Childhood and Youth
1. What did you do when you were a child and when you were a teenager?
2. What were your hobbies?
3. Where did you live when you were a child? Tell us about that neighbourhood
4. Who were your close friends? Where are they and what are they doing now?
5. Who were your best teachers when you were a child? Why did you like them?
6. Do you have any happy memories from your childhood? Tell us the story.
7. Tell us about a film you will never forget that you watched as a child.
8. Tell us your favourite cartoons when you were a child and your favourite TV programmes when you were young.
Related Words: In my childhood, when I was a child, kindergarten, primary school, secondary school, high school, university years, nostalgia, classmate, buddies, close friends, best friends, in my hometown, unforgettable memory, unforgettable teachers, happy memories, sad memories, have a big circle, feel lonely, successful student, lazy student, graduate
Word Game – Childhood and youth
EXAMPLE ANSWERS: Childhood and youth
1. When I was a child, I was a very curious child. I used to read a lot of books and encyclopedias, and I did a lot of science experiments
2. I made toys, and I read a lot. And I climbed mountains and hills.
3. I lived in Soma when I was a child. It is a small but beautiful town in Manisa. We had 3 parks and a busy street in the centre. There were a lot of forests and mountains around Soma.
4. I had a lot of close friends. They all studied. Some became teachers, some became engineers, and some became English teachers.
5. My best teachers were Şefika, my Turkish teacher and Yunus and Selma, my English teachers. I loved them because they taught me a lot. Şefika made me love reading. Yunus taught me English, and he inspired me as an English teacher. Selma was very young, but a perfect teacher too. She helped me pass my university exam.
6. I had many happy memories. When I learned English in my prep class, it was the happiest time of my childhood. I learned English and learned a lot about world cultures. At that time, there was no internet or English movies. In a small town like Soma, I was so lucky to have my English teacher, Yunus and have English classes for a year.
7. I watched Robocop when I was in secondary school. It was the first movie I watched at the cinema. That’s why that film is special to me. I went to summer cinemas with my mother, but there were always Turkish movies at the summer cinemas. Robocop was the first Hollywood movie I watched in English with Turkish subtitles.
8. I loved Lucky Luke and Inspector Gadget as a child. And my favourite TV programme was Sesame Street. And my favourite TV series was MacGyver.
Watch the video above and discuss what you learned from it during your Spoken Cafe session
Two Islands, Two Days
If you look at a world map, it looks like the United States and Russia are very far from each other. But in real life, they are only 3.8 km apart!
There are two islands between the U.S. and Russia:
Big Diomede (in Russia)
Little Diomede (in the U.S.)
The islands are very close, but there is a 21-hour time difference between them.
Big Diomede is called “Tomorrow Island” because it is 21 hours ahead.
Little Diomede is called “Yesterday Island” because it is 21 hours behind.
In the winter, the water between the islands freezes. You can walk on the ice from the U.S. to Russia. When you walk to Big Diomede, you step into the next day!
Also, you can celebrate the New Year twice!
First, on Little Diomede (U.S.).
Then, you walk to Big Diomede (Russia) and celebrate it again 21 hours later!
Isn’t that amazing?
Watch the video above and discuss what you learned from it during your Spoken Cafe session
READ/SPEAK
Tell us about the farthest place you have been to. Where did you go and did you like it?
Have you ever visited an island? What was it like?
If you could visit any island in the world, where would you go?
What would you like to do if you had 21 extra hours in a day?
Behaviour that is not acceptable or is dishonest
Example: The teacher suspected that there had been some monkey business going on while she was out of the room.
LEARN THE IDIOM AND SPEAK
Tell us about the last time someone lied to you. How did you understand it was a lie?