7 September
Memory
Do you think you have a good memory?
Do you sometimes forget things? What do you usually forget?
What’s your most shameful forgetting story?
How do you try to remember important things?
Have you ever forgotten someone’s birthday? What happened?
Can you remember your first day at school? What was it like?
What’s the best way to improve your memory, in your opinion?
Do you remember your dreams often? What do you dream about?
How do you remember important dates or events?
Have you ever lost your phone or keys? How did you find them?
Do you ever forget the names of people you meet? What do you do about it?
Can you remember the first movie you watched? What was it about?
Related Words: memory, recall, remembrance, forgetting, recognition, retention, concentration, attention, focus, learning, experience, knowledge, brain, mind, thinking, cognition, awareness, habit, routine, reminder, note, diary, association, repetition, practice, storage, retrieval, perception, detail, impression
Watch the video above and discuss what you learned from it during your Spoken Cafe session
Ewa’s Near-Death Paragliding Ordeal: Surviving the Storm
In 2007, Ewa, along with 200 other paragliders, was training in Australia for the upcoming world championships. The weather was calm as she launched herself into the air, but soon, the serenity turned into a terrifying ordeal.
As Ewa soared higher, dark storm clouds began to form in front of her. She remained calm, initially unaware of the danger. But the storm clouds quickly enveloped her, and she soon realised that she was being sucked into the eye of a violent storm. Roars of thunder and flashes of lightning surrounded her, and rain began to pour down, clouding her vision.
Fortunately, Ewa had a GPS and phone attached to her shoulder, which allowed her to make a critical call to the ground team, informing them that she could no longer see them. As her altitude increased, the storm intensified. The temperature dropped to 50 degrees below freezing, and ice began to form on her body and face.
Ewa was now 10,000 kilometres in the sky, and the conditions were becoming life-threatening. Her body went numb as the cold set in, and eventually, she blacked out, her mind slipping into unconsciousness as she drifted further from the earth.
When she regained consciousness, the earth was rapidly approaching, and her fall was imminent. With a burst of energy and clarity, Ewa managed to grasp the controls of her glider. As she steered herself back towards the ground, she could see the earth getting closer and closer. By sheer determination and skill, she managed to guide herself to a safer landing.
Though she had made it to the ground, her ordeal wasn’t over. Ewa lay frozen on the Australian savannah, her body still in danger. Luckily, the ground team found her in time, wrapped her in a warm blanket, and rushed her to the hospital.
Ewa’s incredible survival story remains a testament to her resilience and composure under the most extreme of circumstances. She survived a terrifying experience that nearly cost her life, and thanks to quick thinking and teamwork, she made it out alive.
Watch the video above and discuss what you learned from it during your Spoken Cafe session
READ/SPEAK
Do you know any other interesting survival stories like Ewa’s? Have you ever had a survival experience, or have you ever been in danger?
Do you enjoy adventurous sports? Which ones have you tried?
Have you ever been in a dangerous situation? What happened?
What is the most adventurous thing you have ever done?
The information, or the version of that information, is currently spreading from person to person, often in a particular setting, like school or work.
A: “The word on the street is that you’re pregnant.”
B: “What?
LEARN THE IDIOM AND SPEAK
Tell us about some gossip that is talked about these days around you. Do you think it’s interesting, and why do you think so?