich ‘cause I’m starving and this drink, can I have a Coke? "Oh, no". The total came to four euros. And they said, "You can’t have hot food included in this.”
Louise and Sophia: It’s so petty.
Vicky: But then I said, fine, so can I have a Snickers and a packet of nuts and the drink. "Oh no, no, sorry you can only have one snack and one drink. Even though it doesn’t come to your budget.”
Joyce: Well that’s absolutely ridiculous.
Vicky: Ha, ha, ha.
Louise: I feel a bit annoyed just listening to that story. Those petty rules that they put on you they’re just too much.
Vicky: Yeah. Ha, ha, ha.
viernes, 13 de junio de 2014
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.
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.
miércoles, 28 de mayo de 2014
Talking point: Being a parent
Today's talking point is being a parent. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below, so that ideas flow when you meet up with your friends and you can deal with vocabulary issues beforehand.
• Do you have any children yet?
• If yes, how old are they? If no, would you like children in the future? Why/Why not?
• What do you think are the hardest things about being a parent nowadays? Explain your answers.
• Do you think parents should be strict with their children? Why/Why not?
• What did you learn from your parents about bringing up children?
• How have your parents influenced your life?
• Do you think parents would benefit from lessons on how to be a good parent? Why/Why not?
• What are the key ingredients of being a good parent?
• Which of these things you think should be
a) controlled strongly by parents; b) controlled a little by parents; c) left to the child to decide
- watching TV
- playing computer games
- practising a musical instrumet
- going out to play with friends
- doing homework
- choosing what subjects to study at high school
- choosing extracurricular activities
To illustrate the point you can watch this video where President Obama wished a happy Mother's Day to all the moms last year.
He talks about the way his mom and grandmother have influenced him, and how the model of strong, responsible, and loving women have been great role-models to him and his daughters.
I think it's important to recognize that moms come in a lot of different shapes and sizes.
You know, my mother was the single most important influence in my life. I saw her struggles as a single mom. She taught me the values of hard work and responsibility, but also compassion and empathy; being able to look at the world through somebody else’s eyes and stand in their shoes. She was somebody who recognized that those of us who have some talents, or have been given opportunities, that we’ve got to give something back, and I’ll always be indebted to her for that.
My grandmother — she was very different than my mother. Much more sort of stoic and, you know, very much displayed her Kansas roots, but was a constant source of strength for all of us. She was a woman who grew up in the Depression, never had the opportunity to go to college, worked her way up as a secretary to become a vice president of a bank, and frankly, if there hadn’t been a glass ceiling, she probably could have taken over the bank.
Michelle is the best mom I know. And she cares deeply about family.
This is my wife Michelle.
Hey, I’m his date.
She combines the ability to make the kids feel completely loved with a real sense of being able to provide the kids limits. And she’s very good at it. And the proof is in those girls, who are magical. And I’d like to say that I had something to do with it, but I think in fairness, I’ve got to give her most of the credit.
I’m saddened I have to let you go.
Okay.
That model of strong, responsible women but also incredibly loving women has been a great gift for my girls, because they can see every day the contributions that women are making in their own family and I think that gives them an enormous amount of confidence as they go forward.
The issues that mothers face – those are the issues that matter to all of us. So families count on women having equal opportunity. That’s the reason why something like the Affordable Care Act was so important because a lot of times women are paying more for their health care. That’s why I signed the Lilly Ledbetter Act to make sure that people got an equal day’s pay for an equal day’s work because when we do that, that’s not just good for women, that’s good for our country and that’s good for families everywhere.
Happy Mother’s Day to every single mother out there
• Do you have any children yet?
• If yes, how old are they? If no, would you like children in the future? Why/Why not?
• What do you think are the hardest things about being a parent nowadays? Explain your answers.
• Do you think parents should be strict with their children? Why/Why not?
• What did you learn from your parents about bringing up children?
• How have your parents influenced your life?
• Do you think parents would benefit from lessons on how to be a good parent? Why/Why not?
• What are the key ingredients of being a good parent?
• Which of these things you think should be
a) controlled strongly by parents; b) controlled a little by parents; c) left to the child to decide
- watching TV
- playing computer games
- practising a musical instrumet
- going out to play with friends
- doing homework
- choosing what subjects to study at high school
- choosing extracurricular activities
To illustrate the point you can watch this video where President Obama wished a happy Mother's Day to all the moms last year.
He talks about the way his mom and grandmother have influenced him, and how the model of strong, responsible, and loving women have been great role-models to him and his daughters.
I think it's important to recognize that moms come in a lot of different shapes and sizes.
You know, my mother was the single most important influence in my life. I saw her struggles as a single mom. She taught me the values of hard work and responsibility, but also compassion and empathy; being able to look at the world through somebody else’s eyes and stand in their shoes. She was somebody who recognized that those of us who have some talents, or have been given opportunities, that we’ve got to give something back, and I’ll always be indebted to her for that.
My grandmother — she was very different than my mother. Much more sort of stoic and, you know, very much displayed her Kansas roots, but was a constant source of strength for all of us. She was a woman who grew up in the Depression, never had the opportunity to go to college, worked her way up as a secretary to become a vice president of a bank, and frankly, if there hadn’t been a glass ceiling, she probably could have taken over the bank.
Michelle is the best mom I know. And she cares deeply about family.
This is my wife Michelle.
Hey, I’m his date.
She combines the ability to make the kids feel completely loved with a real sense of being able to provide the kids limits. And she’s very good at it. And the proof is in those girls, who are magical. And I’d like to say that I had something to do with it, but I think in fairness, I’ve got to give her most of the credit.
I’m saddened I have to let you go.
Okay.
That model of strong, responsible women but also incredibly loving women has been a great gift for my girls, because they can see every day the contributions that women are making in their own family and I think that gives them an enormous amount of confidence as they go forward.
The issues that mothers face – those are the issues that matter to all of us. So families count on women having equal opportunity. That’s the reason why something like the Affordable Care Act was so important because a lot of times women are paying more for their health care. That’s why I signed the Lilly Ledbetter Act to make sure that people got an equal day’s pay for an equal day’s work because when we do that, that’s not just good for women, that’s good for our country and that’s good for families everywhere.
Happy Mother’s Day to every single mother out there
martes, 25 de marzo de 2014
Madrid Teacher: Manners
In Our Madrid Teacher series, four teachers, Sophia, Joyce, Vicky and Louise,tell us about how manners change from one culture to another. Before you watch their three-minute video, think about these questions:
How often do people in your country say 'sorry' and 'thank you'?
In what situations?
How firm should a handshake be in your country?
How many kisses do you give when you greet someone?
Which culture uses bowing as a form of greeting?
Would you touch someone's head to show affection?
Is it common in your culture to burp when you're eating?
Now watch the video and see the four teachers' experience with the situations above.
Once again, the spontaneous talk of the teachers gives us a great opportunity of glimpsing what conversational English is like. Watch the video again and pay attention to the following features of spoken English:
- Generalising: Generally
- Emphasis: quite, really
- Hedging (use introductory verbs to sound less categorical): I think, I don't think
- Agreement: Yeah, definitely, yes.
- Gaining thinking time: You know
- Connecting ideas: like
- Asking question to involve other people in the conversation: Have you made the mistake...
- Showing surprise: Oh, yeah?
- Giving examples: like, for example
- Rephrasing what we have just said to make the meaning clear: I mean
Now it's over to you again. Go over the questions above again and try to discuss the topic of manners in your country and your experience of manners when you have travelled abroad. Try and use some of the features on spoken English we have mentioned.
Sophia: So how polite do you think you guys are on a scale from 1 to 10?
Joyce: It depends with whom.
Vicky: Or the mood.
Sophia: Oh, go on.
Vicky: Generally, I think I’m quite polite. I think British people often tend to be quite polite at least with their pleases, thank yous, would you mind.
Sophia: May I?
Louise: And profuse apologies. I find it's the same in Australia. We have those, and also we say 'sorry' for everything. We say the buses go past with 'Sorry Not in Service'. We’re always apologizing, whereas other countries it's not quite the same I think.
Sophia: Yeah, I think we’re very big on etiquette and sorry. If you bump into somebody, you say 'sorry' whether it s your fault or not, yeah, it s just the etiquette and when you meet somebody, you give them a firm handshake. That’s also very important. A weak handshake, you’re not such a good person. Strong handshakes mean that you’re confident, you actually want to meet the person that you’re meeting at the time, yeah.
Vicky: And hand crushing handshakes mean, 'don’t mess with me'.
All: Ha, ha, ha.
Joyce: Yeah, but then you got all the complication of the kissing like in different countries, you know, and then if it’s two, if it s one, if it s three, if it s four.
Vicky: In both directions.
Joyce: In France, in certain areas of France it’s three and in other areas of France it’s four.
Louise: And in some places it’s two.
Vicky: In Holland it’s three.
Sophia: I’ve made the mistake of thinking, 'oh it’s one', and they’ve gone for the second one and hmm, uncomfortable situation.
Vicky: I’ve made the mistake of going in the wrong direction, ha, ha, ha.
Sophia: Kissing them on the lips. Ha, ha, ha.
Louise: Have you ever almost made contact on the lips? I did that once.
Vicky: Oh, yeah?
Louise: It was so embarrassing.
Vicky: It s embarrassing.
Louise: But I think, I think, the world’s so global now everybody has a, they’re very tolerant to each other
I don t think anyone’s, anyone’s judging others for not following exactly the manners from their culture I think.
Joyce: Yeah, but for example, we’re not used to bowing and of course like in Asian cultures they do that, you wouldn’t shake somebody's hand and you certainly wouldn’t kiss them, you know also. You really have to be careful sometimes if you go to another country to find out about these little things.
Louise: Definitely, but also I think people are very understanding these days.
Vicky: Well, like in Asia, for example, a gesture that you would do, like to touch someone on the head with our culture, it’s an affection, it’s something you do to someone if you know them well.
Joyce: Or especially the children.
Vicky: It can be patronising obviously, the way some people do it, it can be patronising, the way people do it, but generally it’s not something you would do to someone you didn’t know, it’s certainly not a disrespectful thing, whereas in Thailand if you do it, it’s they don't understand, they don't understand why you would possibly do that.
Sophia: And in certain cultures, erm, you should burp after eating to show that you really enjoyed your meal, but, you know, if you do that in UK, you must say 'I beg your pardon' please, but in certain cultures you should (burp) thanks for that, that was great.
Louise: I enjoyed it very much.
All: Ha, ha, ha.
Louise: Well, I think there are some things that are standard. I mean pleases and thank yous, they go well everywhere, no matter where you go.
Sophia: Yes.
How often do people in your country say 'sorry' and 'thank you'?
In what situations?
How firm should a handshake be in your country?
How many kisses do you give when you greet someone?
Which culture uses bowing as a form of greeting?
Would you touch someone's head to show affection?
Is it common in your culture to burp when you're eating?
Now watch the video and see the four teachers' experience with the situations above.
Once again, the spontaneous talk of the teachers gives us a great opportunity of glimpsing what conversational English is like. Watch the video again and pay attention to the following features of spoken English:
- Generalising: Generally
- Emphasis: quite, really
- Hedging (use introductory verbs to sound less categorical): I think, I don't think
- Agreement: Yeah, definitely, yes.
- Gaining thinking time: You know
- Connecting ideas: like
- Asking question to involve other people in the conversation: Have you made the mistake...
- Showing surprise: Oh, yeah?
- Giving examples: like, for example
- Rephrasing what we have just said to make the meaning clear: I mean
Now it's over to you again. Go over the questions above again and try to discuss the topic of manners in your country and your experience of manners when you have travelled abroad. Try and use some of the features on spoken English we have mentioned.
Sophia: So how polite do you think you guys are on a scale from 1 to 10?
Joyce: It depends with whom.
Vicky: Or the mood.
Sophia: Oh, go on.
Vicky: Generally, I think I’m quite polite. I think British people often tend to be quite polite at least with their pleases, thank yous, would you mind.
Sophia: May I?
Louise: And profuse apologies. I find it's the same in Australia. We have those, and also we say 'sorry' for everything. We say the buses go past with 'Sorry Not in Service'. We’re always apologizing, whereas other countries it's not quite the same I think.
Sophia: Yeah, I think we’re very big on etiquette and sorry. If you bump into somebody, you say 'sorry' whether it s your fault or not, yeah, it s just the etiquette and when you meet somebody, you give them a firm handshake. That’s also very important. A weak handshake, you’re not such a good person. Strong handshakes mean that you’re confident, you actually want to meet the person that you’re meeting at the time, yeah.
Vicky: And hand crushing handshakes mean, 'don’t mess with me'.
All: Ha, ha, ha.
Joyce: Yeah, but then you got all the complication of the kissing like in different countries, you know, and then if it’s two, if it s one, if it s three, if it s four.
Vicky: In both directions.
Joyce: In France, in certain areas of France it’s three and in other areas of France it’s four.
Louise: And in some places it’s two.
Vicky: In Holland it’s three.
Sophia: I’ve made the mistake of thinking, 'oh it’s one', and they’ve gone for the second one and hmm, uncomfortable situation.
Vicky: I’ve made the mistake of going in the wrong direction, ha, ha, ha.
Sophia: Kissing them on the lips. Ha, ha, ha.
Louise: Have you ever almost made contact on the lips? I did that once.
Vicky: Oh, yeah?
Louise: It was so embarrassing.
Vicky: It s embarrassing.
Louise: But I think, I think, the world’s so global now everybody has a, they’re very tolerant to each other
I don t think anyone’s, anyone’s judging others for not following exactly the manners from their culture I think.
Joyce: Yeah, but for example, we’re not used to bowing and of course like in Asian cultures they do that, you wouldn’t shake somebody's hand and you certainly wouldn’t kiss them, you know also. You really have to be careful sometimes if you go to another country to find out about these little things.
Louise: Definitely, but also I think people are very understanding these days.
Vicky: Well, like in Asia, for example, a gesture that you would do, like to touch someone on the head with our culture, it’s an affection, it’s something you do to someone if you know them well.
Joyce: Or especially the children.
Vicky: It can be patronising obviously, the way some people do it, it can be patronising, the way people do it, but generally it’s not something you would do to someone you didn’t know, it’s certainly not a disrespectful thing, whereas in Thailand if you do it, it’s they don't understand, they don't understand why you would possibly do that.
Sophia: And in certain cultures, erm, you should burp after eating to show that you really enjoyed your meal, but, you know, if you do that in UK, you must say 'I beg your pardon' please, but in certain cultures you should (burp) thanks for that, that was great.
Louise: I enjoyed it very much.
All: Ha, ha, ha.
Louise: Well, I think there are some things that are standard. I mean pleases and thank yous, they go well everywhere, no matter where you go.
Sophia: Yes.
martes, 25 de febrero de 2014
Madrid Teacher series: How annoying are mobile phones?
Our Madrid Teachers are talking today about mobile phones and manners. They use an anecdote about Hugh Jackman interrupting a play in New York because a mobile rang in the middle of the performance. The conversation gives us the opportunity to study some features of spoken English that might come in really handy when we're having a conversation. These are some of the features that come up in the video clip.
- Use of I mean to rephrase what you have just said.
- Use of like as a linking word to introduce your ideas.
- Use of like with the meaning of 'for example'.
- Showing interest in what the other person is saying: Yeah; Oh, very annoying.
- Use of you know and well to give yourself thinking time.
- Use of tag questions to check information: aren't they?
Watch the video and try to spot the above-mentioned features of spoken English.
Now it's over to you.
In your opinion, how annoying are mobile phones?
Give some examples of mobile phones interrupting something when they should be turned off.
What do you like about mobile phones?
What don't you like?
Can you imagine your life without a mobile phone now?
How addictive are they?
Would you rather have a mobile with a contract or with a top-up card?
Try and use some of the features of spoken English that came up in the video.
- Use of I mean to rephrase what you have just said.
- Use of like as a linking word to introduce your ideas.
- Use of like with the meaning of 'for example'.
- Showing interest in what the other person is saying: Yeah; Oh, very annoying.
- Use of you know and well to give yourself thinking time.
- Use of tag questions to check information: aren't they?
Watch the video and try to spot the above-mentioned features of spoken English.
Now it's over to you.
In your opinion, how annoying are mobile phones?
Give some examples of mobile phones interrupting something when they should be turned off.
What do you like about mobile phones?
What don't you like?
Can you imagine your life without a mobile phone now?
How addictive are they?
Would you rather have a mobile with a contract or with a top-up card?
Try and use some of the features of spoken English that came up in the video.
The other day Hugh Jackman was doing a play in New York, I think. And a
phone went off during the play and he just stopped it, stopped what he was
doing, and he just said,’Oh come on, just, just grab it. I’ll wait until you
answer.’ And . . ., and, I mean, that’s not something that an actor does
usually. Like, they would never stop a play for that, but I think it was very
spontaneous, because it is a bit annoying if that happens.
Yeah.
If he’s right in the middle of his performance, and I think it was quite
early on in the, in the, in the season for the play. He was probably quite
nervous and it must be so distracting to have that happen.
Yeah.
I was at a play a few weeks ago here in Madrid and, and it happened. And it
was, it was a one-man show, it was just one guy on the stage, you know,
delivering this monologue, very dramatic. And this phone went off…
Oh! Very annoying.
…and, he just, he just, he stopped also, and he just stared at the guy until
he hangs up the phone. Everyone was very uncomfortable. But the incredible
thing was that it happened again ten minutes later.
Oh, the same guy? The same
person?
I think, it sounded, it was the same ringtone. People are so rude, it’s
incredible. I mean if you, if you go and see something like that, you turn off
the phone.
I had the same thing. I went to Circulo de Bellas Artes recently, and I
think it was the opening night of a play, and it was the same. Like, lots of
people arrived late…
Yeah.
…the phones went off about three or four times. People tried to turn them
off quickly, obviously. But it’s just a total interruption. They didn’t stop or
wait, they just continued with what they were doing because it seemed to be
taken for granted.
These are bad situations but I don’t know, what do you think about phones?
Like, do you, what do you like about them? Or what do you don’t like? I mean,
because, obviously we hate that about it because it’s horrible when that
happens, I mean no one likes it. But obviously they are good for some reasons,
aren’t they?
They’re very convenient.
Yeah, yeah.
Very convenient.
It’s handy if you’re running late. You can let your friend know that you’re
going to be ten extra minutes. That’s, that’s useful.
Or you meet somebody in a public place. That’s happened to me, like you
know, I always think, ‘how did I ever live without my mobile phone all those
years?’ You know...
Yes.
...but you know the typical, you’re meeting somebody in
like, La Puerta del Sol at Christmas, and it’s like, ‘I can’t see you! Where
are you?’ You know? But like, you think, like that’s happened to me, you know,
going to meet somebody and like, then you go home because you never saw them.
You know if you, like pre-mobile phone era. And then you say, ‘but I was
standing right there!’ But there were just so many people, you just didn’t see
them, you know?
Yeah, it’s too busy.
I think they are addictive, aren’t they? Because, well, I got like, my
phone got stolen like two weeks ago, and I thought I would never be able to
live without it, and then I’ve been fine, like, for two weeks. And then, I had
to buy a new phone and I was like, I’m not sure, I’m, I’m, I’m OK like this,
but obviously you need it. If you, for work, for everything.
I’ve only just got a contract phone and, I realised before I really
couldn’t make many phone calls or do anything with my mobile because every time
I put on credit, I seemed to run out immediately, you know. So, I grew accustomed
. . . Yeah, it’s definitely worth it. But, I grew accustomed to not, like,
having
a phone but not really being able to use it. And I must admit I found it
far more inconvenient because nowadays, you never seem to have a landline in
your apartment. Yeah like, I’ve not, I’ve not been in a flat in the past, since
arriving in Spain that’s actually had a landline.
Yeah, because people used to have landlines because then, you, you know,
you’d have internet. But now, even with mobile phones, you can get modems and
have internet so you don’t even need a fixed line, or a fixed phone line, or
whatever it’s called anymore.
miércoles, 24 de abril de 2013
Talking point: How to deal with rude people
How to deal with rude people is this week's talking point. Here are some questions you can use as a guideline when you get together with the members of your conversation group.
How polite are you?
In what situations are you polite?
Can you think about a situation in which you have been rude or 'not so polite'?
Can you think about a situation when someone has been rude to you?
How important is it to be polite and have good manners?
Do people in Spain generally queue up and respect the line?
How would you define good table manners?
When might a child be told to be on his/her best behaviour?
What is the cause of the aggressive behaviour of football hooligans?
Can you name a public figure whose remarks often cause offence?
Do you dislike it when other people use rude language?
Discuss the following topics in the light of rudeness/good manners:
How polite are you?
In what situations are you polite?
Can you think about a situation in which you have been rude or 'not so polite'?
Can you think about a situation when someone has been rude to you?
How important is it to be polite and have good manners?
Do people in Spain generally queue up and respect the line?
How would you define good table manners?
When might a child be told to be on his/her best behaviour?
What is the cause of the aggressive behaviour of football hooligans?
Can you name a public figure whose remarks often cause offence?
Do you dislike it when other people use rude language?
Discuss the following topics in the light of rudeness/good manners:
- drivers
- rudeness to certain type of employee
- the effects of city life
- saying 'please' and 'thank you'
- the right and wrong way to greet people
- mobile phone abuse
- kissing and cuddling in public
To gain further insight into the topic, you can watch this NBCNews video clip where we are given some tips on how to deal with rude people.
If you wish to fully understand the clip, you can activate the cc subtitles or read an approximate transcipt by clicking on the corresponding tab on the lower side of the screen.
You can also discuss these suggestions in your talking session.
domingo, 9 de diciembre de 2012
American and British politeness
Lynne Murphy is Senior Lecturer in Linguistics in the School of English, University of Sussex. Her research concerns what we know when we know words, and stretches to how non-linguistic knowledge and behaviour affect our use of words. Raised and educated in the US, Ms Murphy lived in South Africa in the 1990s and has been in England since 2000. Her observations on the Englishes of these places (and the linguistics behind them) are chronicled in the blog Separated by a Common Language.
In April this year Ms Murphy gave a talk for TED at Sussex University where she dealt with the issue of politeness in US and Britain and how this key aspect of everyday life differs between the two countries.
As it is stated in the first paragraph of this post, Ms Murphy's blog, Separated by a Common Language, delves into the cultural differences of English-speaking countries. If you click on the link above, you can also read her own observations about her TED talk posted here, American and British politeness.
I have been unable to get a transcription of the talk, but if you watch the talk on the YouTube site, you will be able to activate the subtitles on the lower side of the screen. These YouTube online subtitles are less accurate than we would like to, but they may come in handy for English students as a guideline of the main ideas in the talk.
In April this year Ms Murphy gave a talk for TED at Sussex University where she dealt with the issue of politeness in US and Britain and how this key aspect of everyday life differs between the two countries.
As it is stated in the first paragraph of this post, Ms Murphy's blog, Separated by a Common Language, delves into the cultural differences of English-speaking countries. If you click on the link above, you can also read her own observations about her TED talk posted here, American and British politeness.
I have been unable to get a transcription of the talk, but if you watch the talk on the YouTube site, you will be able to activate the subtitles on the lower side of the screen. These YouTube online subtitles are less accurate than we would like to, but they may come in handy for English students as a guideline of the main ideas in the talk.
sábado, 23 de junio de 2012
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.
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.
martes, 3 de abril de 2012
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.
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.
lunes, 13 de febrero de 2012
Texting while walking
Are you keen on texting?
How often do you text on a daily basis?
Do you ever text while you are walking?
Do you think texting while walking is a dangerous activity?
Do you think that people who text while walking disturb other pedestrians?
Texting while walking is the title of a New York Times video by Casey Neistat about the incidents of this activity while we are walking. You can also read his background ideas to the video in this The New York Times article.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video by clicking on the picture below and complete the blanks in the transcript.
How often do you text on a daily basis?
Do you ever text while you are walking?
Do you think texting while walking is a dangerous activity?
Do you think that people who text while walking disturb other pedestrians?
Texting while walking is the title of a New York Times video by Casey Neistat about the incidents of this activity while we are walking. You can also read his background ideas to the video in this The New York Times article.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video by clicking on the picture below and complete the blanks in the transcript.
Texting while walking may (1) ... the social stigmas of (2) ... driving or smoking crystal meth, but it can be just as dangerous. Understanding the blind spot is pivotal to (3) ... .
This is the limit of your visibility when texting. Anything outside of the narrow visibility zone is your blind spot. This (1) ... of spacial (4) ... is the source of most texting incidents.
Walking the streets texting isn’t much safer than walking them with a (5) ... on. Which brings me to lesson two, the etiquette of walking and texting. This man is being inconsiderate with his texting, forcing the people around him to (6) ... while he gets his text done. While this behaviour is clearly ill-mannered, it can also be dangerous.
What will happen when this man here stops to text?
Can I ask you a quick question? Do you think it’s dangerous to walk and text at the same time?
Sometimes.
Thank you.
Sometimes.
Thank you.
Do you think it’s dangerous to walk and text at the same time?
No, no, no.
Yes, (7) ... , it is.
Yes, but I do it anyway.
Yes, I hate that.
Proper technique is to putting your back against the wall and stand in one place while you text, allowing for traffic to safely (8) ... by.
Key:
1 lack 2 drunk 3 safety 4 awareness 5 blindfold 6 yield 7 definitely 8 flow
jueves, 15 de diciembre de 2011
Talking point: Do you have good manners?
The decline of good manners is a recurrent topic whenever we talk about how society is changing. I remember my grandparents telling me the way good manners were declining, my parents telling me about my generation's lack of manners and me telling my daughter a similar story.
How would you define “good manners”?
Is it knowing proper etiquette when you’re in a restaurant?
Saying “please” and “thank you”?
Being kind and thoughtful of others?
Do you agree with those who say that civility in general is declining everywhere?
Do you think having good manners is important?
Do you think you have good manners yourself?
How would you rate your own manners?
Do you think our society in general is becoming less civil and more rude? Why or why not?
Do you remember an occasion when somebody was impolite to you?
Do you remember an occasion when you could have been more polite to someone else?
This was the topic of the Student Opinion in The New York Times The Learning Network blog in early November.
As a background article to the topic they used A Last Bastion of Civility, the South, Sees Manners Decline by Kim Severson, which you can also read before you get together with your conversation group to discuss this topic.
How would you define “good manners”?
Is it knowing proper etiquette when you’re in a restaurant?
Saying “please” and “thank you”?
Being kind and thoughtful of others?
Do you agree with those who say that civility in general is declining everywhere?
Do you think having good manners is important?
Do you think you have good manners yourself?
How would you rate your own manners?
Do you think our society in general is becoming less civil and more rude? Why or why not?
Do you remember an occasion when somebody was impolite to you?
Do you remember an occasion when you could have been more polite to someone else?
This was the topic of the Student Opinion in The New York Times The Learning Network blog in early November.
As a background article to the topic they used A Last Bastion of Civility, the South, Sees Manners Decline by Kim Severson, which you can also read before you get together with your conversation group to discuss this topic.
In your discussion, it is expected that some anecdotes about people behaving rudely will come up. Use the following expressions to showing surprise and react to what your friends tell you.
Really?
It can’t be!
It can’t be!
I can’t believe you / it! / my ears!
Reply questions: Did you? Have you? Is she?
Exclamations: Oh dear! Oh my God! (That’s) incredible / amazing!
Reply questions: Did you? Have you? Is she?
Exclamations: Oh dear! Oh my God! (That’s) incredible / amazing!
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