Questions about Meeting and getting to know People:
Give complete answers to each of the questions (whether speaking or writing, or both). Give your opinion and say what others think and why you disagree. Give reasons and/or examples that support your opinions. Make sure you learn the words in bold and are able to use them in your speaking and writing.
Are you an introvert (shy, more solitary), an extrovert (outgoing, like to meet new people) or 50/50?
Do you get nervous when you meet new people? What do you do if you feel awkward? What do you do to calm yourself down if you do get nervous? What’s the secret if you don’t get nervous? Do you enjoy meeting new people?
What is a good thing to say to strangers to break the ice? What do you ask them? What should you avoid saying? Should you always smile, shake hands or kiss someone’s cheeks (or bow your head depending on where you’re from, etc.) when you meet them? Can you touch someone you’ve just met or know – on the shoulder, on the leg, on the back, etc.? How much distance should you keep from the other person you’re talking to? How do you introduce people to each other?
Are first impressions important? How so? What sort of information do you see with “first impressions”? Are first impressions always spot on (or accurate)? Do first impressions make a difference? What do you do, if anything, to manage people’s impressions of you? What do other people do to manage your impressions of them? Do your first impressions of people change over time? How and why? How much stock do you put in first impressions? Give examples.
How important is it to remember someone’s name?
Where and when do you meet new people? Where’s a good place to meet people? How many people can you meet there? Are you looking for a certain kind of person there? Talk about one or two who you’ve met there. Does the type of place you go to depend on what you’re interested in?
Do you ever go to places alone? Do you always go with a group?
What about at work (school)? Do you meet many new people there? Do you meet new people at company events?
What about at a party? Who do you approach first? A group of men, women? What do you say? Do you avoid certain types of people? How do you get away from a person or group you’re no longer interested in?
What sorts of topics might you safely talk about in conversations at a language exchange meetup? What sorts of topics would kill the conversations (a conversation killer)or otherwise be unsafe? What about at a business conference or other situations?
Steve Jobs on Youtube.
Steve Jobs - Actividades para leer y escuchar de Hotpotatoes - Vocabulary, Cloze, Quiz.
Podcasts of Creative Commons articles (on Wikipedia):
Simplemente escuchar y leer (y busca palabras en el diccionario, y si quereis cooperar y compartir toda vuestra lista de vocabulario mandarmela por correo electrónico a madridteacher@gmail.com o poner la lista en el gadget de Friendconnect en la parte de abajo de esta página y la corregiré y la pondré junto a la actividad). Podeis buscar el título del artículo en Google junto con la palabra "Wikipedia" para ver el texto. También me podeis pedir una copia del texto por correo electrónico. (Podcasts by Steven Starry)
Celebrity Narcissists by Hot English Magazine on Youtube.
Michael Jackson's Life and Legacy
Study the vocabulary before you watch the video.
750,000,000 records
a come back
a promo tour
a remarkable narcissist
a string of concerts
allegations
and yet he always seemed lost
at the same time
at this point
businessman
celebrate what the man was
circus atmosphere
circus side-show mentality
complex, nuanced figure
contemporary artists
dollars and cents
Forbes
former president
Guiness book of records
having said that
he could never live up to that
he deserves a lot of the praise and acclaim that he got
he had a statue of himself made
he lived a reclusive life
he sort of still had impact today
he was behind every single decision that was made
he was no longer an innovator
he was not the kind of guy that you would do a meet and greet with after the tour
his musical legacy lives on
his net earnings were half a billion dollars
his time had passed
host of
icon
I'm going to disagree with that
I'm not sure he could sustain a real second life
incredibly unstable
indeed
it seemed like his trajectory was on the wane
it's so tragic
just how big he was when he was at his peak
law-suits
leave the dark discussion for tomorrow
legacy
musical legacy
musical pioneer
musician
obscure the fact
one of the biggest selling albums of all time
publicity
publisher
put his success into perspective for us
singer
song writer
spent their careers
straight business terms
that one glove
the clarity of musical thought
the dance moves
the early 70s
the epicenter
the falsetto vocals over the baseline
the freak show
the freak-factor
the guy's a paradox
the kid had it
the late 80s
the most successful entertainer of all time
the record industry
the self-proclaimed king of pop
the thing that gets me too
the weirdness
there's no question about that
they are kind of doing
to think that that much talent and so many skills in one body
touring
trend-setter
try to put this in perspective for us
turn back the clock
unprecedented success
video director
what's the big fuss
when you think of him along those lines
Who wouldn't go to see Michael Jackson right now?
why don't you address that issue?
you knew he was calling all the shots
you'll certainly recall this
Describe fictional people using the adjectives in the list linked
above. (Please, only describe interesting and "different"
characters from literature - popular literature, TV, Film, comic
books, etc. i.e. not straight from history.) Possibilities: Homer
Simpson and/or Charles Montgomery Burns (from the Simpsons), Forrest
Gump, Lt. Columbo, The Fonz, Jack Sparrow, Alonzo (from Training
Day), Steve Urkel, Mr. Spock, Hannibal Lecter, Mr. Bean, Niles Crane
(from Frasier), Al and Peg Bundy, Scarlett O'Hara, Lucy (from "I
Love Lucy"), Barney Fife, Don Quixote, Sancho Panza, Cosmo
Kramer (from "Seinfeld"), Renton, Begbie and/or Spud (from
Trainspotting), Eeyore (from Winnie the Pooh), The Narrator (from
Fight Club), Sherlock Holmes, Dr. House, Watson, Wilson, John Locke
and/or Hurley (from Lost), Hamlet, Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, Scrooge,
Job, Tarzan, Frodo and Sam (LOTR), Charlie Chaplin, Peter Pan, Silvio
Dante (from the Sopranos), Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson in As Good
As It Gets), Warren R. Schmidt (from About Schmidt), Lester Burnham
(from American Beauty), Benny Hill, etc. etc. More.
The idea is to practice using the adjectives in the list linked
above in context. The usage of taboo language is permitted in the
recordings about fictional characters, but I'll have to mark the
recordings as for "adults only."
Practice your
listening and speaking with the discussion topic below.
Questions about Meeting and getting to know People:
Steve Jobs on Youtube.
Steve Jobs - Actividades para leer y escuchar de Hotpotatoes - 
