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?

Jan 13, 2016

It's almost halfway through January already! Crazy...

Here are today's discussion questions. Please make sure to think about these and really have an opinion to share. Don't do you thinking in class. Do that thinking before class.

1.     What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?

1.     If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?

1.     Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton (a person who is not smart and because of that does not worry)?

Jan 6, 2016 Blog Discussion

This is today's article. Please read and understand it before Wednesday's class. The difficult vocabulary is defined at the end of the article. Try to read it first before studying the vocabulary.

Don't forget the questions below the article.

See you in class!

More than 100,000 of these baby turtles have been released into a river near the Bolivian Amazon. 

Bolivia's President, Evo Morales, along with Alexandra Moreira, Bolivian Minister for the Environment and

Water, attended the releasing ceremony.

The goal is to repopulate the area with the small turtles. These can eventually measure up to 3.2 feet (1

 metre), weigh up to 154 pounds (70 kilograms) and live for up to 100 years.

The repopulation plan dates from 2007 and has the support of Brazil. According to Moreira since they 

started, 10 million baby turtles have been released back into the wild near the border with Brazil.

River turtles inhabiting the rivers of the Bolivian Amazon are endangered due to the high demand for 

their meat and eggs which are high in protein.

Morales praised conservation work being carried out for the turtles, pointing out how more than ever 

there are new generations joining political projects that allow us to take care of Mother Earth. The 

president of the ecological association in the area, Jose Suarez from Brazil, said conservation work was

 important for the biodiversity in the region. He pointed out that turtles have no nationality. They belong

 to nature and it is imperative, therefore, that projects like this are undertaken.

The turtles live in the rivers of the Departments of La Paz, Pando, and Santa Cruz. They play an 

important role in the ecosystem there, as they help to save flooded forests by digesting food which can

 clean the rivers.

Difficult words: the support of Brazil (the people in Brazil want this plan to happen), inhabit (to live somewhere), endangered (at risk of dying out), due to (because of), praise (to say good things about), ecological (studying plants and animals), biodiversity (the different living things in a place), imperative (very important), therefore (for that reason), digest (to eat).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com

Read more: http://www.newsinlevels.com/products/river-turtles-in-bolivia-level-3/

1. Do you think it is humans responsibility to replace extinct or endangered animals?
2. Are there any animals in your country you think should be re-populated?
3. Do you think re-populating just encouraged polluters to pollute more?
4. What actions do you do to conserve the environment?
5. Who do you think should pay the money to clean the environment? Government? Taxpayers? Companies? Why?