Talking point: Life-changing events

This week's talking point is life-changing events. 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.

Here's a list of some life-changing events a person can go through.
Which ones have you gone through?
Think of someone you know who has gone through some of the events you haven't experienced and talk about the difficulties this person had to face.
What are the three most significant life-changing events? Why?
And the least important?
Would you add any other life-changing events to the list?
How different would the list have been 100 years ago?
Think about yourself now and how you have changed in the last 10 years. You can talk about these topics:

work - leisure - attitude to life - daily routine - 

money - family - relationship

a year studying abroad

moving town

leaving or changing jobs

retiring

leaving your parents’ home

being called to military duty

buying a house/flat

falling in love

getting married

having a child or adopting a child

getting divorced

mid-life crisis

caring for a sick loved one

death of a loved one
winning the lottery
being involved in an accident or an unpleasant experience

catastrophes or natural disasters

To illustrate the topic you can watch Renee talking about how studying in Finland gave her experiences she never thought she would have.

London’s first naked dining experience opens

London has a new restaurant serving raw, or "naked" food, and its customers are asked to dress accordingly.

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



1 What do customers have at the bar?
2 What are they given in the changing rooms?
3 What restrictions does the dining area have?
4 What did the restaurant open?
5 Apart from being a restaurant, what is Bunyadi?

We are in South London, at a pop-up restaurant called Bunyadi. But unlike most restaurants, this restaurant doesn’t require you to wear any clothes. Let’s see.
Hello, I’m Ignacio, the architect, the manager of the Bunyadi, London, a restaurant where everything is naked. When customers come in, they are welcome to this bar. Some of them travel all around the world to come here and they don’t know what to expect. They have one drink or two, and then they are taken to the changing room, where we give them gowns and slippers. After they get changed, we take them to the dining area, where no phone or any electrical devices are allowed. They are taken to the tables and then they can enjoy and experience the amazing food.
It’s about enjoying nakedness when it comes to bodies, food, nakedness from technology, basically a space where you are free from the modern trappings of the world.
We launched it a couple of weeks ago. We have, are now a waiting list of 4 to 5 thousand people. One of the biggest reasons why we started Bunyadi was naked food, our food is sauce to plate, raw without any preservatives, colour. I think the second reason is liberation from technology while you’re eating. I think we all get annoyed when the phones come out during dinner. So when you go to the toilet, if you’re with someone and you come back, the other person is waiting for you to finish the conversation and not literally on their phones.
Perhaps the most important thing is giving these people the space where they’ll be comfortable. I think, I think it’s not only about a restaurant. It’s a social experiment. There is a big problem all over the world with objectification and sexualisation of bodies, and I think people need to think of ideas which will help to desexualise this aspect of… this very physical aspect of human, humans which everyone has.
So I think you bring all these things together and you’ve got a recipe of a space where people feel comfortable being naked and not judged.

Key:
1 one drink or two 
2 a gown and slippers
3 no phone or any electrical devices are allowed
4 two weeks ago 
5 a social experiment

Talking point: Life-changing experiences

This week's talking point is life-changing experiences. 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.

Can you think of a time when you made a mistake?
What did you learn from it?
Can you think about an experience you had when you were younger which have been useful to you in later life?
What is one of the most harrowing things you have ever experienced?
And your most rewarding experience so far?
Have you experienced any of these activities? Describe them.

• Driving very fast
• Staying out all night
• Sleeping under the stars
• Getting lost
• Doing a parachute jump
• Giving birth

To illustrate the talk you can watch Diana Laufenberg's talk at TED How to learn? From mistakes.You can read the transcript here.

Talking point: An event that has influenced your life

In our weekly 'Talking point' section we continue focusing on the anecdote feature of Macmillan's Inside Out.

Today's topic is talking about an event that has influenced your life. Before getting together with your friends, go over the questions below, so that you ideas flow more easily when you meet up with the members of your conversation group and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

• What event was it? An accident? A holiday? A chance meeting? A stroke of luck? An unfortunate incident? A new job?
• How long ago was it?
• What happened exactly?
• Why was it so important?
• How did it influence you? Did it influence you for the better or for the worse? Can you give some specific examples of how the event influenced you?
• Do you wish it had never happened or are you glad that it did?
• How would your life be different if this event hadn't occurred?

To illustrate the topic you can watch photographer Jay Perry telling us the way travelling to Haiti and meeting a little girl changed him for ever.


The Girl That Changed My Life from Jay Perry on Vimeo.

Madrid Teacher: Present perfect to talk about experience

This week's Madrid Teacher entry deals with the use of the present perfect simple to talk about personal experience.

We use the present perfect simple this way when talking about our experience up to now in life:
I have visited Rio,  but I have never been to Buenos Aires.

We use indefinite time adverbs like ever, before, never.
I'm sure we've met before.

The standard question in this use of the present perfect is Have you ever + past participle?
Have you ever cooked a meal for more than ten people?
 
If we want to talk about specific details about the experience, we usually change to the past simple and use adverbs of finished time (yesterday, last month, three years ago). 
Have you ever seen a ghost?
Yes, I have. I saw one at my granny's house twenty years ago. 

Watch the first video below and try to understand the conversation. Pay attention to the Have you ever...? questions. Also pay attention to the way the two Madrid Teachers sometimes change to the past simple to discuss detail of the experience they are talking about.

Remember the short answer:
Have you ever seen a ghost? 
Yes, I have.
No, I haven't. 




The second video is a follow-up of the first one. But the conversation is a bit harder to understand for elementary students. However, it is interesting to watch because it very well exemplifies the change from present perfect simple to ask about experience to the past simple/past continuous to give details of that experience.



Video 1
Have you ever ridden an unusual animal?
Yes I have. I’ve ridden an elephant. Have you?
No, I have not.
Have you ever tried any extreme sports?
Yes, I have. I’ve jumped out of an airplane.
Ah, skydiving.
Yes! I’ve also been skydiving.
Ah, isn’t it fun?
It is!
Have you ever fired a gun?
Ah, yes I have.
What did you shoot at?
It was just shooting at a target.
Ok.
Have you?
Yes, I have, also at a target.
And have you ever hitch-hiked?
Yes, I have, once in Boston.
Ok.
Have you?
No, I’ve never done that.
Have you ever given a speech to more than ten people?
Yes, I have, to a room full of people when I was at school.
Have you?
Yes, I have. A few times at school.
And have you ever sung in a karaoke bar?
Yes, I have. I love karaoke. I have sung in several.
Really? And what do you like to sing?
All songs mostly. Have you?
No, I’m too afraid. I’ve never sung in a karaoke bar.
Ok.
And have you ever worn a silly hat in public?
Yes, I have for certain holidays or festivals. Have you?
Well, not since I became an adult. When I was a small child, yes, but… I’m too grown-up now.
Ok. And have you ever fallen down in public?
I’m sure I have. Have you?
Of course.
I think everybody does.

Video 2
So have you ever slept in a tent?
Yes, I have, when I was camping.
Ah, ok. Where were you camping?
I was camping in Connecticut where my parents lived.
Ok. Was it a big tent?
No, not big enough.
How many of you were camping?
Well, I think there were four of us.
Ok.
But it was good fun.
Have you ever seen a shark?
I have.
Really?
Fortunately only in the aquarium, because I think I would die of fear if I really saw one…
Ok.
… when I am swimming at the beach.
Yes, of course.
Have you?
No, I can’t say that I have.
They are very scary-looking creatures.
I believe it.
They really are.
I love to watch television programmes about them.
And have you ever played a joke on someone?
Yes, I have. Once I went to visit a friend’s university and while he was out of his room I put the fish tank on top of his bed, an empty one but a large one, and then filled it to the top with water, so that removing that tank and all of its contents would be something he would have to come home to.
That’s very, very cruel, especially if he came home very tired.
Well, we were very good friends.
Lucky!
Have you ever fallen asleep when someone is talking to you?
I don’t think so. That would be a bit rude. I know that I often fall asleep in front of the television, though.
Ok.
It’s a… it’s too easy sometimes. The sofa is very comfortable.
Of course.
Have you?
Actually I have. I was talking to a friend very late at night and we’d had a bit of wine and in the morning she told me that I’d stopped listening.
You just drifted off. She wasn’t too offended, I hope.
No, also good friends.
Good.

Talking point: Being the first

The umbrella topic for this week's talking point is being the first, and it revolves around the unit Firsts from Inside Out Advanced, Macmillan.

Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas flow more easily when you hold your talking session and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

What's the idea underlying these two quotations?

• Winning isn't everything, it's the taking part.
• Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.

Which quotation do you identify with?
What famous pioneers or famous 'firsts' in history can you think of?
For example, Christopher Columbus was the first person to set foot on America, or Reinhold Messner was the first climber to reach the summit of the Everest without oxygen.

What about your country?
How did their feats change the world?
What do you think motivates pioneers when they try to achieve these feats?
What made these people different from their contemporaries?
Have you ever attempted to do something risky?
Have you ever been  the first to achieve something?
Have you ever won the first prize in something?
Do you remember any occasions when you did something for the first time?
What qualities do you have that are specially useful where you work/study, or in a team or club?
Have you ever held a special responsibility that made you feel important in a group or organisation?
 
To illustrate the topic, you can watch this short CNN video where Michelle Obama explains what being the First Lady involves.



You can read a full transcript for the CNN video clip here.