ToDoList

Are your days busy?

Do you find it difficult to complete your daily tasks?

How do you start your day? Do you stick to the routine?

Do you know the meaning of these words? If not, check them in the Oxford Dictionary by clicking on them or discuss them with your teacher.

entrepreneur, agenda, essential, punctual

Read this article to get the most out of your day. After the first reading, try to answer these questions:

1.     What are your tasks the night before?

2.     What are the advantages of morning sport activities?

3.     How long do you need to relax your brain in the morning?

4.     What advice is given to stay organized?

5.     What do you have to pay attention to concerning your eating habits?

6.     How do you have to arrange your working hours?

7.     Why is it a must to disconnect from work?

Do you know the meaning of these expressions? Try to find out the meaning from the context and explain them with your own words. In English of course J

1. densely packed schedule
2. stick to the routine
3. have an awareness of what’s on the agenda
4. be in the habit of doing sg
5. to adopt a practice that
6. Don’t fall victim to this trap.
7. batch your time
8. lifestyle practice
9. sg greatly contributes to sg

Are your ready? Then choose two of the expressions above. These two you DON’T have to use. Now write a short story with the rest. You have 7 minutes for that.

Ready? Send us your strory.

Positive emotions rooting in the present

This blog post was created based on the book of Alan Carr called Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness and Human Strengths.

There are two distinct classes of positive emotions concerned with the present:

Momentary pleasures

The pleasures include both bodily pleasures and higher pleasures. Bodily pleasures come through the senses. Feelings that come from sex, beautiful perfumes and delicious flavours fall into this category. Higher pleasures come from more complex activities and include feelings such as bliss, glee, comfort, ecstasy and ebullience. 

More enduring gratifications

Gratifications differ from pleasures in that they involve states of absorption or flow that come from engagement in activities. Sailing, teaching and helping others are examples of such activities.

bliss - perfect happiness

glee - happiness, excitement

ebullience - being very energetic, positive and happy

This blog post was created based on the book of Alan Carr called Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness and Human Strengths.

WALK in English

Conversations - How to start?

I don't know how you feel about starting a conversation with a stranger. Some people feel a bit awkward. So I decided to collect some good questions and tips that can help you out in those uncomfortable situations.

Hi. 

- Do you know anyone here?

- Where do you work?

- Which business are you into?

- How long have you known 'Peter'?

- What drink would you recommend me? / Can I help you to choose a drink?

Ask people about the things they want to be noticed by other people, for example a rose in a woman’s hair. ‘What a nice rose. Do you always wear hair like this?’

If you go to a business meeting, you can start the conversation by talking about the circumstances of your travel. There is almost always something happening on the roads. It’s easier if you are some minutes late. ‘Sorry for being late. The traffic was terrible because of slippery roads.'

Do you have any other ideas in your mind?

WALK in English

Can computer games change the world?

Most of us have preconceptions about computer games. They are usually regarded, mainly by teachers and parents, as waste of time. But children and young adults are obsessed with them and spend more time on playing computer games than on anything else. 

So what can we do? Restrictions don’t seem to work. How about making more meaningful games? Do you think it’s possible?

Read this BBC article about serious games.

While reading the article, try to answer these questions:

1. How are computer games generally regarded?
2. What is the concept behind serious games?
3. Describe the settings of World Without Oil. 
4. How did the players of WWO look at their gaming activity?
5. What roles can you choose in Peacemaker?
6. What was the result of playing the Peacemaker in terms of social relevance?
7. What is the expected outcome of playing Coventry and Warwickshire? Who is the target audience of the game?
8. Why is it important to use innovative techniques in the classroom?

Think through the article again by following the outline of the article:

Three billion hours a week are spent on playing games. -> Can it be given a social relevance?

Examples: 

Direct analysis of the results from a game is rarely fully carried out.

The evaluation of outcomes has been deficient.

Using innovative techniques in the classroom can increase the educational performance.


WALK in English

A drop in the ocean: Location-aware music

Location-aware music. What might it be? Is it a song collection for a particular public space or a music that is instantly created by a mobile app based on characteristics of a location?

Watch this TED video and find it out.

Pre-listening task

Match the following words with their definitions:

a.) to convey, b.) sonic, c.) to traverse, d.) to unfold, e.) an array of, f.) seamlessly, g.) to be intrinsic to sg

1. of sound or the speed at which sound travels in air
2. being an extremely important and basic characteristic of a person or thing
3. happening without any sudden changes, interruption, or difficulty
4. to express a thought, feeling, or idea so that it is understood by other people
5. to move or travel through an area
6. a large group of things or people
7. If a situation or story unfolds, it develops or becomes clear to other people

Definitions are taken from Cambridge Dictionaries Online.

Now, it’s show time. Watch this TED video and find out more about location-aware music.

After watching the video, try to answer these questions:

• What is the concept behind location-aware music?
• What functionality is needed for this app?
• Why can’t people outside the US listen to this music?

WALK in English

Business Terms: Roaming charges fall in EU

We face many challenges in the course of business meetings and negotiations. We are unsure many times if we use the proper structure or phrase that can express our thoughts. The best way to eliminate this uncertainty is to learn from the natives. In Business Terms section you can listen to short talks, interviews etc. and by completing the tasks you can practice the most relevant terms appearing in the video.

Today let’s see a BBC interview about mobile roaming charges. Click here to see the video.

After watching the video, try to complete these sentences. (Probably you have to see the video more times to do this task, but don’t give it up.)

1. Mobile companies have a reduction by around … per cent in the … prices.
2. There are reductions in …
3. This has been going on since …
4. This only covers …
5. You may actually face …
6. The companies have been quite vocal against …
7. They lost an appeal before …

WALK in English

Get A Job: Typical job interview questions

Today we start a new series entitled Get A Job. It is going to provide you with useful information about how to prepare for a job interview.

Now read about typical questions on a job interview you must prepare for.

Most of the questions sound quite embarrassing. That’s why you have to deal with them and make an effort to find out the good answers in advance.

What are good answers like? The key is to be honest and self-reflective. No one is interested in the millionth slightly narcissist and cheesy answer. Real self-confidence can’t be imitated by nicely put words. Show who you are, that’s much more interesting.

So, here are the questions to prepare for:

Tell us about yourself.

What do you know about us?

Why are you interested in working here?

Why should we hire you?

Why did you leave or are planning to leave your last job? 

Give us an example of where you have succeeded at…

Give us an example of where you have failed at …

WALK in English