Last class: Wednesday January 14: DREAMS + Final Exam Review

The final class for Oral Communication I will be on Wednesday January 14 (combined class). The discussion topic, for the first 2 hours, will be Dreams. The final hour will be reserved for final exam review (see below).

For the class discussion, please consider the following:

• Do you remember your dreams? What is the strangest or scariest dream you have ever had?
• Why do you think people dream? Do you think that our dreams have any special significance or meaning?
• Have a look at this list of 12 common dreams and their meaning. Have you ever had a dream like one of these? Do you agree with their meaning? http://mentalfloss.com/article/55442/12-common-dreams-and-what-they-supposedly-mean
• Have you heard of any other meanings of dreams?
• Have you ever had a nightmare? Do you sleepwalk, or talk in your sleep?

Also have a look at some of these articles about dreams:
Have you ever had the same dream over and over? Read what Psychology Today magazine has to say about recurring dreams: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dream-factory/201411/whats-behind-your-recurring-dreams

A hospital in Montreal has a Dream and Nightmare laboratory, focused on the study of sleep, dreaming and nightmares. Read more about their work here: http://www.dreamscience.ca/en/labinfo.html

Dream Vocabulary

Nightmare:  a terrifying or scary dream
Daydream: pleasant thoughts about your life/future that you have when you are awake
R.E.M. sleep: acronym for Rapid Eye Movement; a stage of sleep; people are more likely to remember dreams they have during REM sleep


EXAM REVIEW
The final exam for Oral Communication I 123 is scheduled for Monday 26 January at 9am, rm 204. This portion of the exam is the written part, which focuses on vocabulary; all vocabulary from the whole year will be included, with emphasis on the topics since the midterm. The format will be the same as the midterm, just with more terms because we have more vocabulary words.
The topics covered since the start of the term are:
1. Speaking English with confidence
2. English slang and expressions
3. Technology and video games
4. Travel
5. The supernatural
6. Sports
7. World cultures
8. Education
9. Cities
10. Books
11. Movies
12. Dreams

If you have any questions about the exam, or suggestions for what should be covered during exam review, please post in the comments below.
Good luck with your studying.

Wed Jan 7 & Thurs Jan 8: MOVIES

REMINDER ABOUT THE SCHEDULE FOR JANUARY 2015.

Monday Jan 5: 119 Listening and Pronunciation (as normal)
Wednesday Jan 7: Reading and Writing--combined class 
**Students in Oral Communication who normally attend on Wednesdays because they have other classes on Thurs please attend this Wednesday; your speech is still due **
Wednesday Jan 7 1-4pm: 119 Listening and Pronunciation make up class
Thursday Jan 8: Oral Communication --combined class (topic: Movies. Speeches due)

Monday Jan 12: 119 Listening and Pronunciation (as normal) **Essay assignment due**
Wednesday 14 January: 123 Oral Communication combined class DREAMS
Thursday Jan 15: Reading and Writing--combined class (Prof. Lola)

If you have any questions about the schedule, please contact me or post in the comments below.

MOVIE VOCABULARY
Genre: a type or kind of movie; genres include comedy, horror, thriller, sci-fi, documentary...
Director: the person responsible for the artistic side of making a movie
Producer: the person responsible for the business side of making a movie
Blockbuster: a very successful movie which makes a lot of money
Flop: a movie that doesn't do well at the box office/does not make a lot of money
Trailer: a short advertisement or preview of a movie
Matinee: a movie shown in the daytime

The topic for the next Oral Communication class will be MOVIES. This is also the topic of your speech assignment. You may give a speech on any subject related to movies, but please don't just summarize the plot of a single movie. Some ideas include:
-favourite movies, favourite genres of movies
-famous actors, actresses, and/or directors and their careers
-special effects in movies
-music in movies
-movies based on books
-awards for movies
-history of movies
-animation
-movie mistakes

Please also make sure that the speech is your own work, not something copied off the internet/books etc. Be sure to prepare your speech and practice it before class. 


For class discussion, please consider the following:

• Do you have a favourite movie? A favourite actor, actress, or director? Why do you like their work?
• How often do you watch movies? How often do you go to the cinema? Is there a difference between watching a movie at home and at the cinema? Which do you prefer?

The BBC Archive's Hollywood Voices collection offers interviews with the stars of the 'golden age' of Hollywood, including Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock: http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/hollywood/

Many movies today are offered in 'regular' and 3-D versions. Do you ever watch black and white films? How does the format affect your experience viewing the movie? An article fromThe Guardian discusses these, and other, issues:http://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/may/30/john-patterson-black-white-films

Wednesday December 17: 12:30 - 3:30 BOOKS

**Please note that both classes will meet together for this class. This special afternoon class replaces the class cancelled on December 24/25. **

The discussion topic for this class is BOOKS. Please think about the following questions, and also add your own ideas in the comments. People selected in the previous class to bring an article or special topic to tell us about will be asked to do so during the class.

Best books

• What is your favourite book? Why do you like it? 
• Who is your favourite author? 
• How do you decide what to read? Do you follow 'best books' lists or lists of award winners?
• How do you get your books? Do you buy books, read e-books, download books or visit the library?
• Are you a big reader? How many books would you say you read in 1 year? Do you prefer to read other things? What do you read, and when?

Everyone should also come prepared to discuss their 'must-read lists', that is, which books do you think are important for everyone to read in their life? Why did you choose those books? 

There are many, many readings list of recommended books: award winners, 'must read' books, top 10 lists, etc. If you were making your own list of books you think everyone should read, what would be on it? Links to other book lists are found here:

BBC Big Read (100 Favourite books list). How many have you read?  http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml

GoodReads contributors have put together tons of book lists, from Best Young Adult Books, to Best Non-Fiction to Best Vampire Books. http://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/best

Browse The New York Times best-seller lists here: http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/overview.html

Some additional topics and articles that may be of interest:

**With each new technology that has changed or challenged books (radio, tv, the internet, ebooks) people have been predicting 'the end of books' or 'the end of print.' Do you think that people will ever stop reading books on paper? Why or why not?

**Do you visit libraries regularly? Why or why not? What role do they serve in a city or a society?

Changing role of libraries (from Encyclopedia Britannica) http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/339421/library

Here's what the American Library Association (ALA) has to say on the matter: http://www.ala.org/research/librariesmatter/taxonomy/term/143

Are libraries outdated? British author Terry Deary thinks so: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/feb/13/libraries-horrible-histories-terry-deary

Kafka had this to say about how good books should affect us; what do you think? http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/06/06/kafka-on-books-and-reading/

Wednesday December 17: 9 - 12: CITIES

**Please note: groups A and B will meet together for this class. We will also meet again from 12:30 - 3:30 on December 17. **

 

The topic for this class is CITIES. Please consider the following issues; add your links, questions and suggestions in the comments below.

Liveable Cities

What makes a city good to live in? There are many surveys that look at various factors that make a city better or worse to live in, such as traffic, cost of housing, pollution, available green space. What characteristics would be important for you when deciding where to live? What about in 10 years? When you are ready to retire?

Here are links to some recent 'Best cities' reports: 

The Economist (2014): http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2014/08/daily-chart-13

Huffington Post (2013): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/28/worlds-most-liveable-cities-2013_n_3831701.html 

For those of you who grew up in a city, what do you like about your city? What do you dislike?

Urban vs Rural

Which do you prefer: country life or city life? Why? What are the advantages and disadvantages to urban and rural living?

This article from the BBC explores the differences between the two: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-13617401

UN Habitat publishes 'The State of the World's Cities' about urban issues; some information about their findings are available here: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=48240#.VIdOryii22Q

 

World-Famous Cities

What is the most interesting city you have ever visited? What did you like about it? Where would you visit if you had the chance? Why? What makes a city 'world-class'?

Which of these top-25 destination cities would you like to visit? http://news.distractify.com/culture/trip-advisor-top-cities/?v=1

https://www.yahoo.com/travel/the-most-visited-cities-in-the-world-might-surprise-you-91954242582.html

EDUCATION: Wed December 10 2014

There are many different systems of education around the world. Think about your experience as a student: what did you like and dislike about your primary, secondary and post-secondary schools? What would you change about school to make it better--both for teachers and for students.

Finland
According to international rankings, Finland is often said to have the best education system in the world.

Do you think you would enjoy going to school there?

What is different from your experience?

Why do you think they are so highly ranked?

You can access the article here: http://www.businessinsider.com/finland-education-school-2011-12?op=1


Please add your comments below and come to class ready to discuss this article, and other issues related to schools and education.

MIDTERM EXAMS

Here is some information and dates about the midterm exams and the schedule for the next few weeks:

The midterm exam will be held in 2 parts. It will cover all the class materials from the start of the term until November 26/27: 

• Speaking English with confidence
• English slang and expressions
• Video games and technology
• Travel
• The supernatural
• Sports
• World cultures

You are responsible for both the specific vocabulary words covered in class for each topic, as well as general information about each topic that you could discuss independently.

Exam Part 1: Wednesday December 3, 9am  Room 204: Written part of the exam to test vocabulary. If you missed any classes, be sure to get the vocabulary words from someone who was there.

Exam Part II: Wednesday December 10, 9-10am (Group A) and Thursday December 11, 9-10:15am (Group B): Speaking

Students will select, at random, a question related to one of the 7 class discussion topics and then talk to the instructor about it. Your grade will be based on your vocabulary, fluency, grammar and comprehension of the material. 

A schedule for the speaking exams will be posted outside the door in advance of the speaking exam dates; please be on time. Regular class will resume after the speaking exams are finished (10am). The topic for hours 2 & 3 on December 10/11 will be EDUCATION. Please refer to the website post for that topic to prepare.

If you have any questions about the midterms for this class please leave a comment below.

Good luck with your studying.

Schedule updates

Here is the class schedule for 119 and 123 A/B until the end of December:
December 2014

	1 Midterm 119 Listening & pronunciation	2	3 Midterm 123 Part 1: Written 9am, Rm 204	4	5	6
7	8 119 regular class	9	10    123 Midterm Part 2 A 9-10am	11    123 Midterm Part 2 B 9-10am	12	13
14	15 119 regular class	16	17 Combined class A & B 9-12 Combined class A & B 12:30 - 3	18	19	20
21	22 119 cancelled *make-up class in January*	23	24 123A cancelled	25 123B cancelled	26	27
28	29        119 cancelled	30	31 123A cancelled	1 (NEW     YEAR	2 HOLIDAYS)

Wednesday November 19 : WORLD CULTURES / UNUSUAL CUSTOMS

The next discussion topic concerns cultures and cultural practices from around the world. If you were selected at the end of last class to bring an article, please remember to find an article on this topic that you find interesting to talk about with the class (you do not need to read it to the class, but should tell us about it and why you chose it).

Do you know of any places/societies that have unusual customs relating to food, celebrations, dress etc?

If you think of your own culture, can you think of any habits or customs that might be considered strange by people from another culture?

Please post your ideas, comments and links in the comments below in advance of next week's class.

Here are some ideas to get you started; do a bit of research and see if you can discover what these foods and traditions are and where they come from.  PLEASE COME PREPARED TO EXPLAIN THE FOLLOWING CUSTOMS AND DISCUSS THEM IN CLASS!

• La Tomatina
• Buzkashi
• Foot binding
• Haggis
• Polar Bear Swim
• Holi

Also: Strange laws from around the world: http://tvblogs.nationalgeographic.com/2012/04/25/strange-laws-from-around-the-world/

And another strange law, this one in the US, mentioned in a recent news article from Canada: http://www.ctvnews.ca/u-s-reminds-easter-travellers-kinder-eggs-are-banned-1.634973