TED: The next outbreak? We are not ready

Dear all,

I would like to share with you a TED talk from more than 5 years ago, whose chat (see comments under the video) has been activated again due to the present validity of its content. Bill Gates seems to have been a visionary.

I advise you to watch it with English subtitles, there are subtitles in 37 different languges though.

Immigration: A Class Debate Preparation

Related to the issue in the book, we will carry out a class debate on immigration when we come back, followed up by a “for and against essay” on Immigration. Therefore, you could start thinking about this critical issue.

All political positions are legitimate and we will discuss it democratically.  You can prepare your arguments with the chart below if it helps you. This time we are not going to play any roles, you will be able to give your own opinion. 

Immigration
Pro-immigrationists	Anti-immigrationists
Debate 1 Is it a duty or a favour?
Debate 2 If they are allowed in, the immigrants have an obligation to assimilate into the local culture.  How far should the assimilation go?
Debate 3 How much time needs to pass before immigrants become full members of society?

A Refugee Story Reader Assignment

The assignment should have a minimum length of 250 words. Choose ONE of the options below. In the assignment, you must show that you have read and understood the story and the vocabulary. I will value your creativity and your ability for reaching conclusions about the story. You should try not to copy directly from the book. 

Alternatively, you can choose TWO options and write two shorter texts. The total length of the two writings should be 250 words.  

Drama Activities:

1. Write a television interview with Tariq after he has settled in Germany but still doesn’t know what has happened to the rest of his family. Suggestion: act out the interview in front of the class.  One of you is Tariq and the other is a reporter. 
2. Write a conversation between Tarip and Salah when they are first reunited. You can act out the conversation for the class.  
3. After several years in Germany, the Ahmadi family is faced with the choice of remaining there or going back to their homeland. Write the conversation in which the family members discuss the advantages of both options. Act out the conversation for the class.

Writing suggestions:

1. Imagine you are Salah. Write the entry in your diary on the day you arrive in Italy. Describe the journey and your feelings now that you are out of danger. 

Challenge to think:

1. The Ahmadis went through a lot of suffering in order to survive and to remain together as a family. Do you think that the writer of the story wishes to give a positive of a negative message about human nature in general? Give examples from the story. 
2. Rima decided that her family had to run away. She didn’t want to try and change the situation in her country. Do you agree with her decision? Explain your answer. 
3. Compare how Tariq and Salah dealt with being forced to leave their country and start a new life. Do you think one of them managed better than the other? Explain your answer.  (How did being a good footballer help Tariq? How did Salah’s Writing skills help him?

A Refugee Story (pdf book)

Dear students,

We are all confined in the middle of this sanitary crisis and by now we are totally overwhelmed with whatapps and videos about covid-19. So for a change, I thought I would give you work for those of you who want to practice some English and make the most out of your time.

The first thing will be the reader, as we agreed on the last day in class, you can read our 3rd reader this course “A refugee story”. There will be an exam some day after we come back to our regular classes.  

Since some of you may not have the book at home and might not have gone to the school library last Thursday, I have scanned the book for you. It’s quite a new book and you will not find a pdf copy on the Internet. Al least, I didn’t manage to find it. So by using the app Tiny Scanner, I have scanned the book and I’m sharing it here.

It’s a touching and engaging story of a family who lives in an unnamed Arab country. I hope you will like it. It’s only about 40 pages with a lot of pictures. It's B1 level so you will not find it very difficult. Sometimes it is not quantity (of worlds) but quality that you learn by reading in English. 

To access the file, click on the link below. If you have any problems, please let me know. 

A refugee Story (pdf)

Happy reading!

By the way, I will be posting other ideas and suggestions to practice English. It is not compulsory to do it now, but you will have to do it anyway when we come back so, let's get a head start on work! ;))

Keep in touch and tell me how you are doing!! 

Dilemmas

DILEMMAS What would you do?	You	Your partner
You have noticed your best friend cheating in an end-of-term exam. A lot of teens cheat, but you and your friend have always been against it, up to now.  Should I tell off my friend?
Your sister has a boyfriend and one day she asks you to answer the phone and tell her boyfriend she’s ill and that she can’t go out that Saturday night. You know she’s planning to meet another boy that night. What would you do? Should I do what my sister says?
You are completely against smoking. Your brother asks you to bring him a carton of cigarettes from the Duty Free Shop when you go to London next week so that she can save some money. What would you do? Should I bring the cigarettes to my brother?

Dilemmas Survey - Kahoot

There is too much violence on TV/ computer games?

In my opinión, playing videogames has become a popular activity for people of all ages. Many children and teenagers spend a huge amant of time, playing them.
Where as some games have educational content, most of these popular games emphasize negative themes and promote.
Killing people or animals, the use or abuse of drugs and alcohol...
Some children accept violence as a way to handle problems.
From my point of view, most of the videogames that people play are those about violence, but that violence should not affect them, because since we were children we have played games of this type, it depends on the person, if he/she is very sensitive then this person should not play this type og games ,he/she should play others instead.
My conclusión is that there is a lot of violence in videogames but it is the topic which people the most money with and this is what companies want, to créate very realistic videogames that are violent, because most videogames are for players over 18 years old.

My learning experience in English

My learning experience in English has been good. I am good  at English, although it costs me a bit in the part of the verb tenses. My way of working is doing everything I can in class, and what I have left for homework is done at home, I study 1h on the last day for the exam, always depending on the difficulty of the exam.

There are things that have made me improve, the other year, I learned to better understand the texts, and what I miss would be listening, because the other year we did not do them.

The place where I live

I live in Badalona it is a city in the Spanish municipality of the Barcelonés region, in the province of Barcelona, autonoums community of Catalonia. It has an área of 20,95 km and about 217741 people.

Badalona is a city of sea and mountain. It has a subhumid Mediterranean climate, that is, mild, with humid moderately mild Winter.

The most famous neighborhood is Santo Cristo.

The most important place, of Badalona are: el Pont de Petroli, a long bridge that passes over the sea, the mountain of Montigala, where people go to play football, walk, ride the bicycle,.., Badalona beach, which is not as clean as I would like to, but it's fine. In summer, there are many people an this beach.

What I like about Badalona is its weather, we are at an ideal temperatura, neither too high nor too low it is normal.

Daule- Ecuador

I lived in Ecuador, in the coastal region, which is an important area. The city where I lived is called Daule.
Daule has about 133,000 people. It is famous for being “the rice capital of Ecuador”, not many people go to visit it, but it is a very nice and cozy city.
In Daule, the weather is the same all the time, What do I say? Summer season, it sounds good if you want to tan, though in others regions seasons are different.
Daule hasta attractions where you can go with friends or family, parks for children, churches, bars at night, shopping centers to get distracted, even its own river! It is surprising that this city has a bit of everything.
What I like most about this city is the food and its people. About people of Daule: they are very hardworking, humble, attentive, careful and respectful. I miss them.
Regarding food: I love “guatita” and “bolón” almost all the food has green bananas, maybe for me, the “Dauleña “ food is the best in the world.
To finish , I love Daule, my beautiful city.

Live concerts are the best way to listen to music

Many famous artists give concerts around the year and they visit a lot of cities, the greatest think about this is that there are concerts of all kinds of genre. Is not it crazy?
Personally, I think that it is better to be in a concert to listen to music with headphones in your house.
In the first place, you don’t feel the music, you don’t enjoy it instead of having fun with your friends
Others might argue that they have fun being alone listening to music.
Likewise in a live concert you have the opportunity to meet your favorite singer or band, above all you are sharing your passion with other people, it is that moment when it doesn’t matter the race, religion, sexual preference, only the music.
We can conclude that live concerts have a lot of emotion, in there they live the moment, I think that it is the best way to listen to music.