Useful links to songs that can help you with tenses and grammar
To train English language through songs and fill in the gaps activities click here
Which do you think is…
– your favourite song?
– a boring song?
– a song that reminds you of someone?
– a song that reminds you of a place/ or an event?
– a song that helps you remind of tenses and grammar?
VIDEOS
FUTURE TENSES…WILL AND TO BE GOING TO…
FIRST AND SECOND CONDITIONAL
Bruce Springsteen “Glory days” to practice tenses Glory days (1)
The dangers of virtual communication
Virtual communication enables everyone around the world to communicate anytime and anywhere. Nowadays most of the people instead of meeting, use chat, which as we know, has not the same aspects of a meeting.
How many of us are doing just that? People keep on sharing personal thoughts with everybody. But there is a point to it. Sometimes people can act as a “moderator” also in real life and behave with real people as if they were virtual. This can be really hurtful for a person, as a moderator can moderate messages within a community, but not in real life. Of course the problem is quite difficult to comprehend for those who spend most of their time in front of a monitor, as they can really lose contact with reality.
The other day, while I was driving home, I stopped at the traffic lights to reply a message of a friend living a few minutes from my house. In that very moment I realized how crazy the world around us is.
Over the last few years we have become more and more fulfilled virtually, choosing not to interact person to person in the flesh, but rather on-line. For someone this way of communication seems to be easier as they can come and go, say what they want and create a character that rarely resembles to the totality of who they really are. Someone feels that he is being true in his communication, but when virtual friends pretend a flesh-and-blood friendship, it may happen that they are no welcome. A vague feeling of fear and uneasiness arises within them, probably because they fear that they can lose control of their virtual friendship and this lack of control would make them feel uncomfortable.
I see so many people here and there communicating with virtual friends, just to avoid real friendships and real relationships, this way avoid dealing with difficulties too. The virtual world for someone is simply an escape from the challenges, a way of hiding from the fear of a “face to face communication”. Some people find in the virtual world the illusion of popularity but, who of these virtual friends could you call if you needed a help? None of them, or maybe the only one that you banned from your virtual life because you feel he/she has hurt you somehow, when probably he/she wanted just to shake you up and invite you to live real life and spend more time with the people down the street, meet friends and simply fear no more the heat of the sun. Being a humble person sometimes can help. If you got a problem with a friend, you should simply lay down your iPad and meet him/her. But not everybody can understand it.
Download the activity VIRTUAL INSANITY
What do you think about virtual communication?
Do you chat with your friends?
Have you got any virtual friends?
Would you like to meet your virtual friends?
Do you think your virtual friends are people you can rely on?
How long do you spend chatting with your friends?
What do you think are the negative aspects of a virtual communication?
What would you do if one of your friend misunderstood one of your messages?
Would you try to meet him/her or just give up?
Do you think that face to face communication is better than virtual communication?
Have you ever been humiliated by a virtual friend?
Do you think that there are people who are “virtual world addicted”?
Why do some people prefer virtual friends to real friends?
Who of your virtual friends could you rely on if you needed help?
