A Childhood Activity  (February 7, 2009) 

 Describe an activity that you enjoyed doing with your friends when you were a child.            You should say:

                          how old you were when you did this activity

                          how and where you did this activity

                          who you did it with

             and explain why you enjoyed that activity.                       

My sample:

     Well, I used to play this running activity with my classmates when I was seven or eight. There were usually four or five pairs at each game. Each pair consisted of a boy and a girl of comparable age. The boy’s left leg was fastened to the girl’s right one. Then they hopped toward the finish line on each of their free legs, dragging the miserable so-called third leg between them. The pair that reached the finish line first would win. I played it with my classmates and my friend Lily (or Jack) was always my partner. We practiced it a lot and since the running depended on the cooperation between the partners, we won many times. I still have fond memories of this childhood activity, not only because it was something that I was good at back then, but also because it taught me the value of cooperation between partners. It took great team work to win the competition. Besides, it was also interesting to watch people hobble along clumsily and fall over each other.

Possible follow-up questions:

•  Do children today still do that? 

Part 3

Childhood Activities

• Do children today do the same sorts of things that children did when you were a child?
• And what about young people your age (or, teenagers) – do they do the same things today as young people (or, teenagers) used to do 20 or 30 years ago?
• Do you think children today prefer playing with other children or do they prefer doing things by themselves?

The Role of Children in the Family

• In the family, what is the role of children?
• As they grow up, how do you think this role changes?
• What do you think parents can do to help their children grow up to become good people?
• What pressures do modern children have in their lives?

Community

Neighbours

l        Do you communicate very much with your neighbours?

• Are you willing to make friends with old people?
• Do you think a person's relations with their neighbours is important?
•  (Similar to above) Do you think it's important to have good relations with one's neighbours?
• What are some ways that neighbours (can) help each other?
• Would you say that the average person today has the same kind of relationship with their neighbours as previous generations did?
• Why do you think many people today are isolated from their neighbours?
•  (Similar to above) Why do you think many people are alienated from (= isolated from) their neighbours and what can be done about it? 
•  (Similar to above) Many people today are so busy that they don't spend much time at home or in their local communities. Do you think this is a good thing?
• In what ways can students (or, children, or young people) show a sense of responsibility towards their communities?
• At what age do you think children should start to show a sense of responsibility towards their communities?

Groups

• What groups (e.g., clubs) in society would you like to join?
• In general do teenagers like to do things in groups?
• What do you think are the benefits for teenagers from joining groups?
•  (Similar to above) What can teenagers learn from participating in group activities?
• Do you think it's important for children to experience belonging to a group (at least at some points in their childhood)?
• How do you think taking part in group activities will benefit children when they are adults (or, when they become teenagers and when they become adults)?
•  (Similar to above) For children, how do you think communicating with others (in group activities) will benefit them when they are adults?
• What social skills do children learn from group activities?
• If a child was (were) too shy to join other kids in play, what would you do to help this child?
• As people get older, do you think they still enjoy doing things in groups?
•  (Similar to above) As people become old(er), do you think they still have the same friends as when they were young?

The Global Community

• Would you agree that the people in the world are today living in a "global village"?
• Which do you think is more important for people, to have a sense of being part of the global community or a sense of being part of their local communities?