As one of the best known female executives in the world, Sheryl Sandberg had resources and support when her husband died at 47, but that didn't stop grief from engulfing her and their children. In her new book Option B, Sandberg writes about grief and resilience in the face of adversity, and offers advice for others experiencing personal tragedy. Sandberg sits down with Judy Woodruff.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and say whether the statements below are true or false.
1. Sheryl Sandberg’s husband died over two years ago.
2. When she returned to work, Sheryl had difficulties controlling her grief in public.
3. After all this time, Sheryl sometimes cries and sometimes feels she can’t control her urge to cry.
4. One of the most difficult things for Sheryl was connecting with people when she went back to work.
5. The tips Sheryl has included in the book are based on her own attitude and behaviour with people going through extreme situations in life.
6. Sheryl’s attitude after her husband’s death was an obstacle for her recovery.
7. It is quite common for a worker to get paid time off work if a close relative is all or has died.
8. Sheryl has been accused of sometimes having a conservative outlook on life.
9. The US is the only developed country in the world without paid maternity leave
JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally tonight, a conversation with Sheryl Sandberg about coping with grief and resilience in the face of adversity.
That’s the subject of a new book in which she writes candidly about a personal tragedy, the loss of her husband, Dave Goldberg.
I visited her at Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California. Our interview took place nearly two years after Sandberg and her husband went on vacation in Mexico with friends. Sandberg woke up from a poolside nap, saw that Dave wasn’t there, and soon went looking for him.
She found him lying on the floor of the hotel gym next to the treadmill. As they later learned, he had suffered a cardiac arrhythmia. He was just 47 years old.
As the chief operating officer of Facebook, and one of the best known female executives in the business world, Sandberg had all the resources and support one could imagine. But none of that would lessen the grief that engulfed her and their two young children.
SHERYL SANDBERG, Chief Operating Officer, Facebook: In those early days and weeks, it feels like you’re not going to get through a minute, let alone a day.
My biggest fear was that my kids would never be happy again, that their happiness would have been wiped away in that same instant we lost Dave.
There are people who had been through loss and been through real adversity who told me it gets better. And I didn’t believe them.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Ten days later, when she returned to work, it was hard to focus on running a social media giant, with 17,000 employees and more than a billion daily users.
Suddenly, one of the most successful women in business was struggling to hold it together at the office.
SHERYL SANDBERG: When Dave first died, I felt like I was in a void, like I couldn’t breathe, or catch my breath.
I thought at first — I just thought, I’m never going to get through this. I can’t contribute. I can’t even get through a meeting without crying.
JUDY WOODRUFF: A month after his death, she posted a tribute to Dave on Facebook. She wrote about mistakes she had made in the past when friends lost loved ones.
She included advice from a close friend about how to handle a father-son event. Option A, Dave, wasn’t available. Instead, the friend said it was time to grab onto option B. But he used stronger language than that. It became Sandberg’s mantra, and it’s the name of her new book.
SHERYL SANDBERG: There are things you can do, steps you can take to help yourself and your kids recover.
And I learned that resilience, it’s not something we have one set amount of. It’s a muscle, and we build it. And if this helps anyone, even just a little bit, themselves or a friend, then I think I will have found some meaning in this.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Is the book also about helping you get through it?
SHERYL SANDBERG: The book is trying to help other people hear what I couldn’t hear at the beginning.
It does get better. I will always miss Dave. I miss Dave every day. But that feeling of not being able to breathe has passed. I can breathe now. And, sometimes, I think of him and cry, but, sometimes, I think of him and smile. And my children can think of their father and smile. And I want other people going through this to know it’s possible.
JUDY WOODRUFF: “Option B” is not just about Sandberg’s personal journey and loss. It offers ideas and advice for people who’ve experienced their own trauma.
Co-written with psychologist and bestselling author Adam Grant, the book puts a big emphasis on what Sandberg calls the elephant in the room.
SHERYL SANDBERG: It’s not just the loss, or the cancer, or losing a job, or someone in your family going to jail. It’s the silence that surrounds that.
And so, when I lost Dave, I had this overwhelming grief, but also just this isolation I had never felt in my life. I had always felt really connected to my friends, neighbors and family, people I work with.
But when I came back to work, people barely spoke to me. They looked at me like I was a deer in the headlights. And I know they meant well. They were afraid to say the wrong thing, so they said nothing at all.
JUDY WOODRUFF: What’s just one of the ways that people should be able to take away from your experience about how to reach out to someone who’s going through something like this, something traumatic like this, and for those who are going through it themselves, who aren’t accustomed maybe to reaching out, or who aren’t comfortable, for whatever reason?
SHERYL SANDBERG: If you’re trying to help someone who’s facing adversity, the first and most important thing is to acknowledge the pain.
Before, if I had a colleague or a friend who had lost someone, who was going through cancer treatment, I thought bringing it up to them was reminding them. So, I was silent.
Losing Dave taught me how absurd that was. You can’t remind me I lost my husband. I know that every minute of every day. And so, when people said nothing, particularly in the beginning, how are you felt like, how are — how am I? I just lost my husband.
And they were asking. I took that as the standard American I’m supposed to — greeting. I’m supposed to say fine and move on. But they meant it. And when I learned to say, I’m not great, or I’m really sad today, or thanks for asking, I don’t want to talk about it right now, I was letting them acknowledge.
And so it’s really on both sides to acknowledge.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Sandberg also writes about how important it is not to blame yourself.
SHERYL SANDBERG: When Dave first died, I thought it was my fault.
The initial report said he’d died of head trauma from falling off an exercise machine. My brother’s a neurosurgeon, and he told me that wasn’t true.
When we got the autopsy, we realized he had died of a cardiac arrhythmia. But I still blamed myself, and I blamed myself for a long time. But when Adam told me that, because I was blaming myself, I was going to keep my kids from recovering, because I was going to keep myself from recovering, that really helped.
We have to show ourselves compassion, the same compassion we would show a friend.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Sandberg said that, ultimately, family, friends and co-workers, including her boss, Mark Zuckerberg, made a huge difference.
Not everybody may go back to a supportive environment, making it even harder for them. So, what do you say to people who are thinking, how am I going to face co-workers, what if my employer doesn’t give me the time or the space or the understanding that I need?
SHERYL SANDBERG: Yes, we have so much to do to make it easier for people at work.
I’m really lucky. Facebook has great policies. We offer a lot of bereavement leave, a lot of leave of all kinds. And we have done even more since Dave died for people. But we need our workplaces and then our public policy to give people the paid, paid time off they need, because, for a lot of people, if the time is unpaid, they can’t take it.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Sandberg has become increasingly outspoken about the workplace, family life and women’s equality.
Her 2012 book, “Lean In,” served as a call to many women to become more assertive. But, to some, Sandberg’s tone smacked of wealthy white privilege. She was criticized in some quarters for failing to appreciate what single parents and non-traditional families go through.
Now she’s expanded the message to stress the role of government and society in the lives of women.
SHERYL SANDBERG: We are the only developed country in the world, the only one, without paid maternity leave. And we need that, and paid paternity leave, so men and women are equal.
We’re one of the only developed countries without paid family leave. I think a lot about going through everything I went through, and also worrying about paying a basic health care bill, about single mothers who wake up every day in this country and worry about whether they can take care of a sick child, or lose their job that they need, about the minimum wage we have.
Two-thirds of minimum wage workers are women. Minimum wage hasn’t been raised at the federal level in forever. That’s unacceptable.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Unexpectedly, joy is also an essential message in the book. It’s something Sandberg feared she would never feel again.
SHERYL SANDBERG: I thought it would always feel that way. And the sadness is still here, but it doesn’t feel like I’m trapped in a void anymore.
And I have joy, and I have laughter, and I have moments with my kids where we remember their daddy with real joy, and we look at pictures and videos. And I want anyone going through hardship to know that it does get better.
We all have things we can appreciate. We all have moments that we can notice the joy. We all can find gratitude for being alive. And that doesn’t mean that every story has a happy ending, because it doesn’t. But there are things we can do to build resilience in ourselves and each other that make us stronger.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Sheryl Sandberg has not only written this book, “Option B,” about her experience. She’s encouraging people going through tragedy to form support groups to be there for each other.
KEY:
1F 2T 3F 4T 5F 6T 7F 8T 9T
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Relationships. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Relationships. Mostrar todas las entradas
martes, 16 de mayo de 2017
viernes, 5 de mayo de 2017
The celebrity love triangle which shocked a nation
He was a war hero and an admiral, she the great beauty of her age. The problem was they were both married to others. Now a new exhibition at Greenwich's Royal Maritime Museum remembers the story and the scandal of Emma Hamilton and Lord Nelson.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. What was Emma Hamilton’s father’s job?
2. Who was George Romney?
3. Why was Emma Hamilton painted?
4. Where did the affair between Emma and Lord Nelson begin?
5. Who lived in Merton Place, in South West London, according to rumours?
6. When did Emma find Merton Place?
7. What was Emma’s financial situation when she died?
Lord Nelson, held in the highest esteem, whose passions ran deep for a blacksmith's daughter, Emma Hamilton. Her stunning looks set her apart. Then this man, George Romney, the most fashionable painter of the day, came across the young beauty and at his studios here, in Cavendish Square, she became his muse.
And the 18th century was a remarkable time for an explosion in print culture…
Mass produced, cheap black-and-white prints of George Romney's paintings then made Emma a pin-up. It was like Hello magazine for the first time.
She is naturally beautiful, which is the reason she was painted, one of the reasons she was painted in the first place. And those images are carried through to sort of the broader public.
So printing technology and prints of Emma Hamilton made her a celebrity.
Yes.
Fame made her desirable and led to marriage with this man, Sir William Hamilton, the British envoy to Naples. It was here that Norfolk's favourite son, the hero of the day, Lord Nelson, stopped for supplies and an enduring love affair began. It was like a Hollywood romance, but it also fuelled another familiar feature of modern-day life: scandal.
Sir William watches as lovers carry on!
Nelson and Lady Hamilton in love tryst!
Gossip was rife, not only was Nelson married, the lovers conducted their affair openly, in front of Sir Williams. There were rumours the three of them lived together here at Merton Place, in South West London, which Nelson and Emma had bought for their future. Now it’s an old council estate but then it was Paradise Merton, a place in the country away from all the chatter.
In 1800, Emma Nelson and Sir William come back to live in England and Nelson instructs Emma to find him and her a country pad where they can live out their future days together. And so in 1801, she finds Merton Place, and it's the love nest that they hoped for, which they call Paradise Merton.
But it didn’t last for long. After losing his eye, and then an arm, Nelson's luck ran out. Shot dead, Kiss me Hardy, and the rest, of course, is history. For Emma, the high life ended too, crippled by debt, dying in poverty but her legacy will always be one half of one of the world's greatest love affairs.
Jim Wheeble, BBC London News.
KEY:
1 blacksmith
2 a painter / the most fashionable painter of the day
3 because she was very beautiful
4 In Naples / Italy
5 Lord Nelson, Emma and her husband
6 in 1801
7 she was poor
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. What was Emma Hamilton’s father’s job?
2. Who was George Romney?
3. Why was Emma Hamilton painted?
4. Where did the affair between Emma and Lord Nelson begin?
5. Who lived in Merton Place, in South West London, according to rumours?
6. When did Emma find Merton Place?
7. What was Emma’s financial situation when she died?
Lord Nelson, held in the highest esteem, whose passions ran deep for a blacksmith's daughter, Emma Hamilton. Her stunning looks set her apart. Then this man, George Romney, the most fashionable painter of the day, came across the young beauty and at his studios here, in Cavendish Square, she became his muse.
And the 18th century was a remarkable time for an explosion in print culture…
Mass produced, cheap black-and-white prints of George Romney's paintings then made Emma a pin-up. It was like Hello magazine for the first time.
She is naturally beautiful, which is the reason she was painted, one of the reasons she was painted in the first place. And those images are carried through to sort of the broader public.
So printing technology and prints of Emma Hamilton made her a celebrity.
Yes.
Fame made her desirable and led to marriage with this man, Sir William Hamilton, the British envoy to Naples. It was here that Norfolk's favourite son, the hero of the day, Lord Nelson, stopped for supplies and an enduring love affair began. It was like a Hollywood romance, but it also fuelled another familiar feature of modern-day life: scandal.
Sir William watches as lovers carry on!
Nelson and Lady Hamilton in love tryst!
Gossip was rife, not only was Nelson married, the lovers conducted their affair openly, in front of Sir Williams. There were rumours the three of them lived together here at Merton Place, in South West London, which Nelson and Emma had bought for their future. Now it’s an old council estate but then it was Paradise Merton, a place in the country away from all the chatter.
In 1800, Emma Nelson and Sir William come back to live in England and Nelson instructs Emma to find him and her a country pad where they can live out their future days together. And so in 1801, she finds Merton Place, and it's the love nest that they hoped for, which they call Paradise Merton.
But it didn’t last for long. After losing his eye, and then an arm, Nelson's luck ran out. Shot dead, Kiss me Hardy, and the rest, of course, is history. For Emma, the high life ended too, crippled by debt, dying in poverty but her legacy will always be one half of one of the world's greatest love affairs.
Jim Wheeble, BBC London News.
KEY:
1 blacksmith
2 a painter / the most fashionable painter of the day
3 because she was very beautiful
4 In Naples / Italy
5 Lord Nelson, Emma and her husband
6 in 1801
7 she was poor
miércoles, 29 de marzo de 2017
Talking point: The art of communication
This week's talking point is the art of communication. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.
Do you know anyone who is a good listener?
Do you remember an occasion when there was an awkward silence in the conversation?
Can you think of situations in which you have misunderstood someone or someone has misunderstood you?
How easy or difficult do you find it to make small talk (polite conversation about unimportant things)?
When did you last hit it off with someone? (like each other from the very beginning)
Do you remember an occasion when you put your foot in it (accidentally do or say something which embarrasses or offends people)?
Do you know anyone who tends to dominate the conversation?
Are you good at putting people at ease (make someone feel relaxed and confident)? If so, how do you do it?
Who in your family is good at telling interesting stories in family reunions?
When did you last have a row?
Do you know anyone who has a pleasant/unpleasant voice?
Do you ever talk to yourself?
Do you dread going to places where you don’t know many people?
Is how you say something as important as what you say?
Is gossip always harmful?
Do you think a person should never raise their voice during a discussion?
To what extent is technology having a negative effect on the quality of conversation?
What advice would you give a visitor to your country about the following:
- personal space?
- common gestures?
- interrupting?
- making eye contact?
- conversation topics to avoid?
To illustrate the topic, you can watch Julian Treasure's talk at TED How to speak so that people want to listen.
You can read the transcript here.
Do you know anyone who is a good listener?
Do you remember an occasion when there was an awkward silence in the conversation?
Can you think of situations in which you have misunderstood someone or someone has misunderstood you?
How easy or difficult do you find it to make small talk (polite conversation about unimportant things)?
When did you last hit it off with someone? (like each other from the very beginning)
Do you remember an occasion when you put your foot in it (accidentally do or say something which embarrasses or offends people)?
Do you know anyone who tends to dominate the conversation?
Are you good at putting people at ease (make someone feel relaxed and confident)? If so, how do you do it?
Who in your family is good at telling interesting stories in family reunions?
When did you last have a row?
Do you know anyone who has a pleasant/unpleasant voice?
Do you ever talk to yourself?
Do you dread going to places where you don’t know many people?
Is how you say something as important as what you say?
Is gossip always harmful?
Do you think a person should never raise their voice during a discussion?
To what extent is technology having a negative effect on the quality of conversation?
What advice would you give a visitor to your country about the following:
- personal space?
- common gestures?
- interrupting?
- making eye contact?
- conversation topics to avoid?
To illustrate the topic, you can watch Julian Treasure's talk at TED How to speak so that people want to listen.
You can read the transcript here.
domingo, 26 de marzo de 2017
Extensive listening: What I learned from 2,000 obituaries
Lux Narayan starts his day with scrambled eggs and the question: "Who died today?" Why?
By analyzing 2,000 New York Times obituaries over a 20-month period, Narayan gleaned, in just a few words, what achievement looks like over a lifetime. Here he shares what those immortalized in print can teach us about a life well lived.
Lakshmanan aka Lux Narayan mans Unmetric, a social media intelligence company that helps digital marketers, social media analysts, and content creators control social signals to track and analyze competitive content and campaigns, and to create better content and campaigns of their own.
Outside of work, he is a perpetual learner of various things, from origami and molecular gastronomy to stand-up and improv comedy. He enjoys reading obituaries and other non-fiction and watching documentaries with bad ratings. Narayan makes time every year for trekking in the Himalayas or scuba diving in tropical waters, and once he learns to fly, he hopes to spend more time off land than on it.
You can read a full transcript for the talk here.
By analyzing 2,000 New York Times obituaries over a 20-month period, Narayan gleaned, in just a few words, what achievement looks like over a lifetime. Here he shares what those immortalized in print can teach us about a life well lived.
Lakshmanan aka Lux Narayan mans Unmetric, a social media intelligence company that helps digital marketers, social media analysts, and content creators control social signals to track and analyze competitive content and campaigns, and to create better content and campaigns of their own.
Outside of work, he is a perpetual learner of various things, from origami and molecular gastronomy to stand-up and improv comedy. He enjoys reading obituaries and other non-fiction and watching documentaries with bad ratings. Narayan makes time every year for trekking in the Himalayas or scuba diving in tropical waters, and once he learns to fly, he hopes to spend more time off land than on it.
You can read a full transcript for the talk here.
martes, 14 de marzo de 2017
Angelina Jolie on divorce, film and Cambodia
Angelina Jolie on her new film First They Killed My Father, based on the genocide in Cambodia, politics and her family.
Self-study activity:
Watch the interview and answer the questions below.
1. What changed Angelina’s life?
2. What happened 40 years ago?
3. In what ways is Angelina related to Cambodia, according to the reporter?
4. What was Angelina’s New Times op-ed piece about?
5. How is Angelina fighting against the intolerance rising in society these days?
6. What does the reporter say Angelina’s film is about?
7. How is Angelina coping after her separation?
8. Where does Angelina see herself in five years’ time?
9. Who’s Angelina sharing her room with?
I'm not here because I'm a director who wanted to make a movie. I'm here because 17 years ago I came to this country and found love with people and learned about its history and in doing so realized how little I actually knew in my early twenties about the world, and so this country for me was my awakening. And my son changed my life. Becoming a Cambodian family changed my life.
So there was never a plan to… we should make this movie. It's just I became a filmmaker and one day I thought what story, what story do I feel is really important to tell? And I felt that this war that happened 40 years ago and… and what happened to these people was not properly understood, and… and not just for the world but for the people of the country. I felt that I wanted them to be able to reflect on it in a way that they could absorb, so it's through the eyes of a child and it's a lot about love.
Do you think, though, this nation is ready for that?
I hope so. Yes, I do… I, I wouldn't have… when I… when I first started coming here… there's so much that’s changed. When many people spoke about this, 15-20 years ago, you know, since that happened there are many people denying the history or saying it wasn't as bad or trying to…, of course, many people want to forget or it's just the horrors, the horrors of war and you just simply…
I mean, it's interesting you say that, you know, this is a country which would have… is very much part of your own personal journey. Do you think that in many ways you've come full circle? You know, your humanitarian work started here, you became a mother here, that perhaps this is some sort of crossroads for you, it's come back here.
Yeah, yeah. I’ll always… I’ll always be very grateful to this country, and I hope, I hope I've given back as much as it's given me. I don't think I ever could give back as much as this country’s given me.
You wrote a New Times op-ed piece a few weeks ago and you spoke about having a truly international family. You said that the refugee policy should be about fact not fear. You also said that we shouldn't be departing from our values. Can you tell me what you meant by that?
It's funny, isn't it, some questions seem so obvious, don't they, you know, it's just… it’s these things we talk about and we… and we hear them spoken about often now, you know, what… what… what are our values? I value life equally, every single individual life. I don't separate people by race, colour, religion, and I… and and if I do, it’s because I celebrate the diversity in the world.
But we are seeing this rise of populist leaders, right, around the world. Do you think it's creating a more intolerant society?
This is… this is an old, an old trick and… and we should know better than to fall for it. And I see it, and I see it rising, and the only thing I can do is to use my voice and encourage others and raise my children to know right and wrong and to have a broad view of the world and… and to embrace their diversity and other people’s and and respect others. And I think that all we can do now is, each and every person, each… each one of your listeners, each one, we all just have to be the best of ourselves. If not… if not now more than ever we really have to rise up and find our rational center, our who are we and what do we stand for. And we know it, we know what's right and wrong.
If I take it back to your… your film, your film is about family and loss. I understand this is a very sensitive issue. We know that an incident occurred which led to your separation. We also know you haven't said anything about this. Would you like to say something?
Only that… I don't want to say very much about that, except to say that it was a very difficult time and… and we are a family, and we will always be a family, and we will get through this time and… and hopefully be a stronger family for it.
Can I ask how you’re coping?
I'm… I'm… many… many people find themselves in a situation and this kind of… you know, my whole… my family we're all… we've all been through a difficult time, you know it's not… my focus is my children, our children and… and it is them and my focus is finding this… this… this way through, and as I said, we are… we are and forever will be a family, and so that is my… that is how I'm coping. I'm coping with… with finding a way through to make sure that this somehow makes us stronger and closer.
This film is a combination of… of passions: Filmmaking as an art, your humanitarian work. In say, five years’ time, where would you like to see yourself? Where do you think you’ll be?
Five years time. Do I have all teenagers?
You have all teenagers at this stage.
At that stage, I hope just standing. Yeah, in five years’ time I would like to be travelling around the world visiting my children, hoping that they're just happy and doing really interesting things. And I imagine in many different parts of the world and I’ll be supporting them and everything I do I hope is that I represent something and I represent the right things to my children and give them the right sense of what they're capable of and… and… and the world as it should be seen, not… not through the prism of… of Hollywood or through a certain kind of life, but really take them into the world where they have a really good sense and become rounded people.
What do you really want to do when you wake up first thing in the morning?
Get through the day. It's been a difficult few months. Right now, I'm going through a moment where there's just everybody's in my room, two hamsters, two dogs and two children at the moment, so it's wonderful but it's a… yes so usually I just wake up trying to figure out who's going to get the dog out, who’s going to start the pancakes and did anybody brush their teeth?
KEY:
1 Becoming a Cambodian family
2 The war in Cambodia
3 Her humanitarian work started there, she became a mother in Cambodia
4 About her having an international family, about how American values should be about celebrating diversity and not being afraid of diversity
5 By using her voice to denounce the situation and raising her children to be tolerant
6 Family and loss
7 By making sure that her family is stronger and closer together
8 Travelling around the world visiting her children and supporting them and continuing doing things her children feel proud of
9 two hamsters, two dogs and two children
Self-study activity:
Watch the interview and answer the questions below.
1. What changed Angelina’s life?
2. What happened 40 years ago?
3. In what ways is Angelina related to Cambodia, according to the reporter?
4. What was Angelina’s New Times op-ed piece about?
5. How is Angelina fighting against the intolerance rising in society these days?
6. What does the reporter say Angelina’s film is about?
7. How is Angelina coping after her separation?
8. Where does Angelina see herself in five years’ time?
9. Who’s Angelina sharing her room with?
I'm not here because I'm a director who wanted to make a movie. I'm here because 17 years ago I came to this country and found love with people and learned about its history and in doing so realized how little I actually knew in my early twenties about the world, and so this country for me was my awakening. And my son changed my life. Becoming a Cambodian family changed my life.
So there was never a plan to… we should make this movie. It's just I became a filmmaker and one day I thought what story, what story do I feel is really important to tell? And I felt that this war that happened 40 years ago and… and what happened to these people was not properly understood, and… and not just for the world but for the people of the country. I felt that I wanted them to be able to reflect on it in a way that they could absorb, so it's through the eyes of a child and it's a lot about love.
Do you think, though, this nation is ready for that?
I hope so. Yes, I do… I, I wouldn't have… when I… when I first started coming here… there's so much that’s changed. When many people spoke about this, 15-20 years ago, you know, since that happened there are many people denying the history or saying it wasn't as bad or trying to…, of course, many people want to forget or it's just the horrors, the horrors of war and you just simply…
I mean, it's interesting you say that, you know, this is a country which would have… is very much part of your own personal journey. Do you think that in many ways you've come full circle? You know, your humanitarian work started here, you became a mother here, that perhaps this is some sort of crossroads for you, it's come back here.
Yeah, yeah. I’ll always… I’ll always be very grateful to this country, and I hope, I hope I've given back as much as it's given me. I don't think I ever could give back as much as this country’s given me.
You wrote a New Times op-ed piece a few weeks ago and you spoke about having a truly international family. You said that the refugee policy should be about fact not fear. You also said that we shouldn't be departing from our values. Can you tell me what you meant by that?
It's funny, isn't it, some questions seem so obvious, don't they, you know, it's just… it’s these things we talk about and we… and we hear them spoken about often now, you know, what… what… what are our values? I value life equally, every single individual life. I don't separate people by race, colour, religion, and I… and and if I do, it’s because I celebrate the diversity in the world.
But we are seeing this rise of populist leaders, right, around the world. Do you think it's creating a more intolerant society?
This is… this is an old, an old trick and… and we should know better than to fall for it. And I see it, and I see it rising, and the only thing I can do is to use my voice and encourage others and raise my children to know right and wrong and to have a broad view of the world and… and to embrace their diversity and other people’s and and respect others. And I think that all we can do now is, each and every person, each… each one of your listeners, each one, we all just have to be the best of ourselves. If not… if not now more than ever we really have to rise up and find our rational center, our who are we and what do we stand for. And we know it, we know what's right and wrong.
If I take it back to your… your film, your film is about family and loss. I understand this is a very sensitive issue. We know that an incident occurred which led to your separation. We also know you haven't said anything about this. Would you like to say something?
Only that… I don't want to say very much about that, except to say that it was a very difficult time and… and we are a family, and we will always be a family, and we will get through this time and… and hopefully be a stronger family for it.
Can I ask how you’re coping?
I'm… I'm… many… many people find themselves in a situation and this kind of… you know, my whole… my family we're all… we've all been through a difficult time, you know it's not… my focus is my children, our children and… and it is them and my focus is finding this… this… this way through, and as I said, we are… we are and forever will be a family, and so that is my… that is how I'm coping. I'm coping with… with finding a way through to make sure that this somehow makes us stronger and closer.
This film is a combination of… of passions: Filmmaking as an art, your humanitarian work. In say, five years’ time, where would you like to see yourself? Where do you think you’ll be?
Five years time. Do I have all teenagers?
You have all teenagers at this stage.
At that stage, I hope just standing. Yeah, in five years’ time I would like to be travelling around the world visiting my children, hoping that they're just happy and doing really interesting things. And I imagine in many different parts of the world and I’ll be supporting them and everything I do I hope is that I represent something and I represent the right things to my children and give them the right sense of what they're capable of and… and… and the world as it should be seen, not… not through the prism of… of Hollywood or through a certain kind of life, but really take them into the world where they have a really good sense and become rounded people.
What do you really want to do when you wake up first thing in the morning?
Get through the day. It's been a difficult few months. Right now, I'm going through a moment where there's just everybody's in my room, two hamsters, two dogs and two children at the moment, so it's wonderful but it's a… yes so usually I just wake up trying to figure out who's going to get the dog out, who’s going to start the pancakes and did anybody brush their teeth?
KEY:
1 Becoming a Cambodian family
2 The war in Cambodia
3 Her humanitarian work started there, she became a mother in Cambodia
4 About her having an international family, about how American values should be about celebrating diversity and not being afraid of diversity
5 By using her voice to denounce the situation and raising her children to be tolerant
6 Family and loss
7 By making sure that her family is stronger and closer together
8 Travelling around the world visiting her children and supporting them and continuing doing things her children feel proud of
9 two hamsters, two dogs and two children
jueves, 2 de marzo de 2017
The Museum of Broken Relationships
CBS visits the Museum of Broken Relationships in Los Angeles, where mementos of jilted lovers, shattered romances and broken marriages are on display.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. How many objects are there in the museum?
2. What happened to the reporter at college?
3. What is there in the pickle jar?
4. How did L.A. attorney John Quinn get the idea for the museum?
5. How much is the entrance ticket?
6. How does Alexis Hyde, the museum's director, find beauty in a breakup?
In Hollywood, heartbreak has always been easy to find. And now, it has an address: It’s the museum of broken relationships. Think of it as emotion under glass: a hundred or so ordinary objects that mean absolutely nothing to you and me, and everything to the people who gave them up.
There’s the blue silk blouse a woman wore the day her husband left her ... the wedding cake toppers someone kept after their marriage fizzled ... a dried-out prom corsage from a long-lost love ... the butterfly wings a guy made for his fiancé’s Halloween costume before she cheated on him and fluttered away.
Okay, I don't know about you, but when I was spectacularly dumped by my college boyfriend, the last thing I wanted to do was to save a little something to remember that moment by. But a lot of people do. Like this woman who was divorced but couldn't bear to throw away her silk floral wedding dress, so she kept it and crammed it in a pickle jar.
The man behind all this is L.A. attorney John Quinn, who discovered the original museum in Zagreb, Croatia, a little over a year ago, a place with its own collection of relationship rubble.
We all came out of it thinking, that was extraordinary, very thought-provoking, very moving in a way. And I thought more people should see this.
And now they can, at eighteen dollars a head. Love notes, big, small and very small. The cheerleader outfit one woman bought because her ex was a Nebraska fan ... and the silicone implants another had removed after she dumped the guy who talked her into getting them. It can all be a little sad, but the people we met seemed to be taking it remarkably well.
It's amazing, I love it. It's wonderfully cathartic to see people shedding the memories of their breakup and moving on and letting go and allowing other people to share in what happened.
Have you had a broken heart?
Oh, yeah, oh, yeah.
Alexis Hyde is the museum's director.
So, bottom line, can you find beauty in a breakup?
I think so. Hopefully, you know, you can look back and think fondly and know that even if it didn't work out, it contributed to who you are today. And we're all failing together and we're all trying to get back up together. And that, I think, is very beautiful.
We were just reading one that might be one of his ex-girlfriends!
This is a little embarrassing, because I've seen three things so far that describe my last three relationships to a tee.
That's a pretty common reaction: the museum already has enough material to change the displays every few months. But, like love itself, there's always room for more.
So this is very weird for us, 'cause we hope we don't end up in here, so…
But we easily could.
Really?
Key:
1 a hundred
2 she was dumped by her boyfriend
3 a wedding dress
4 he visited the original museum in Zagreb, Croatia
5 $18 per person
6 it contributed to who you are today
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. How many objects are there in the museum?
2. What happened to the reporter at college?
3. What is there in the pickle jar?
4. How did L.A. attorney John Quinn get the idea for the museum?
5. How much is the entrance ticket?
6. How does Alexis Hyde, the museum's director, find beauty in a breakup?
In Hollywood, heartbreak has always been easy to find. And now, it has an address: It’s the museum of broken relationships. Think of it as emotion under glass: a hundred or so ordinary objects that mean absolutely nothing to you and me, and everything to the people who gave them up.
There’s the blue silk blouse a woman wore the day her husband left her ... the wedding cake toppers someone kept after their marriage fizzled ... a dried-out prom corsage from a long-lost love ... the butterfly wings a guy made for his fiancé’s Halloween costume before she cheated on him and fluttered away.
Okay, I don't know about you, but when I was spectacularly dumped by my college boyfriend, the last thing I wanted to do was to save a little something to remember that moment by. But a lot of people do. Like this woman who was divorced but couldn't bear to throw away her silk floral wedding dress, so she kept it and crammed it in a pickle jar.
The man behind all this is L.A. attorney John Quinn, who discovered the original museum in Zagreb, Croatia, a little over a year ago, a place with its own collection of relationship rubble.
We all came out of it thinking, that was extraordinary, very thought-provoking, very moving in a way. And I thought more people should see this.
And now they can, at eighteen dollars a head. Love notes, big, small and very small. The cheerleader outfit one woman bought because her ex was a Nebraska fan ... and the silicone implants another had removed after she dumped the guy who talked her into getting them. It can all be a little sad, but the people we met seemed to be taking it remarkably well.
It's amazing, I love it. It's wonderfully cathartic to see people shedding the memories of their breakup and moving on and letting go and allowing other people to share in what happened.
Have you had a broken heart?
Oh, yeah, oh, yeah.
Alexis Hyde is the museum's director.
So, bottom line, can you find beauty in a breakup?
I think so. Hopefully, you know, you can look back and think fondly and know that even if it didn't work out, it contributed to who you are today. And we're all failing together and we're all trying to get back up together. And that, I think, is very beautiful.
We were just reading one that might be one of his ex-girlfriends!
This is a little embarrassing, because I've seen three things so far that describe my last three relationships to a tee.
That's a pretty common reaction: the museum already has enough material to change the displays every few months. But, like love itself, there's always room for more.
So this is very weird for us, 'cause we hope we don't end up in here, so…
But we easily could.
Really?
Key:
1 a hundred
2 she was dumped by her boyfriend
3 a wedding dress
4 he visited the original museum in Zagreb, Croatia
5 $18 per person
6 it contributed to who you are today
jueves, 9 de febrero de 2017
Woman describes how she was tricked by fake profile
The number of people defrauded in the UK by online dating scams reached a record high in 2016, the Victoria Derbyshire programme has learned.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. What does Judith Lathlean do?
2. What human qualities did both Judith and John emphasize?
3. Where did John go to work?
4. What did John lose?
5. How many relationships start online in the UK?
6. How much money was lost to cybercrime last year?
7. How much money did Judith send John?
Millions of us use dating websites but not everyone online is looking for love. Every year thousands of single people in the UK are conned by criminals using fake profiles on dating sites.
I woke up in the middle of the night and suddenly realized not only was it a scam but that this so-called John was part of this gang.
Judith Lathlean is a university professor from Winchester. In 2015 she decided to try online dating. John Porter, from London, was her strongest match. Like Judith, he was with a Christian who emphasized honesty and trust.
He sounded wonderful on the phone and so we started getting quite, quite friendly quite quickly really.
John claimed to be working abroad. After weeks of daily messages and phone calls, the conversation turned to money.
When he went to South Africa what he said was, I've got to have a bond of good faith against me not delivering the goods. Well, I have known people who’ve been in business and they’ve had to put up a bond of good faith, again I didn't think it was strange. He lost his passport, this is the story, the man started getting a bit frantic and I immediately, because I was so believing in him, I immediately said, don't worry, John, I can loan you some money.
You're a respected academic, you're clearly intelligent, successful, articulate. Judith, why was your judgment so poor here?
Because I believed in John. I believed that I was helping him and I was completely bowled over by him.
With as many as one in three relationships in the UK now starting online, the internet is becoming an increasingly lucrative place for cybercriminals. We’ve discovered that last year alone almost 4,000 people were conned by online dating scammers with losses amounting to a record 39 million pounds.
They are in foreign jurisdictions. They’re in West Africa, Eastern Europe and places like that and it's very difficult for British law enforcement to take action against them in those jurisdictions.
It was five months before Judith realized she'd been scammed. John Porter didn't exist. The photo was probably stolen. Judith had sent a hundred and forty thousand pounds to an organized criminal gang.
I won't get any of the money back. I have to tell myself that it was a complete fraud so feeling sorry for myself is just not an issue.
You’re dealing with the best salesmen in the world. They don't have a product. They just want to take your money, so they will groom you overtime and, yes, I totally can see why you fall for that.
KEY:
1 She’s a university professor
2 Honesty and trust
3 South Africa
4 His passport
5 One in three
6 39 million pounds
7 140,000 pounds
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. What does Judith Lathlean do?
2. What human qualities did both Judith and John emphasize?
3. Where did John go to work?
4. What did John lose?
5. How many relationships start online in the UK?
6. How much money was lost to cybercrime last year?
7. How much money did Judith send John?
Millions of us use dating websites but not everyone online is looking for love. Every year thousands of single people in the UK are conned by criminals using fake profiles on dating sites.
I woke up in the middle of the night and suddenly realized not only was it a scam but that this so-called John was part of this gang.
Judith Lathlean is a university professor from Winchester. In 2015 she decided to try online dating. John Porter, from London, was her strongest match. Like Judith, he was with a Christian who emphasized honesty and trust.
He sounded wonderful on the phone and so we started getting quite, quite friendly quite quickly really.
John claimed to be working abroad. After weeks of daily messages and phone calls, the conversation turned to money.
When he went to South Africa what he said was, I've got to have a bond of good faith against me not delivering the goods. Well, I have known people who’ve been in business and they’ve had to put up a bond of good faith, again I didn't think it was strange. He lost his passport, this is the story, the man started getting a bit frantic and I immediately, because I was so believing in him, I immediately said, don't worry, John, I can loan you some money.
You're a respected academic, you're clearly intelligent, successful, articulate. Judith, why was your judgment so poor here?
Because I believed in John. I believed that I was helping him and I was completely bowled over by him.
With as many as one in three relationships in the UK now starting online, the internet is becoming an increasingly lucrative place for cybercriminals. We’ve discovered that last year alone almost 4,000 people were conned by online dating scammers with losses amounting to a record 39 million pounds.
They are in foreign jurisdictions. They’re in West Africa, Eastern Europe and places like that and it's very difficult for British law enforcement to take action against them in those jurisdictions.
It was five months before Judith realized she'd been scammed. John Porter didn't exist. The photo was probably stolen. Judith had sent a hundred and forty thousand pounds to an organized criminal gang.
I won't get any of the money back. I have to tell myself that it was a complete fraud so feeling sorry for myself is just not an issue.
You’re dealing with the best salesmen in the world. They don't have a product. They just want to take your money, so they will groom you overtime and, yes, I totally can see why you fall for that.
KEY:
1 She’s a university professor
2 Honesty and trust
3 South Africa
4 His passport
5 One in three
6 39 million pounds
7 140,000 pounds
domingo, 5 de febrero de 2017
Extensive listening: How to have better political conversations
Robb Willer studies the forces that unite and divide us. As a social psychologist, he researches how moral values — typically a source of division — can also be used to bring people together.
Willer shares compelling insights on how we might bridge the ideological divide and offers some intuitive advice on ways to be more persuasive when talking politics.
Robb Willer is a professor of sociology, psychology and organizational behavior at Stanford University. He studies the role of morality in politics. His research shows how moral values, typically a source of ideological division, can also be used to bring people together. His political research has investigated various topics, including economic inequality, racial prejudice, masculine overcompensation and Americans' views of climate change.
You can read a full transcript for the talk here.
Willer shares compelling insights on how we might bridge the ideological divide and offers some intuitive advice on ways to be more persuasive when talking politics.
Robb Willer is a professor of sociology, psychology and organizational behavior at Stanford University. He studies the role of morality in politics. His research shows how moral values, typically a source of ideological division, can also be used to bring people together. His political research has investigated various topics, including economic inequality, racial prejudice, masculine overcompensation and Americans' views of climate change.
You can read a full transcript for the talk here.
domingo, 29 de enero de 2017
Extensive listening: A better way to talk about love
In love, we fall. We're struck, we're crushed, we swoon. We burn with passion. Love makes us crazy and makes us sick. Our hearts ache, and then they break. Talking about love in this way fundamentally shapes how we experience it, says writer Mandy Len Catron.
In this talk for anyone who's ever felt crazy in love, Mnayd Len Catron highlights a different metaphor for love that may help us find more joy — and less suffering — in it.
Originally from Appalachian Virginia, Mandy Len Catron is a writer living and working in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Catron writes about love and love stories at The Love Story Project and teaches English and creative writing at the University of British Columbia. Her article "To Fall in Love with Anyone, Do This" was one of the most popular articles published by the New York Times in 2015.
You can read the full transcript here.
In this talk for anyone who's ever felt crazy in love, Mnayd Len Catron highlights a different metaphor for love that may help us find more joy — and less suffering — in it.
Originally from Appalachian Virginia, Mandy Len Catron is a writer living and working in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Catron writes about love and love stories at The Love Story Project and teaches English and creative writing at the University of British Columbia. Her article "To Fall in Love with Anyone, Do This" was one of the most popular articles published by the New York Times in 2015.
You can read the full transcript here.
miércoles, 25 de enero de 2017
Talking point: Teams
This week's talking point is teams. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.
What do you think are the qualities needed to be a good team player?
What different roles do team members perform in a team?
What problems usually arise in teams?
What teams have you been in?
(You can also talk about your experience with team sports)
How successful were they?
What was your role and contribution to those teams?
Does a team always need a leader?
Is team learning more beneficial than individual learning for you?
To illustrate the point you can watch the video 5 Golden Rules for building a Great Team.
What do you think are the qualities needed to be a good team player?
What different roles do team members perform in a team?
What problems usually arise in teams?
What teams have you been in?
(You can also talk about your experience with team sports)
How successful were they?
What was your role and contribution to those teams?
Does a team always need a leader?
Is team learning more beneficial than individual learning for you?
To illustrate the point you can watch the video 5 Golden Rules for building a Great Team.
domingo, 22 de enero de 2017
Extensive listening: Are you a giver or a taker
In every workplace, there are three basic kinds of people: givers, takers and matchers. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant breaks down these personalities and offers simple strategies to promote a culture of generosity and keep self-serving employees from taking more than their share.
In his groundbreaking book Give and Take, top-rated Wharton professor Adam Grant upended decades of conventional motivational thinking with the thesis that giving unselfishly to colleagues or clients can lead to one’s own long-term success.
Grant’s research has led hundreds of advice seekers (and HR departments) to his doorstep, and it’s changing the way leaders view their workforces.
Grant’s new book Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World examines how unconventional thinkers overturn the status quo and champion game-changing ideas.
You can read a full transcript of the talk here.
In his groundbreaking book Give and Take, top-rated Wharton professor Adam Grant upended decades of conventional motivational thinking with the thesis that giving unselfishly to colleagues or clients can lead to one’s own long-term success.
Grant’s research has led hundreds of advice seekers (and HR departments) to his doorstep, and it’s changing the way leaders view their workforces.
Grant’s new book Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World examines how unconventional thinkers overturn the status quo and champion game-changing ideas.
You can read a full transcript of the talk here.
viernes, 13 de enero de 2017
Japan, speed dating with a twist
Finding the right partner in the modern dating world is not easy. And so in an attempt to prove that appearances aren't everything, one Japanese dating company is using surgical masks to force their clients to concentrate on character instead of superficial looks.
Some say the eyes are the windows to the soul, and eyes are all these Japanese singles have to go by while they search for their soulmates. They’re usually worn to stop the spreading of germs, during this speed dating session the surgical masks are worn to make sure the focus is on the personality and not appearance.
In order to achieve marriage, it’s important to provide people with the chance to know their partner’s personality properly in the early stages of a relationship, rather than start with the outward appearance. That’s why we use surgical masks. They are an essential tool to do that.
With fewer marriages and declining birth rates, dating services in Japan are gaining popularity. The singles in this room have not given up on finding the one but in a digital world, where online dating is the norm, they feel superficial first impressions are getting in the way.
People come to this event looking for someone with personality. So from the start I felt confident, not being judged by my appearance I think I was able to be more outgoing with women.
I think I was able to find out more about their inner selves and not just judge them by their looks. In this event personality matters. I quite like that.
And it works. These two young women have landed themselves a second double date, and this time they may choose to leave the mask at home.
Rebecca Lee, BBC News.
Some say the eyes are the windows to the soul, and eyes are all these Japanese singles have to go by while they search for their soulmates. They’re usually worn to stop the spreading of germs, during this speed dating session the surgical masks are worn to make sure the focus is on the personality and not appearance.
In order to achieve marriage, it’s important to provide people with the chance to know their partner’s personality properly in the early stages of a relationship, rather than start with the outward appearance. That’s why we use surgical masks. They are an essential tool to do that.
With fewer marriages and declining birth rates, dating services in Japan are gaining popularity. The singles in this room have not given up on finding the one but in a digital world, where online dating is the norm, they feel superficial first impressions are getting in the way.
People come to this event looking for someone with personality. So from the start I felt confident, not being judged by my appearance I think I was able to be more outgoing with women.
I think I was able to find out more about their inner selves and not just judge them by their looks. In this event personality matters. I quite like that.
And it works. These two young women have landed themselves a second double date, and this time they may choose to leave the mask at home.
Rebecca Lee, BBC News.
jueves, 5 de enero de 2017
Family reject school to travel the world
These parents have avoided traditional school education for their children and instead have opted for a life-time trip around the world. From Bali’s beautiful beaches to the ancient pyramids of Egypt, the King family have seen them all.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 What did Paul and Caroline King sell before they began their constant world travel?
2 How many countries have they visited during the year?
3 How long did they stay in Italy?
4 How old are Winston and Henry?
5 Who are their teachers?
6 What was Caroline’s experience of school?
7 Do the children want to go to school?
8 Where was their house before their adventure started?
9 How long did it take them to sell their possessions?
We didn’t think it was ethical for our children to be forced to go to school. Instead of reading about it in a book they see it for real.
Paul and Caroline King have shunned the conventional lifestyle, selling their family home, taking their two young children out of school, and leaving the daily grind behind in favour of constant world travel.
When you travel with kids people are nicer to you, which is pretty good.
I think we’ve been in 25 countries during the year. We went to Israel for a week and Palestine. And we stayed in Egypt for like 2 months.
What country are we in?
Ancient Egypt.
Okay.
And we went to Italy and we stayed in Italy for a month.
One of my favourites is Bali.
Most places that we just go to and stay, after a couple of days they’ll say, “Oh, this is the best place I’ve ever been.”
The Kings believe in attachment parenting, which for them includes breastfeeding and co-sleeping.
I breastfed Winston, he is 6 now, until he was 4, and Henry, I’m just feeding him if he really hurts himself or has something really traumatic he still gets to, that’s how I calm him down.
Always on the move, 6-year-old Winston and his younger brother Henry, who is 4, are taught by their parents.
We didn’t think it was ethical for our children to be forced to go to school when they didn’t want to and when they were forced to learn things that they already knew or didn’t want to learn. Instead of reading about it in a book they see it for real. So it’s much more interesting. I remember when I was in school I thought it was really boring to learn about the Romans. I was falling asleep at the table, but now when you see it in real life it’s completely different, it is so interesting, you just want to learn more. So the purpose of doing this in countries that we go to, we have projects about the stuff that’s there. So when we visited Pompeii we learnt all about how that happened.
In Sweden I went to school every day.
And how did you find it?
There is more stuff to do than just going to school.
We actually would like to find some school that fits with our beliefs, but we just haven’t found it yet and they don’t want to go to school now and for us, we think that we shouldn’t force them to. But if they want to go to school, as long as it’s voluntary, they can of course go there.
The family decided to give everything up in February 2015 and haven’t had a permanent home since.
We had a really big house in Sweden like we were putting all our time in to making the house look nice, it just got so dull. We worked with importing Cashmere hammocks and rugs, we wanted to live like digital nomads before, we just had to do it. It took about 6 months to sell almost everything. We had one suitcase with clothes and regular wash kit stuff, we had some workbooks for the kids and books for reading, so they don’t miss anything.
For now the Kings have no plans to stop traveling.
We are going to go drive back to Prague and gonna stay there until October and then I think we go back to Bali for the winter.
You can go and live anywhere and it’s absolutely fine.
All the time people say, ‘I always want to do that’, and I just get so annoyed, we’re just tell them back, ‘So do it then’, and then they come up with all these different excuses that they have, whether it’s work or family or they don’t have enough money or anything like that. But the truth is if you just don’t do it then you’re never gonna do it!
Key:
1 Their family home.
2 Twenty-five.
3 One month.
4 Six.
5 Their parents.
6 It was boring, she fell asleep.
7 No.
8 In Sweden.
9 Six months.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 What did Paul and Caroline King sell before they began their constant world travel?
2 How many countries have they visited during the year?
3 How long did they stay in Italy?
4 How old are Winston and Henry?
5 Who are their teachers?
6 What was Caroline’s experience of school?
7 Do the children want to go to school?
8 Where was their house before their adventure started?
9 How long did it take them to sell their possessions?
We didn’t think it was ethical for our children to be forced to go to school. Instead of reading about it in a book they see it for real.
Paul and Caroline King have shunned the conventional lifestyle, selling their family home, taking their two young children out of school, and leaving the daily grind behind in favour of constant world travel.
When you travel with kids people are nicer to you, which is pretty good.
I think we’ve been in 25 countries during the year. We went to Israel for a week and Palestine. And we stayed in Egypt for like 2 months.
What country are we in?
Ancient Egypt.
Okay.
And we went to Italy and we stayed in Italy for a month.
One of my favourites is Bali.
Most places that we just go to and stay, after a couple of days they’ll say, “Oh, this is the best place I’ve ever been.”
The Kings believe in attachment parenting, which for them includes breastfeeding and co-sleeping.
I breastfed Winston, he is 6 now, until he was 4, and Henry, I’m just feeding him if he really hurts himself or has something really traumatic he still gets to, that’s how I calm him down.
Always on the move, 6-year-old Winston and his younger brother Henry, who is 4, are taught by their parents.
We didn’t think it was ethical for our children to be forced to go to school when they didn’t want to and when they were forced to learn things that they already knew or didn’t want to learn. Instead of reading about it in a book they see it for real. So it’s much more interesting. I remember when I was in school I thought it was really boring to learn about the Romans. I was falling asleep at the table, but now when you see it in real life it’s completely different, it is so interesting, you just want to learn more. So the purpose of doing this in countries that we go to, we have projects about the stuff that’s there. So when we visited Pompeii we learnt all about how that happened.
In Sweden I went to school every day.
And how did you find it?
There is more stuff to do than just going to school.
We actually would like to find some school that fits with our beliefs, but we just haven’t found it yet and they don’t want to go to school now and for us, we think that we shouldn’t force them to. But if they want to go to school, as long as it’s voluntary, they can of course go there.
The family decided to give everything up in February 2015 and haven’t had a permanent home since.
We had a really big house in Sweden like we were putting all our time in to making the house look nice, it just got so dull. We worked with importing Cashmere hammocks and rugs, we wanted to live like digital nomads before, we just had to do it. It took about 6 months to sell almost everything. We had one suitcase with clothes and regular wash kit stuff, we had some workbooks for the kids and books for reading, so they don’t miss anything.
For now the Kings have no plans to stop traveling.
We are going to go drive back to Prague and gonna stay there until October and then I think we go back to Bali for the winter.
You can go and live anywhere and it’s absolutely fine.
All the time people say, ‘I always want to do that’, and I just get so annoyed, we’re just tell them back, ‘So do it then’, and then they come up with all these different excuses that they have, whether it’s work or family or they don’t have enough money or anything like that. But the truth is if you just don’t do it then you’re never gonna do it!
Key:
1 Their family home.
2 Twenty-five.
3 One month.
4 Six.
5 Their parents.
6 It was boring, she fell asleep.
7 No.
8 In Sweden.
9 Six months.
viernes, 4 de noviembre de 2016
Victims of acid attacks rebuild their lives
Every year hundreds of Indian women are victims of acid attacks and reported incidents are on the increase. Very often men throw acid at women who reject their marriage offers or attempts to start sexual relationships. One charity has devised a strategy to help survivors regain their confidence and rebuild their lives.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 Which job do the victims of acid attacks do in Sheroes café?
2 What consequence did the acid attack have for Rani?
3 Why did the boy get angry with Rani?
4 What plans did Rani have for herself at the moment of the attack?
5 Apart from earning a living, what are the victims trying to gain while working at the café?
6 How old was Dolly when she was attacked?
7 What was Dolly's mom's attitude towards her after the attack?
Faces scarred irreversibly, lives changed forever by acid attacks. But these women are very much survivors, not victims, and part of their recovery process is to tell their stories to the outside world.
In the shadow of the Taj Mahal, they found a sanctuary of normality in Sheroes café, set up by a local charity.
Like any other waitresses, they take orders from tables and chat to the steady stream of backpackers who pass through town. Rani, who’s 20, is the newest arrival. The story of her attack which left her blind is all too familiar.
There was a boy. He loved me. It was one-sided love and he used to follow me around. One day he accosted me in the street and tried to force himself on me. I slapped him. That made him angry, so after a few days, he attacked me with acid. My family blamed me. They wanted me to agree to that man and let him do as he pleased. But I didn't want to be involved in the trappings of love or marriage. I wanted to study.
Rani says the women at the café have given her the strength and support she didn’t get from her own family.
Working here at Sheroes isn't just about earning a living, it's also about regaining a life and because many of the women here were scarred when they were very, very young, rediscovering their confidence is part of the key to survival.
These women have already become local celebrities. Here, they're filming a video for the café website. Dolly was just 12 when she was attacked, yet another case of a rejected suitor. She recalls the moment she first saw her face.
After seeing the mirror, I cried and howled and screamed so much. I said things like my face has been ruined and it would have been better if I had died, why did you save me? But my mother told me that I'm still beautiful. I don't cover my face any more. I live my life my way. I like that I have a job here at Sheroes. I like that my parents feel pride in my work and in the fact that I’m standing on my own feet.
As evening falls, Dolly and her colleague chat and laugh about the places they would like to go and the things they want to do. Their advice to other women who've been scarred is try and look forward, not back. Disfigured once yes, but empowered now too.
Naomi Grimley, BBC News, Agra.
Key:
1 waitresses
2 it left her blind
3 because she slapped him
4 she wanted to study
5 their confidence
6 twelve
7 she has supported her, she feels proud
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 Which job do the victims of acid attacks do in Sheroes café?
2 What consequence did the acid attack have for Rani?
3 Why did the boy get angry with Rani?
4 What plans did Rani have for herself at the moment of the attack?
5 Apart from earning a living, what are the victims trying to gain while working at the café?
6 How old was Dolly when she was attacked?
7 What was Dolly's mom's attitude towards her after the attack?
Faces scarred irreversibly, lives changed forever by acid attacks. But these women are very much survivors, not victims, and part of their recovery process is to tell their stories to the outside world.
In the shadow of the Taj Mahal, they found a sanctuary of normality in Sheroes café, set up by a local charity.
Like any other waitresses, they take orders from tables and chat to the steady stream of backpackers who pass through town. Rani, who’s 20, is the newest arrival. The story of her attack which left her blind is all too familiar.
There was a boy. He loved me. It was one-sided love and he used to follow me around. One day he accosted me in the street and tried to force himself on me. I slapped him. That made him angry, so after a few days, he attacked me with acid. My family blamed me. They wanted me to agree to that man and let him do as he pleased. But I didn't want to be involved in the trappings of love or marriage. I wanted to study.
Rani says the women at the café have given her the strength and support she didn’t get from her own family.
Working here at Sheroes isn't just about earning a living, it's also about regaining a life and because many of the women here were scarred when they were very, very young, rediscovering their confidence is part of the key to survival.
These women have already become local celebrities. Here, they're filming a video for the café website. Dolly was just 12 when she was attacked, yet another case of a rejected suitor. She recalls the moment she first saw her face.
After seeing the mirror, I cried and howled and screamed so much. I said things like my face has been ruined and it would have been better if I had died, why did you save me? But my mother told me that I'm still beautiful. I don't cover my face any more. I live my life my way. I like that I have a job here at Sheroes. I like that my parents feel pride in my work and in the fact that I’m standing on my own feet.
As evening falls, Dolly and her colleague chat and laugh about the places they would like to go and the things they want to do. Their advice to other women who've been scarred is try and look forward, not back. Disfigured once yes, but empowered now too.
Naomi Grimley, BBC News, Agra.
Key:
1 waitresses
2 it left her blind
3 because she slapped him
4 she wanted to study
5 their confidence
6 twelve
7 she has supported her, she feels proud
domingo, 30 de octubre de 2016
Extensive listening: How to raise successful kids without over-parenting
By loading kids with high expectations and micromanaging their lives at every turn, parents aren't actually helping. At least, that's how Julie Lythcott-Haims sees it.
With passion and wry humor, the former Dean of Freshmen at Stanford makes the case for parents to stop defining their children's success via grades and test scores. Instead, she says, they should focus on providing the oldest idea of all: unconditional love.
Julie Lythcott-Haims speaks and writes on the phenomenon of helicopter parenting and the dangers of a checklisted childhood — the subject of her book, "How to Raise an Adult".
You can read the full transcript here.
With passion and wry humor, the former Dean of Freshmen at Stanford makes the case for parents to stop defining their children's success via grades and test scores. Instead, she says, they should focus on providing the oldest idea of all: unconditional love.
Julie Lythcott-Haims speaks and writes on the phenomenon of helicopter parenting and the dangers of a checklisted childhood — the subject of her book, "How to Raise an Adult".
You can read the full transcript here.
domingo, 16 de octubre de 2016
Extensive listening: Why you should talk to strangers
"When you talk to strangers, you're making beautiful interruptions into the expected narrative of your daily life — and theirs," says Kio Stark.
In this delightful talk, Stark explores the overlooked benefits of pushing past our default discomfort when it comes to strangers and embracing those fleeting but profoundly beautiful moments of genuine connection.
You can read the transcript for the talk here.
In this delightful talk, Stark explores the overlooked benefits of pushing past our default discomfort when it comes to strangers and embracing those fleeting but profoundly beautiful moments of genuine connection.
You can read the transcript for the talk here.
miércoles, 12 de octubre de 2016
Talking point: Relationships
This week's talking point is relationships. 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.
Who is your oldest friend?
And your closest friend?
What is your relationship with them like?
In what ways are the two relationships similar or different?
What do you have in common with these two friends?
Do you usually have a lot in common with your friends or do they introduce you to new things and ideas? Which is more important?
Which of your friends is most different from you in personality?
What is he/she like?
What do you mainly expect of a friend, support or to have fun?
Do your friends come from the same background as you?
How long can a friendship last when you keep in touch but don't spend time together?
Do you get on well with people of different ages?
Do you ever talk to strangers? If so, in what situations?
Look at the film poster below. What do you know about the film? You can find some information about the film here.
Do you know any real-life stories of unlikely friendhip?
To illustrate the topic, you can watch Laila talking about her friend. To watch the video, click on the image below or here.
Who is your oldest friend?
And your closest friend?
What is your relationship with them like?
In what ways are the two relationships similar or different?
What do you have in common with these two friends?
Do you usually have a lot in common with your friends or do they introduce you to new things and ideas? Which is more important?
Which of your friends is most different from you in personality?
What is he/she like?
What do you mainly expect of a friend, support or to have fun?
Do your friends come from the same background as you?
How long can a friendship last when you keep in touch but don't spend time together?
Do you get on well with people of different ages?
Do you ever talk to strangers? If so, in what situations?
Look at the film poster below. What do you know about the film? You can find some information about the film here.
Do you know any real-life stories of unlikely friendhip?
To illustrate the topic, you can watch Laila talking about her friend. To watch the video, click on the image below or here.
jueves, 1 de septiembre de 2016
Sugar Daddy, Sugar Baby: Trading intimacy for education
Meet British women who are funding themselves through university by dating rich older men via websites.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 What did Samantha use to work as?
2 What has her new life-style bought for her?
3 Who do the Sugar website advertisements target?
4 What does '$3,000' refer to?
5 What do the Americans call this trend?
6 How much did Fred pay for her education?
Meet Samantha. She’s 28 and used to work as a glamour model, but 10 years ago she discovered the Sugar world, where wealthy men shell out thousands of pounds to turn a pretty girl into a princess.
Over the years I’ve got everything I basically wanted it to make my life how it is now. I’ve got my home, I had my car bought for me, I have watches, you know, expensive shoes, Louis Buttons.
Samantha says she’s only slept with one of her sugar daddies, the gifts are all given in the spirit of altruism.
Sounds too good to be true? Take a look at some of the Sugar website advertisements which often target students and you get a hint of what’s expected back.
Enrol the Sugar Baby University today and get your education paid for by a generous sponsor.
I like dating beautiful women…
Sugar daddy Mike works a lot and says he doesn’t have time to join the quest for love, so he’s opted for a short cut, and no strings attached Sugar arrangements, and he pays his current sugar baby $3,000 a month.
I look for companionship, loyalty, a friendship and, yes, intimacy as part of that.
Sex.
Yeah, if it’s with the right person.
The trend began, of course, in the US. The Americans call it Mutually Beneficial Dating. The head of PR of one US site claims to have 4,000,000 members worldwide.
So the top five countries that participate in arrangements are, in order, the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia and France. This is where we have the most not only Sugar daddies but also Sugar babies participating in this lifestyle.
It is really high-class prostitution, isn’t it? It is a conduit for sex.
For seeking arrangements, no matter what country you access us in we don’t allow that kind of behaviour on the website.
I got into it through a friend in second year.
Twenty-two year old Fred, who’s asked us to keep her identity secret, graduated from a top university last year dead free, exhausted by poorly paid bar work, she signed up as a Sugar baby. It was, she says, the financial no-brainer.
If a girl is sexually active, sexually inquisitive, sexually open, and you have your head screwed on your shoulders, it’s an absolute gold mine.
Love it or hate it, in our time-starved luxury-hungry society, sugar-dating is on the rise, and every week more students looking for a quick fix for their soaring debts are signing up.
Emma Jane Curby, BBC News.
Key:
1 a glamour model
2 a home, a car, watches, expensive shoes
3 students
4 the money Mike pays his current sugar baby a month
5 Mutually Beneficial Dating
6 nothing
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 What did Samantha use to work as?
2 What has her new life-style bought for her?
3 Who do the Sugar website advertisements target?
4 What does '$3,000' refer to?
5 What do the Americans call this trend?
6 How much did Fred pay for her education?
Meet Samantha. She’s 28 and used to work as a glamour model, but 10 years ago she discovered the Sugar world, where wealthy men shell out thousands of pounds to turn a pretty girl into a princess.
Over the years I’ve got everything I basically wanted it to make my life how it is now. I’ve got my home, I had my car bought for me, I have watches, you know, expensive shoes, Louis Buttons.
Samantha says she’s only slept with one of her sugar daddies, the gifts are all given in the spirit of altruism.
Sounds too good to be true? Take a look at some of the Sugar website advertisements which often target students and you get a hint of what’s expected back.
Enrol the Sugar Baby University today and get your education paid for by a generous sponsor.
I like dating beautiful women…
Sugar daddy Mike works a lot and says he doesn’t have time to join the quest for love, so he’s opted for a short cut, and no strings attached Sugar arrangements, and he pays his current sugar baby $3,000 a month.
I look for companionship, loyalty, a friendship and, yes, intimacy as part of that.
Sex.
Yeah, if it’s with the right person.
The trend began, of course, in the US. The Americans call it Mutually Beneficial Dating. The head of PR of one US site claims to have 4,000,000 members worldwide.
So the top five countries that participate in arrangements are, in order, the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia and France. This is where we have the most not only Sugar daddies but also Sugar babies participating in this lifestyle.
It is really high-class prostitution, isn’t it? It is a conduit for sex.
For seeking arrangements, no matter what country you access us in we don’t allow that kind of behaviour on the website.
I got into it through a friend in second year.
Twenty-two year old Fred, who’s asked us to keep her identity secret, graduated from a top university last year dead free, exhausted by poorly paid bar work, she signed up as a Sugar baby. It was, she says, the financial no-brainer.
If a girl is sexually active, sexually inquisitive, sexually open, and you have your head screwed on your shoulders, it’s an absolute gold mine.
Love it or hate it, in our time-starved luxury-hungry society, sugar-dating is on the rise, and every week more students looking for a quick fix for their soaring debts are signing up.
Emma Jane Curby, BBC News.
Key:
1 a glamour model
2 a home, a car, watches, expensive shoes
3 students
4 the money Mike pays his current sugar baby a month
5 Mutually Beneficial Dating
6 nothing
sábado, 27 de agosto de 2016
Reading test: Ways to be a fabulous grandparent
In this week's reading test we are going to practise the heading-matching kind of task. To do so, we are going to read part of The Guardian article 10 ways to be a fabulous grandparent.
Read the text and match each of the paragraphs 1-6 with its corresponding heading. There are three headings you do not need to use. 0 is an example.
A - Accept that you have no control
B - Avoid jealousy
C - Be clear about cash
D - Break the rules a bit
E - Brush up on your skills
F -Don’t admit your fears 0 Example
G - Don’t Project
H - Don’t spend a fortune
I - Manage long distance
J - Only offer what you can give
0
Your beloved adult child is about to embark on a lifelong commitment about which they understand nothing. So it’s not surprising you’re as alarmed for them as you would be if they were sailing the Northwest Passage in flip-flops. Whichever phrase of warning or concern springs to your lips, however, hold it in. Your child needs support, not panic. So if you can’t pretend you’re thrilled, find something supportive to say. It will be appreciated.
1
Perhaps you had a nightmarish birth, featuring forceps, hallucinations and seven junior doctors moving around like women of the bedchamber. Maybe your baby was a shocking sleeper, or refused to eat anything but peas for the first three years. None of this, however, means that your children will have the same experience of parenthood. So while empathy and practical support are useful, constantly referring back to your own parental traumas is not.
2
“I really don’t understand why she buys our grandson those terrible clothes …” If you’re not careful, your remarks about the other grandma could turn you into a obsolete Mrs de Winter in Rebecca, constantly obsessed with your counterpart, living with the building paranoia that she’s somehow better, more loved, and more of a gran than you’ll ever be.
Nobody wants to be juggling a new baby and your easily bruised feelings, so biting remarks about the tastes or childcare practices of the other gran are unacceptable. It’s not a competition – it’s a family, although there’s often a fine line.
3
The general assumption is that grandparents are selfless. But even if you’re retired, you’re used to owning your time and offering flexible childcare can fast become a very long piece of string indeed. So it’s vital to consider how much time you can provide – and make the arrangement as formal as possible. Nobody wants to be sitting round the table with a lawyer; equally, you don’t want your loving arrangement of two afternoons a week turning into three days, two evenings and a Saturday morning, unless you’re willing.
4
While you may have been able to change a nappy with one hand and puree a cauliflower with the other 30 years ago, it’s likely that you have forgotten more than you ever knew. Although some of it will return, there are some areas where times have changed. What babies can eat, for example. Where they sleep and how pushchairs work. So don’t go in unprepared – do some research before the baby arrives.
5
After sweets and bedtimes, perhaps the most difficult issue of grandmother-hood is money. Nobody wants to quote a babycare price to their nearest and dearest, but with almost half of families with children reliant on grandparents for at least part-time childcare, if you spend between three and six days a week doing the hard work, is it reasonable to do it all gratis or should you be demanding some recompense for your labour? There’s no rule, though many grandparents find the whole idea of charging distasteful. Plus if you take a wage, you need to be a registered childminder and then it becomes complicated. Some avert the issue by accepting expenses, others just view their costs as part of the grandparental lot. What you must do is clarify your position at the outset.
6
Spoiling, of course, is often just another word for spending. And as a new grandparent, watching your adult children struggle to afford the raft of baby equipment and clothes and toys required can start an avid credit-card finger. Not only will this diminish your resources, it may also make your children feel inadequate.
Few parents like to feel that they can’t manage so if you want to buy a gift, consult them first. Keep presents appropriate and affordable.
KEY:
1G 2B 3J 4E 5C 6H
Read the text and match each of the paragraphs 1-6 with its corresponding heading. There are three headings you do not need to use. 0 is an example.
A - Accept that you have no control
B - Avoid jealousy
C - Be clear about cash
D - Break the rules a bit
E - Brush up on your skills
F -
G - Don’t Project
H - Don’t spend a fortune
I - Manage long distance
J - Only offer what you can give
0
Your beloved adult child is about to embark on a lifelong commitment about which they understand nothing. So it’s not surprising you’re as alarmed for them as you would be if they were sailing the Northwest Passage in flip-flops. Whichever phrase of warning or concern springs to your lips, however, hold it in. Your child needs support, not panic. So if you can’t pretend you’re thrilled, find something supportive to say. It will be appreciated.
1
Perhaps you had a nightmarish birth, featuring forceps, hallucinations and seven junior doctors moving around like women of the bedchamber. Maybe your baby was a shocking sleeper, or refused to eat anything but peas for the first three years. None of this, however, means that your children will have the same experience of parenthood. So while empathy and practical support are useful, constantly referring back to your own parental traumas is not.
2
“I really don’t understand why she buys our grandson those terrible clothes …” If you’re not careful, your remarks about the other grandma could turn you into a obsolete Mrs de Winter in Rebecca, constantly obsessed with your counterpart, living with the building paranoia that she’s somehow better, more loved, and more of a gran than you’ll ever be.
Nobody wants to be juggling a new baby and your easily bruised feelings, so biting remarks about the tastes or childcare practices of the other gran are unacceptable. It’s not a competition – it’s a family, although there’s often a fine line.
3
The general assumption is that grandparents are selfless. But even if you’re retired, you’re used to owning your time and offering flexible childcare can fast become a very long piece of string indeed. So it’s vital to consider how much time you can provide – and make the arrangement as formal as possible. Nobody wants to be sitting round the table with a lawyer; equally, you don’t want your loving arrangement of two afternoons a week turning into three days, two evenings and a Saturday morning, unless you’re willing.
4
While you may have been able to change a nappy with one hand and puree a cauliflower with the other 30 years ago, it’s likely that you have forgotten more than you ever knew. Although some of it will return, there are some areas where times have changed. What babies can eat, for example. Where they sleep and how pushchairs work. So don’t go in unprepared – do some research before the baby arrives.
5
After sweets and bedtimes, perhaps the most difficult issue of grandmother-hood is money. Nobody wants to quote a babycare price to their nearest and dearest, but with almost half of families with children reliant on grandparents for at least part-time childcare, if you spend between three and six days a week doing the hard work, is it reasonable to do it all gratis or should you be demanding some recompense for your labour? There’s no rule, though many grandparents find the whole idea of charging distasteful. Plus if you take a wage, you need to be a registered childminder and then it becomes complicated. Some avert the issue by accepting expenses, others just view their costs as part of the grandparental lot. What you must do is clarify your position at the outset.
6
Spoiling, of course, is often just another word for spending. And as a new grandparent, watching your adult children struggle to afford the raft of baby equipment and clothes and toys required can start an avid credit-card finger. Not only will this diminish your resources, it may also make your children feel inadequate.
Few parents like to feel that they can’t manage so if you want to buy a gift, consult them first. Keep presents appropriate and affordable.
KEY:
1G 2B 3J 4E 5C 6H
viernes, 8 de julio de 2016
Australian quintuplets
An Australian mother of quintuplets has spoken to the BBC about the challenges of bringing up five babies.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below
1 How many babies have a really bad reflux?
2 What is Kim's biggest challenge?
3 What have the older children learnt?
4 How many nappies do they change a day?
5 How do they go to hospital appointments?
6 What is the probability of having quintuplets?
7 Who was with Kim when she was told she was expecting quintuplets?
8 How many babies migh have survived using the selection method?
Every mother, Kim, knows about the juggling act because every mother has to do it. But we can only begin to imagine yours. How do you do it?
Oh… I just… I have to, so I get up and I'm on a mission. I'm ready to just take on the day, so whatever is thrown at me I just… I embrace it and I just do what I need to do.
What sort of things are thrown at you? Is it all the babies crying at once?
Yep, yep, so they can all cry at once. We have three with a really bad reflux. It's like they're all in sync. When one cries, the next one cries and so on and so on and so on. So our house is absolutely wild but we're enjoying it.
I’m pleased to hear you say that. You must be really tired?
I'm so tired, I'm… yeah. I'm really tired. I can't wait for bedtime.
And then you're probably woken in the night too, but do you have some help, Kim?
Oh, we have so much help. We're so appreciative of everyone that steps in and, you know, it has… it’s, it's taken a lot to get to where we are now and I, I really appreciate everyone that's offered their help and their support and, most of all, their love.
Kim, the babies are beautiful but so are you. You look wonderful, given you’re only a few months in. What do you think the biggest challenge is at the moment?
Um… for me the biggest challenge would be having to split myself into so many people just to give enough time and attention to everyone. Of course, my lovely husband who, you know, he’s supported me from day one. So he needs, he needs my time and attention too. So I think it's, it's just having enough time for everyone.
And what about your older children? How are they coping? Do they love the little ones or do they think they're getting all the attention and they're not getting enough?
No, they do love them but it has been a huge learning curve for them. They've had to learn to share mummy and share daddy and they've had to learn that, you know, the babies need a lot of time and they need a lot of attention.
Kim, have you done any of the maths around the babies like how many nappies do you change a week?
A week? I try not to do too much math because it becomes quite overwhelming but we do go through about 60 nappies in a 24-hour period.
That is incredible. And how do you get them outside, like what about the stroller or the car?
Though we have two prams, a triple and a double, and we're fundraising on GoFundMe to find me at the moment for a car big enough to sit us all, so we've been going to hospital appointments in multiple cars just to… just to really get there, so it, it has been tough but the fundraising is going really well and we're hoping that in the next few days we'll have enough to get our van.
Kim, can you take us back to the moment when you found out that you were carrying the babies? Because I've already said it was a one in fifty million chance. That feels incredibly special. I'm sure that some days you don't feel that, but what was your reaction when you discovered you had five babies?
Oh, I was… I was a mess to be honest. I didn’t know if I could… I was really up to the task. My husband came down to the ultrasound place and he basically told me we can do anything and he's had that attitude since day one and still till today he’s that very positive person. Without him I just… I wouldn't be able to do it.
What did the doctors tell you?
They basically told me that I could… I could use the selection method to give two babies the best chance of survival and… but it just wasn't something that we could personally do ourselves, so we took on the risks but it has all paid off today.
Kim, was there just something inside you and your husband that knew that you could do this, that this would be okay?
Yes, it was, it was meant to be. I think I loved them from the moment I heard their hearts beating and I accomplished my goal and I would do it all over again for them. I'm so in love with all my children.
I'm so pleased to hear it. Kim, one final question. Is someone putting their arms around you, looking after you as well?
Yes, yes, my husband does. I'm very, very spoiled. I had a lovely Mother's Day. I'm very looked after.
Key:
1 three
2 to have enough time for everyone
3 to share mum and dad and that the babies need a lot of attention
4 sixty
5 in multiple cars
6 one in fifty million
7 her husband
8 two
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below
1 How many babies have a really bad reflux?
2 What is Kim's biggest challenge?
3 What have the older children learnt?
4 How many nappies do they change a day?
5 How do they go to hospital appointments?
6 What is the probability of having quintuplets?
7 Who was with Kim when she was told she was expecting quintuplets?
8 How many babies migh have survived using the selection method?
Every mother, Kim, knows about the juggling act because every mother has to do it. But we can only begin to imagine yours. How do you do it?
Oh… I just… I have to, so I get up and I'm on a mission. I'm ready to just take on the day, so whatever is thrown at me I just… I embrace it and I just do what I need to do.
What sort of things are thrown at you? Is it all the babies crying at once?
Yep, yep, so they can all cry at once. We have three with a really bad reflux. It's like they're all in sync. When one cries, the next one cries and so on and so on and so on. So our house is absolutely wild but we're enjoying it.
I’m pleased to hear you say that. You must be really tired?
I'm so tired, I'm… yeah. I'm really tired. I can't wait for bedtime.
And then you're probably woken in the night too, but do you have some help, Kim?
Oh, we have so much help. We're so appreciative of everyone that steps in and, you know, it has… it’s, it's taken a lot to get to where we are now and I, I really appreciate everyone that's offered their help and their support and, most of all, their love.
Kim, the babies are beautiful but so are you. You look wonderful, given you’re only a few months in. What do you think the biggest challenge is at the moment?
Um… for me the biggest challenge would be having to split myself into so many people just to give enough time and attention to everyone. Of course, my lovely husband who, you know, he’s supported me from day one. So he needs, he needs my time and attention too. So I think it's, it's just having enough time for everyone.
And what about your older children? How are they coping? Do they love the little ones or do they think they're getting all the attention and they're not getting enough?
No, they do love them but it has been a huge learning curve for them. They've had to learn to share mummy and share daddy and they've had to learn that, you know, the babies need a lot of time and they need a lot of attention.
Kim, have you done any of the maths around the babies like how many nappies do you change a week?
A week? I try not to do too much math because it becomes quite overwhelming but we do go through about 60 nappies in a 24-hour period.
That is incredible. And how do you get them outside, like what about the stroller or the car?
Though we have two prams, a triple and a double, and we're fundraising on GoFundMe to find me at the moment for a car big enough to sit us all, so we've been going to hospital appointments in multiple cars just to… just to really get there, so it, it has been tough but the fundraising is going really well and we're hoping that in the next few days we'll have enough to get our van.
Kim, can you take us back to the moment when you found out that you were carrying the babies? Because I've already said it was a one in fifty million chance. That feels incredibly special. I'm sure that some days you don't feel that, but what was your reaction when you discovered you had five babies?
Oh, I was… I was a mess to be honest. I didn’t know if I could… I was really up to the task. My husband came down to the ultrasound place and he basically told me we can do anything and he's had that attitude since day one and still till today he’s that very positive person. Without him I just… I wouldn't be able to do it.
What did the doctors tell you?
They basically told me that I could… I could use the selection method to give two babies the best chance of survival and… but it just wasn't something that we could personally do ourselves, so we took on the risks but it has all paid off today.
Kim, was there just something inside you and your husband that knew that you could do this, that this would be okay?
Yes, it was, it was meant to be. I think I loved them from the moment I heard their hearts beating and I accomplished my goal and I would do it all over again for them. I'm so in love with all my children.
I'm so pleased to hear it. Kim, one final question. Is someone putting their arms around you, looking after you as well?
Yes, yes, my husband does. I'm very, very spoiled. I had a lovely Mother's Day. I'm very looked after.
Key:
1 three
2 to have enough time for everyone
3 to share mum and dad and that the babies need a lot of attention
4 sixty
5 in multiple cars
6 one in fifty million
7 her husband
8 two
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