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Summer 2020 conversation topics

Updated: Dec 30, 2020

As many teachers will know, students don’t remember everything they learn. It’s quite common for students to learn a word in one lesson and to have forgotten it by the following week or even by the end of the same lesson!


Some students have fabulous memories and can remember almost everything but most of us have to work hard to make things stick. Re-visiting the articles and podcasts we’ve discussed in class can be really beneficial.


Here is a list of our latest topics. Find your favourites and look at them again.


Monday morning: 8:15 - 9:15

22 June - Listen to this podcast about the language used on the NHS website and by doctors.  The speakers speak very quickly at times so it will be difficult to follow all of it but hopefully you will be able to understand the main ideas.

8 June - rescheduled to 10 June This article about male trees, pollen and hay fever

25 May 2020 - Watch this video where are all the Bob Ross paintings?  If you have time. try to watch one of his programmes or this 4-minute summary on Facebook.

11 May 2020 - An article in The Guardian about the minimum wage experiment at Gravity payments.  If you have time you could try to read some of the longer read about this topic (the vocabulary is much more interesting).

27 April 2020 - Six big frames for the Titian exhibition at the National Gallery

30 March 2020 - TED talk by Adam Grant about the benefits of procrastination 'The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers'

2 March 2020 - The History of English


Monday morning at Juni: 9:45 - 11:15

6 July - It's the last lesson before the holidays, so watch this entertaining video about ablaut reduplication (you'll find out what this means when you watch the video).  If we have time after discussing the video, we can play Articulate.

29 June - This time we're going to look at a video about Street Art from BBC Learning English that was posted on Instagram.  Click here to watch it.  If you don't have Instagram, now might be the time to join!  There are so many fantastic resources for learning English on it.  Don't worry if you prefer not to join, the video is really short so we can watch it in class.

22 June - We didn't manage to do it last week so will try it again.  Please listen to this episode of 6-minute English about the therapeutic effects of group reading

15 June - Listen to this episode of 6-minute English about the therapeutic effects of group reading

8 June - no lesson

1 June 2020 - no lesson, it's Whit Monday

25 May 2020 - This article about male trees, pollen and hay fever

18 May 2020 - An article from The BBC with five tips for looking your best when doing video calls

11 May 2020 - A Guardian podcast about how social isolation can affect us

4 May 2020 - An article in The Guardian about the minimum wage Gravity payments

27 April 2020 - An episode of 6-minute English on meditation

6 April 2020 - TED Talk ' How drawing makes you think' by Ralph Ammer and optionally this Guardian interview with David Hockney

30 March 2020 - Six big frames for the Titian exhibition at the National Gallery

16 March 2020 - Planking for 8 hours

9 March 2020 - Being resilient

24 February 2020 - Harassment at the gym


Monday evening at Juni: 19:30 - 21:00 (every two weeks)

29 June - It's the last lesson before the holidays so we'll do something simple.  Listen to this episode of 6-minute English about the therapeutic effects of group reading.  In class we can discuss the article quickly and then have a game of Articulate.

15 June - This article about male trees, pollen and hay fever.  It's quite short, so if you have time you can also read this account of how to re-wild your garden.

25 May 2020 - Watch this video where are all the Bob Ross paintings?  If you have time. try to watch one of his programmes or this 4-minute summary on Facebook.

11 May 2020 - The Why Factor - Why do people text not talk

27 April 2020 - an interview with Nick Cave in The Guardian (you can also look at The Red Hand Files blog)

6 April 2020 - Six big frames for the Titian exhibition at the National Gallery

30 March 2020 - TED talk by Adam Grant about the benefits of procrastination 'The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers'

9 March 2020 - TED talk by Tim Urban 'Inside the mind of a Master Procrastinator'

24 February 2020 - Having more fun in 2020


Wednesday morning at Juni: 9:15 - 10:45

8 July - It's the last lesson before the holidays, so watch this entertaining video about ablaut reduplication (you'll find out what this means when you watch the video).  If we have time after discussing the video, we can play Articulate.

1 July 2020 - This was suggested by Sandra.  It's a video entitled 'How Syria's architecture laid the foundation for brutal war'.

24 June 2020 - Listen to this podcast about the language used on the NHS website and by doctors.  The speakers speak very quickly at times so it will be difficult to follow all of it but hopefully you will be able to understand the main ideas.

17 June 2020 - In this article in today's Guardian, readers choose their favourite British number 1s.  Some of the readers de-construct the songs and others simply reminisce about the memories stirred by these songs.  Feel free to read as much of the article as you wish and to think about which songs are important to you.  Should you have enough time, I'd recommend watching this video about one of my all time favourites, 'You've lost that Lovin' Feeling' by The Righteous Brothers.

10 June 2020 - I realise it's the wrong time of year, but I'd like you to read this article entitled "A Christmas that changed me".  I spotted it a while ago and thought it was a lovely piece of writing.

3 June 2020 -  This article about male trees, pollen and hay fever.  It's quite short, so if you have time you can also read this account of how to re-wild your garden.

27 May 2020 - A business article on disruptive new business models supported by venture capital

20 May 2020 - Watch this video where are all the Bob Ross paintings?  If you have time. try to watch one of his programmes or this 4-minute summary on Facebook

13 May 2020 - A Guardian podcast about how social isolation can affect us

6 May 2020 - An article in The Guardian about the minimum wage Gravity payments and try to read some of the longer read about this topic (the vocabulary is much more interesting)

29 April - Interview with linguist David Crystal about how the English language is changing.  You don't need to listen to it all!  Try to listen to the first 21 minutes.  As you are listening to it, pay attention to how often you hear the word 'interesting' or 'interested'.  Which other words/phrases are used instead?

8 April 2020 - TED Talk ' How drawing makes you think' by Ralph Ammer and optionally this Guardian interview with David Hockney

1 April 2020 - Six big frames for the Titian exhibition at the National Gallery

25 March 2020 - The Why Factor - Why do people text not talk

18 March 2020 - TED talk by Adam Grant about the benefits of procrastination 'The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers'

11 March 2020 - Psychotherapy and attachment theory  (this is a very long article, it's not necessary to read it all)

26 February 2020 - TED talk by Tim Urban 'Inside the mind of a Master Procrastinator'


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