March 2, 2016 Blog Discussion!

Today it'll just be questions for us to talk about in class. Please look up the unknown words in your dictionary before class and make sure you understand all of the questions. Let's have a good discussion!

There are many signs up in the subway cars that say people in apartments are not recycling. I have a few questions about this.

1) Does it seem easy to recycle here in Toronto?
2) Should we blame the people who live in apartments, or the landlords for not making it easier to recycle?
3) Should there be a fine if people are caught throwing recycling in the garbage?
4) Is there a recycling program in your home city?
5) Can anything be recycled in your home city?
6) Do you recycle here? Do you recycle in your home city?
7) Do you think that recycling really helps the environment?



See you in class.

Matthew

Feb 24, 2016 Discussion

Hello Speaking Class! I hope the weekend was pleasant. Below is the link to the video for Wednesday and below that are the questions. Try to think of how beauty and health are related in your home culture or city.

This YouTube video is pretty long. You only need to watch about the first five minutes to get the main idea. Watch more of it for more practice if you have the time.

1) Which do you think is more important, health, or appearance?

2) Would you take medicine to cure an appearance problem (for example, acne or serious pimples) even though it might negatively affect your health?

3) Do you think our culture is too worried about appearance?

4) If someone dies because they were taking a prescribed drug, whose fault is it? The company that makes the drug, the government for allowing the drug to me prescribed, the doctor for prescribing the drug, or the patient for choosing to take the drug?

5) Who puts more pressure on girls to be beautiful? Men or Women?

Wed, Feb 17 2016 Discussion Topic

Please watch this video about student tracking in middle schools (junior high). Please watch the news clip more than one time in order to understand it as best as you can.

The questions below will be discussed in class.

See you in class!

Matthew

1)   If you were a parent, would you want the school to be able to track (follow using a computer) your child?

2)   If you were a student, would you want your school to be able to track you?

a.     Would you change or tamper with the tracking device in your student ID?

3)   Do students need a student ID in your home country?

4)   What kind of students do you think this tracking system would benefit (be good for)?

5)   The schools would be spending a lot of money on these new tracking systems? Do you think this is a smart way to spend money? Will it make the kids safer?

Feb 10, 2016 discussion questions

Howdy everyone,

The following questions will be discussed in class, and as a class.

1) Do you think talent or hard-work are more important?

2) Should schools offer cash bonuses for good grades?

Please use a dictionary to look any words you don't know before class.

See you soon!

Matthew

Feb 3 2016 Blog Discussion

Many parents have habits that they do not want their children to have. For example, many parents really love chocolate, smoke, or drink. Also, many parents dislike things that they want their children to like. For example, parents hate tomatoes, peas, apples, or oatmeal.

My questions are this:

Is it better for parents to be open and honest about their bad habits and dislikes, or should they lie to their children (hide the chocolate, eat the tomatoes when in front of their children, etc).

Do you think that the lies will be discovered at some time and hurt the children (mistrust, etc), or do you think that these lies are harmless?

Did your parents lie to you? How do you know and what did you do when you found out?

Would you lie to your children?

Are these kinds of lies different from others?

Jan 28 2016 Blog Discussion

Please read the CBC article by following this link. It is a story about how ex-criminals try to live normal lives after prison.

The questions are:

1) Which crimes do you think are forgivable and which are not? For example, murder, theft, etc.

2) Do you think you are a forgiving person?

3) What do you think about the article? Do you think ex-criminals should really be given a second chance to follow their dreams?

4) Do you think criminals should be able to erase the record of their crimes after they have finished their jail time? How long do you think they should have to wait to do this (get a pardon)?

5) What are the laws about pardons in your home country? If you don't know, please find out before class.

Wed, Jan 20 2016 Discussion and Article

Now it is halfway through January. Crazy!

This time we have a CBC article all about language. The questions is, "Should we care about swearing?".

Here is the article. It has some difficult language, but you can handle this by reading it more than one time. I suggest three. One without any marking of the paper or dictionaries. One with a pencil or highlighter and a dictionary. One free read doing whatever helps you.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/profanity-neil-macdonald-1.3406290

1. Why is swearing bad or offensive?

2. When do you swear?

3. Is swearing common in your country? When is it used?

4. Would you be angry if your boyfriend/girlfriend swore a lot?

5. Should swearing be taught in schools and/or universities?

6. Is this another example of our society worrying too much about children?

7. If you want to learn swearing in another language, why?