Sophie´s World, the Movie

Sophie´s World  is a book written by a Norwegian philosophy teacher called Jostein Gardner; it presents philosophical ideas and the history of philosophy in the form of a story, from ancient Greece, over the Roman empire, the Middle ages, the renaissance, the enlightenment, the big revolutions and up to today. 

I think this book is a must for all BAC students so here you are:

Sophie´s World, free pdf in English, click here

El mundo de Sofía, free pdf (in Spanish), click here

And here is the film - original version in Norwegian with subtitles in English. 

I would read the book first and watch the film afterwards, but that is just a suggestion...

What Is Your Favourite Memory? (Homework Assignment 9))

What is your favorite memory?

The following video is a piece of a larger picture called Fifty People, One Question, by Benjamin Reece and Nathan Heleine. Fifty People, One Question is  a social experiment and film series exploring human connections through people and places. The project began in New Orleans in 2008; along the way it has managed to depict a slice of humanity: dreams, losses, reflections stories and secrets.

What is YOUR favorite memory?

Think about it and share it with us; consider the five questions to let us have a full picture of the situation: who? when? where? what? why?

If you could, would you photoshop any of your memories?

Food For Thought

This video is meant to be a letter to a newborn child including some advice on how to be a good person. It´s good listening practice; you will hear vocabulary related to everyday stuff so it shouldn´t be too difficult.

If the accent is hard for you to understand, read the subtitles: you´ve got the audio, the subtitles and… some grammar mistakes but let´s ignore those and focus on the listening comprehension: it´s a good and positive message - and we are in need of these type of messages nowadays, aren´t we?

 

What do you think about the message, do you like it or do you find it soppy? 

A Thought for the Weekend

This is a video about motivation. It is, in fact, a video excerpt from Daniel Pink´s book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

 
Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

Now, can you answer those two questions about yourself? Are you willing to share your answer to the first one, What is your sentence?

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Do You Eat Animals?

Are you a vegetarian? Even if you are not, is there any animal you refuse to eat? What reasons do you have for that?  Take me, for instance; I eat meat from time to time, not too often, though, but I DON´T eat rabbit. Rabbit is a pet for me, that´s why I don´t eat it, how can you eat a pet? I have friends who refuse to eat octopus - and we all know what that means in Galicia, where one of the most popular dishes in any popular celebration is "octopus Galician style" (i.e., boiled and then seasoned with oil and paprika); my friends say octopus is an elegant and hipnotizing animal you just watch for pleasure in aquariums. And that is probably Luiz Antonio´s point of view.

Luiz Antonio must be a toddler - judging by his looks, tone of voice and his chair.He was given octopus in his gnocchi and then he started questioning his mother about it; he came to the conclusion, in a philosophical way, that animals have to die so that we can eat them and eventually convinced his mother to let him just eat the rice and the potatoes and leave the octopus aside.

The video is in Portuguese and the subtitles are in English (click on CC to get them) . I am sure you will have no problem whatsoever in understanding any of the two languages.

Enjoy the video and start questioning what you eat!

 

One More Lesson For Life

Here is one of those stories that may change the way we look at life.

Zach Sobiech turned 18 on May 3rd, 2013. He was diagnosed with a type of bone cancer, osteosarcoma, in 2009. Since then, he has gone through several surgeries and chemo sessions; the cancer has spread to his pelvis and lungs and there seems to be no effective treatment for him right now. Zach turned to music (writing and performing songs) as a way to say goodbye to his friends and family. This is his story, told in a documentary called "My Last Days." You may not understand everything that is said but you will definitely get its message: it is certainly painful, but really positive. I warn you, it will be difficult not to burst into tears.

"Clouds" is one of Zach´s songs, really catchy, so read the lyrics below and sing along!


CLOUDS, Lyrics:

Well I fell down, down, down
Into this dark and lonely hole
There was no one there to care about me anymore
And I needed a way to climb and grab a hold of the edge
You were sitting there holding a rope

And we'll go up, up, up
But I'll fly a little higher
We'll go up in the clouds because the view is a little nicer
Up here my dear
It won't be long now, it won't be long now

When I get back on land
Well I'll never get my chance
Be ready to live and it'll be ripped right out of my hands
Maybe someday we'll take a little ride
We'll go up, up, up and everything will be just fine

And we'll go up, up, up
But I'll fly a little higher
We'll go up in the clouds because the view is a little nicer
Up here my dear

It won't be long now, it won't be long now
If only I had a little bit more time
If only I had a little bit more time with you

We could go up, up, up
And take that little ride
And sit there holding hands
And everything would be just right
And maybe someday I'll see you again
We'll float up in the clouds and we'll never see the end

And we'll go up, up, up
But I'll fly a little higher
We'll go up in the clouds because the view is a little nicer
Up here my dear
It won't be long now, it won't be long now

Current Debate: Freedom vs. Security

A very good way to practise English and learn vocabulary is reading or listening to current pieces of news in English. Why? Because you are familiar with the content so you just have to focus on how it is dealt with. Let´s put this theory into practice in this post.

I am sure you have all heard about the Boston marathon bombing some weeks ago. Here is a good listening exercise related to it. 

This video is a clip of a TV show called "Real Time with Bill Maher." William "Bill" Maher, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author and actor. In the video  they discuss the role of the police in everyday life nowadays, but focusing on a couple of things related to the Boston bombings: what happened after the bombs exploded and what happened when the police captured suspect  Dzhokhar Tsarnaev alive following a shootout.

Watch the video trying to understand as much as possible from the audio. I think you will need to read the subtitles in Spanish because the rhythm of the conversation is quite fast. That is one of the difficulties you will face in this video, the other one is the irony of some of the guests  and of the host himself.

Before you watch the video, make sure you know the meaning of the following words or expressions: 

• frisk
• mug
• suspect
• to be on the loose

The following concepts will be mentioned in the video: 

• The British police
• a police state
• a military state
• George Orwell´s novel 1984 : a story about government surveillance and mind control where independent thinking is not allowed
• Miranda warning / Miranda rights
• Eighth Amendment

 

What do you think about the debate? Do you agree with any of the people at the table? Why (not)?

Conditional Practice

Choose one of the images below and either answer its question or explain its message; make sure you use the correct verb tenses.

Think of an original answer and make sure your explanation is long enough to be easily understood. Start your answer with the first part of the conditional sentence: If I .....

One More Lesson for Life

Ric Elias was a passenger in the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009. What went through his mind as the plane went down? At TED, he told his story publicly for the first time - click on the link to choose the subtitles for this video and to read its transcript.

This is how you can do this Listening activity: 

1. Read the following questions
2. Watch the video with no subtitles (don´t take notes, just watch and listen)
3. Write as many answers as you remember
4. Watch the video again with the subtitles in Engl¡sh
5. Go over the answers you wrote: would you like to change anything?
6. Check your answers; to do this, you can either watch the video with the subtitles in Spanish or read the transcript (you can choose its language ) 

Questions: 

• what was Ric´s seat number in the plane?
• What happened to the plane that made everybody aware of a problem?
• What had caused the noise, according to the flight attendants?
• What 3 things happened at the same time after the explosion?
• What adjective does Ric, the narrator, use to describe the pilot´s tone of voice?
• How did the flight attendants feel after they heard the pilot´s message?
• What 3 things did Ric learn from this experience?
• What is Ric´s goal in life right now?

The video below will help you understand what really happened

Have you (or anyone you know) ever lived a dramatic experience like this one? Would you like to share it with us?

Philosophical Issues Explained by a 9-Year-Old

Read the following questions and think about their answers, what would YOU say? Ask one or two adults close to you and pay attention to their answers (can they make their points of view clear?)

• what is the meaning of life -why are we on earth? what´s our place in the universe?
• is there life elsewhere in the universe, on other planets?
• is it possible that there are multiple universes? do we live in a multiverse?
• what is the meaning of our lives?
• are the events in life pre-destined: might our life be predestined - all scripted for us in advance?

Now listen to a 9-year-old discussing the meaning of life and the universe. Click on the video to watch it with captions in English; it will be easier for you to follow.

Read the story behind this video here

I bet no many grown-ups can give better answers than this young philosopher; what do you think?