Debate Topic: Celebritism

Please feel free to share your opinions on this topic! 

The opinions in this discussion aren't necessarily my own, but I do share many of them. 

To be a celebrity many years ago, you were often required to accomplish something really great! Maybe a scientist like Einstein, or a great thinker like one of the great, Greek philosophers. I assume the word "Celebrity" is related to "celebrate" whereby we admire and praise these people for their achievements! 

Today, however, we are "celebrating" people who really do not deserve to live such a wealthy and privileged life. More dangerous is the fact that these new celebrities (who are often very far from being good role models for younger generations) are looked up to by, and are able to influence the behaviour of, millions of people globally. This is often taken advantage of by corporations who use celebrities to endorse their products which they then sell to people for extortionate prices. The dangers and drawbacks of "Capitalism" I will leave for another debate topic though!

To summarise, I think we are in a dangerous cycle whereby we take a huge interest in celebrities because they are leading the lifestyles that we would like to live. We are unable to, however, because most of us have to work boring jobs that take up all of our time, and so in the free time we do have, we want to sit and watch our favourite celebrities living great and interesting lives...

It would be great if, one day, we could break this cycle and stop giving all of our money to these utterly pointless celebrities (who, at the end of the day, are just normal people who have done something stupid on a reality TV show). Just think of the life you could lead if you saved that money and / or energy that you were going to exhaust on the celebrity and used it to better your own life! Just think of the lives that could be changed around the world if this money was spent on food and shelter for the poor, rather than more sports cars for the rich.

What are your thoughts on celebrities in our modern society? Do you feel they have a positive influence on society instead?

Please also feel free to ask questions about the language used in this discussion.

A New Idea: Movie Review - Braveheart (1995)

This discussion coincides with my YouTube video which you can find by clicking this link!

<a href="https://youtu.be/alNMT39ISBg" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en-GB&q=https://youtu.be/alNMT39ISBg&source=gmail&ust=1501010641070000&usg=AFQjCNH6ooTUmZrjYaHfoHorVSx8YI_k_g" style="color: rgb(22, 122, 198); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 11px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; font-family: "YouTube Noto", Roboto, arial, sans-serif;">https://youtu.be/alNMT39ISBg</a>

In this movie review, we are looking at the movie Braveheart and discussing a number of things:

1. Who are the main characters and what do you think of them?<o:p></o:p>

2. What are their motivations and how do they conflict?<o:p></o:p>

3. Summarise the plot and tell us how it was resolved.<o:p></o:p>

4. What is your overall opinion of this story and movie?

I invite anyone who is interested to post their ideas and opinions about this movie to the discussion and also invite them to comment on other people's posts to correct them or give helpful feedback! You don't have to answer all or any of these questions - any comments to practice your English are welcome!

Each week (if this interests anyone!), I will create a new YouTube video and will review the discussions you have had about the movie in that video! I will respond to questions and comments about the movie and help however I can with your English!

This is the first activity so there is nothing to answer in this YouTube video but I hope you find it useful as an introduction!

Creative Writing in English Through birdsong and the gentle hum of a late afternoon breeze came the angry whistling of rusted arrows which burrowed themselves deep into the wooden panelling of the carriage. "To me!" the Commander shouted. He stood guard by the door leading to their mysterious quarry and was now a large magnet of plate steel that pulled all the men to him in one large, rattling throng. More whistling cut through the air and was quickly followed by the dreadful clang of metal as a couple of the commander's men dropped; wooden shafts protruding from the broken skin of their necks like victory flags. The Commander's eyes scanned the trees in search of their hidden enemies until finally they picked up subtle movement among the leaves opposite the carriage. Another sharp whistle sounded as a fierce barb burst from the flora and darted towards the Commander. With a movement that should have been impossible under the weight of plate steel armour, he swung his shield from his back and held it out in front of him. When the thud of the arrowhead shook the wood, the Commander threw his shield aside and with his right hand, brought one of his hammers round in a deadly arc. He released it and watched as it battered through the air and vanished into the bushes. A pained cry signalled that the hammer had struck its target. A surge of power flowed around the him as his body was now prepared for battle and the dispatching of one of the hidden enemies gave him a thirst for more. Almost as soon as his defeated enemy hit the floor, however, there followed another cry, this time of despair.

Twleve Tenses of English Simple Present: I travel to China every year on business. Simple Past: I travelled to China last week on business. Simple future: I will travel to China next week on business. Perfect Present: I have travelled to China a number of times in the past few years. Perfect Past: I had travelled to China a number of times before I became ill. Perfect Future: I will have travelled to China five times by this time next year! Present Continuous: I am travelling to China at the moment. Past Continuous: I was travelling to China when you called. Future Continuous: I will be travelling to China this time tomorrow. Present Perfect Continuous: I have been travelling for twelve hours now so I'm really tired! Past Perfect Continuous: I had been travelling for twelve hours before finally getting some sleep last night! Future Perfect Continuous: I will have been travelling for twelve hours by ten o'clock tonight!