Visual Vocabulary: Empathy & Sympathy

Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She studies concepts such as shame, empathy, vulnerability, courage, shame… Hers is the voice in this  video, which explains the difference between sympathy and empathy.

If you are interested in watching and listening to Brené Brown´s TED Talks, click here.

Ted Talk: Lizzie Velasquez

Here is an inspiring talk about the importance of believing in oneself; the speaker is Lizzie Velasquez, an American woman whose extremely rare medical condition has led her to become a motivational speaker.

Read the introduction of her talk at Ted Talks: 

In a time when beauty is defined by supermodels, success is defined by wealth, and fame is deified by how many followers you have on social media, Lizzie Velasquez asks the question, `how do you define yourself?´ Once labeled, "The World´s Ugliest Woman," Lizzie decided to turn things around and create her own definitions of what she defines as beauty and happiness.

I am afraid the captions are automatic so there are quite a few mistakes but they may be helpful, anyway - listening practice: try to find the mistakes in the subtitles.

What lessons have you learned from this talk? Do you think it is a motivational one? How does it help people to see life from a different perspective?

Peculiarities of English: Plural Words

A brief history of plural words in English, by American linguist John McWhorter: click on the captions to both hear and read  the lesson

Now, do some listening practice:

To do a multiple choice listening exercise, click here

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?

Start the Weekend with a Smile:

Improv Everywhere  is, according to their own definition, a New York City-based prank collective that causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. I love what 

they do since I can only see the positive side of their goal of getting people to smile.

Here are some of their pranks:

Say Something Nice: a megaphone was attached to a sign that said "say something nice" and it was left alone in public spaces around New York to give a chance to passers-by to amplify their voices and "say something nice." The most common responses were "I love you," "I love New York," "Have a great day"

What would you say? 

Black Tie Beach: several people spent a day at Coney Island beach wearing black tie attire. I can´t help thinking about the dry-cleaning bills...

The Sleeper Car: on a Sunday evening, they  transformed a New York subway car into a "sleeper car" complete with  beds, complimentary pyjamas, earplugs, sleep masks, and a courtesy wake up nudge at the passenger´s stop.

Frozen Grand Central: Over 200 people froze in place at the same time in Grand Central Terminal in New York

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As you have probably deduced from the amount of videos posted here, I am a big fan of this group. I find what they do just great, and their pranks make me envy New Yorkers even a little bit more. 


If you want to see any more of their scenes, click here.


As for English practice, watch the talk given by Charlie Tood, the creator of "Improve Everywhere." Remember to choose the subtitles in the language of your choice - I would recommend English, but if it is too hard, click on Spanish or Galician.