teacher's roles

 

q & a FORM FOR BEGINNERS

12 Basic English conversation Q & A for beginners READ MORE: https://www.englishforums.com/news/12-basic-english-conversation/ 

What time did you get up? 

What time did you eat breakfast? 

What did you eat for breakfast? 

What time did you leave home for school? 

How long did it take you to get to school? 

Were you late for school? 

What time did you leave school for home yesterday? 

Were you hungry before dinner yesterday? 

Did your family eat dinner together? 

Did you come home early yesterday? 

What did you do after dinner? 

What time did you take a bath yesterday? 

Where were you at ten last night? 

What were you doing at ten last night? 

What time did you go to bed? 

Will you go to juku today? 

What will you do tonight? 

How will the weather be tomorrow? 

Are you going to come to school this weekend? 

What are you going to do this weekend? 

I got up at = 

I ate breakfast at A. + 

Ji ate +=+= for breakfast - 

Ji left home for school at $9. - 

It took me M to get to school. -

 Yes! No, I was... - 

Ji left school for home at A 

Yes! No, I was 

Yes/No we did... 

Yes/No, I did... 

1 Läute(+did) after dinner. 

I took a bath at $9. 

I was E L at ten last night. 

i was 23 Zing at ten last night. 

I went to bed at A. 

Yes! No, I will I will +S ) tonight. 

It'll (It will be tomorrow 

Yes/No, I am... 

I am going to 25+3( ) this weekend. 

•What inspires you to be creative?

 source:

http://www.csun.edu/~vcpsy00h/creativity/question.htm

•What inspires you to be creative?

•Is there a particular place where you feel most creative?

•Who or what inspires your creative ideas?

•Does your motivation come from yourself or from others?

•How important is education to your creative process?

What is Cultural Awareness

 What is Cultural Awareness, anyway? 

How do I build it?

“A fish only discovers its need for water when it is no longer in it.

Our own culture is like water for the fish. It sustains us.

We live and breathe through it.”

by Stephanie Quappe and Giovanna Cantatore

Cultural Awareness is the foundation of communication and it involves the ability of standing back from ourselves and becoming aware of our cultural values, beliefs and perceptions. Why do we do things in that way? How do we see the world? Why do we react in that particular way?

Cultural awareness becomes central when we have to interact with people from other cultures. People see, interpret and evaluate things in a different ways. What is considered an appropriate behavior in one culture is frequently inappropriate in another one. Misunderstandings arise when I use my meanings to make sense of your reality.

As an Italian it is almost automatic to perceive US Americans as people who always work, talk about business over lunch and drink their coffee running in the street instead of enjoying it in a bar. What does it mean? Italians are lazy and American hyperactive? No, it means that the meaning that people give to certain activities, like having lunch or dinner could be different according to certain cultures. In Italy, where relationships are highly valued, lunch, dinner or the simple pauses for coffee have a social connotation: people get together to talk and relax, and to get to know each other better. In the USA, where time is money, lunches can be part of closing a deal where people discuss the outcomes and sign a contract over coffee.

Misinterpretations occur primarily when we lack awareness of our own behavioral rules and project them on others. In absence of better knowledge we tend to assume, instead of finding out what a behavior means to the person involved, e.g. a straight look into your face is regarded as disrespectful in Japan.

Becoming aware of our cultural dynamics is a difficult task because culture is not conscious to us. Since we are born we have learned to see and do things at an unconscious level. Our experiences, our values and our cultural background lead us to see and do things in a certain way. Sometimes we have to step outside of our cultural boundaries in order to realize the impact that our culture has on our behavior. It is very helpful to gather feedback from foreign colleagues on our behavior to get more clarity on our cultural traits.

Projected similarities could lead to misinterpretation as well. When we assume that people are similar to us, we might incur the risk that they are not. If we project similarities where there are not, we might act inappropriately. It is safer to assume differences until similarity is proven.[1]

Assertive Communication - refusing a request

 Assertive Communication

Refusing a request

“The intent of assertive behaviour is to communicate honestly and directly. The intent of aggressive behaviour is to dominate, to get your own way at the expense of others. The intent of non-assertive behaviour is to avoid conflict altogether, which usually means that you have to subordinate your wishes to those of others.” (p. iii)

(Bloom, Coburn & Pearlman, 1975)

Michel and Fursland (2008, M6) listed six different ways of saying no assertively. The first technique they proposed is the direct no which implies just saying no without apologising. 

‘Would you like a cup of tea?’

‘No, thank you.’

The reflecting/empathetic no involves acknowledging the other person’s feelings and afterwards adding a brief assertive refusal at the end. For example: 

‘I know you want to talk to me about organizing the annual department review, but I can't do lunch today”. Or

 ‘I know you’re looking forward to a walk this afternoon, but I can’t come.’

The reasoned no technique constitutes in offering a brief and genuine reason for refusing a request; in this situation it is very important to be honest and brief:

‘I can't have lunch with you because I have a report to finish by tomorrow.’

‘Thank you, but I am not really a big sports fan.’

The raincheck no allows people to say no for the moment, while also keeping the possibility of saying ‘yes’ sometime in the future. One has to suggest the exact time he or she is available to grant the request. This technique only works if the person really wants to meet the request:

‘I can't have lunch with you today, but I could make it sometime next week”.

The enquiring no is similar to the ‘raincheck’ technique, but this time the person refusing the request does not have to suggest a different moment to meet it and only to ask if there is another way it could be met:

‘Is there any other time you’d like to go?’

The broken record no technique can be used when one does not want to give any arguments for his / her refusal. It is very useful especially when dealing with persistent requests such as those of salespersons and it constitutes in repeating a phrase or statement of refusal over and over again. Huczynski (2004) gives the following example for the broken record technique:

CALLER: ‘Are you satisfied with the quality of your existing windows?’

YOU: ‘Maybe, but I’m not interested in buying double glazing.’

CALLER: ‘Are you interested in saving on heating bills?’

YOU: ‘Maybe, but I’m not interested in buying double glazing.’

CALLER: ‘Do you want to increase the value of your property?’

YOU: ‘Maybe, but I’m not interested in buying double glazing.’ (p. 225)

Bibliography:

Huczynski, A. (2004). Influencing Within Organizations, (2nd Ed.), New York: Routledge.

Michel F. & Fursland A. (2008) How to say “No” assertively (Module 6) in Assert yourself. Centre for Clinical Interventions, Retrieved February 26, 2014 from http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/docs/Assertmodule%206.pdf   

Bloom, L. Z., Coburn, K. & Perlman, J., (1975). The new assertive woman, New York: Delacorte Press.

Can you cover me next Friday evening?

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Do you want to sing in the karaoke tonight?

___________________________________________________________________________

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Would you accompany me to the meeting tomorrow? I have a very important decision to make. I really need your support. 

___________________________________________________________________________

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Would you have dinner with me next week?

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Do you want to play golf with me next Saturday?

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Are you happy with your mobile network provider?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Would you like to save money on international calls?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Are you interested in getting more data on your mobile?

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Answering according the text

 Many of the stories we see, hear or read about in regards to heroin, focus on young people struggling to cope with addiction. There is an inordinate number of teenagers hooked on heroin, however, we sometimes forget that older people are also afflicted by heroin. Many are long-time users: some have families and some are in full-time employment, others live by any means they can. 

"Jenny", whose father was addicted to heroin, wrote a Letter to the Editor of the Springfield Sun in which she describes the desperation of his situation. Click here to read that letter. Even though Jenny is quite restrained for most of the letter, towards the end she says, "You should all be ashamed of yourselves for showing so little compassion and very little depth of character." Are her views more or less persuasive because of this statement?