The Media and You

This weeks question is easy. Discuss the influence of the media on you and society.

Free Time and Stress

Various inventions have been heralded as ways to make our lives easier by giving us more free time and reducing daily stress. Microwaves cook food faster; dishwashers clean for us; the internet means we can search for information from the comfort of our home. But, have these and other inventions really made life easier? Are our lives more relaxed? If we have more free time why are so many people, including young children, suffering from stress related illnesses?

Some of us have a little or a lot of stress every day. Sometimes we “grin and bear it” and sometimes we get relief. What do you usually do to decrease or relieve your stress? What is some advice that other people have given to you about dealing with stress?

Write out a list of 15 things that people can do to help them deal with stress. If you don’t have 15 ideas, feel free to ask other people and find out what they do. Structure Hint: You can use the imperative (or command) form of the verb. For example, 1) Take a long hot bath.2) Go into a closet and scream for 10 minutes.

Then, describe one stress buster which has worked for you. Explain why.

Fate or Control?

Some people believe in fate. They believe “What will be, will be,” and “Life will unfold as it should.” “There is nothing that one can do to change what will happen in life.” On the other hand, others believe that people can “Make things happen,” and “It is up to us to control our future,” and “If you make clear and specific plans, you will be able to reach those goals.”
Do you believe in fate or controlling your own destiny, or do you believe in a combination of both?

William Arthur Ward, a motivational speaker, said, “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.”

Do you agree or disagree with his statements. Give reasons and examples to support your point of view.

Culture and Language

This week our theme deals with travel to foreign places. Many people love to travel and, certainly, it is easier to travel now than it was in the past. Yet, when we travel can we really say we learned about a place. Can a brief stay in a country and a tour of its high spots really enlighten us as to how the people and the culture are? If I travel to 7 countries in 7 days what have I really learned?

Quite often when people are goiing on a long trip they study the language and/or carry a phrase book so they can communicate with the "natives." While this is a step in the right durection, is it enough? How important is language to culture and how important is culture to language?

That leads us to this question:

Title: Fluent Fools

Think First
Think about the following quotation. What do you think it means? Do you agree with it? Why or why not? You can ask your friends for ideas also.

“To study a language without learning its culture is a great way to make a fluent fool of yourself.” (Milton Bennett, cross-cultural researcher)

Then Write
Put the quote on the top of the page for the title. Explain what the quote means. Agree or disagree with the statement. Give reasons and examples to support your point of view.

sacrifice

In the previous post I asked you about peace. I gave a quote from Aristotle.

This post is connected with that one. In class this week we will watch a 7 min video from the BMW series. The question I want you to think about is from the video "Ticker."

"What would you fall on your sword for?"

In other words for what would you sacrifice yourself. For what would you put yourself on the line? What would you stand up for no matter the cost to yourself?

Heavy, but interesting and important.

PEACE!!

Peace, EIPHNH (Greek), Fandriampahalemana (Malagasy), Heiwa (Japanese) …

Think First
What does “peace” mean? Do you think there will ever be peace in every country of the world? Why or why not?

Then Write
Agree or disagree with the following statement. Give reasons and examples to support your point of view.

“Peace is more difficult than war”- Aristotle (384 – 322 B.C.) Greek philosopher

Playing Hooky! an Expression of Free Will (?!)

OK. Fess up. Almost everyone has at some time skipped school.

When I was in high school I used to skip school one time each semester. I would go to a nearby museum and explore it and the grounds. The museum was really cool and old fashioned -very different from museums now. The new ones all look alike to me and show the same stuff. This one was filled with all sorts of things local people had donated and it had a room at the top of the one building set up as if it were the captain's room on a ship complete with a telescope! I would go to that room, look out over the river and pretend I was one of the first explorers.

There was something fun about skipping out. It felt liberating. I had to be in high school and learn because it was the law. But, when I skipped out, I was learning because I wanted to! And, if I went bowling or did something else it still felt great because I did it of my own free will. Plus, doing something different from everyone else also felt neat. It gave the illusion of freedom.

Did you ever skip out? If so, why? What did you do? Do you think everyone should skip out at least once in their life?

Did you ever watch Ferris Beuller's Day Off? If not, I recommend it - the best school skipping movie ever!