Anyone interested in politics / economics....HELP PLEASE!

Kis Vihar

Kis Vihar

Nutty Saddlers !
Feb 14, 2008
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Norfolk, UK....or Hungary!
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Me and my big mouth. :rolleyes: I have a new 'student' for English lessons. He is a mature man who ONLY wants conversational lessons, to practice and improve his spoken English.

He has booked 2-hour lessons every week, and wants each week to be a discussion on a particular topic, chosen by him. Next week, he has chosen 'world economics and politics'! :eek: :eek: I am used to discussion topics being 'my family', 'my hobbies', 'what I did at school today', etc!

Usually, I have a rule that the only banned subjects are religion and politics, (I have 2 students who are boyfriend and girlfriend where one is devout Catholic and one is Protestant and we had to skip the 'religion' discussion for them!) but this guy is a businessman and insists that such topics are important for him to discuss!

I know very little / nothing about economics and politics, so wondered if any of you clever people who have studies these subjects can point me in the direction of a website with fairly straightforward information which I can 'learn' really fast! ;)

WHAT have I DONE?! :giggle: Paul said I would have more chance of having a 2-hour discussion on astro-physics than politics! ;)
 
get hold of The Economist magazine from your library if you can and use that - it covers a wide range of issues and also if you have articles in front of you you can read them together and discuss - i find it easier if i have something text wise to refer to
 
Great idea....sadly we don't have a library (apart from being allowed to access the school library if we want!)....well, there's some libraries in Budapest, but I doubt I'll get the Economist in English in there. :( BUT...Thinking about it, there might be some old copies kicking around that guests have left. I always keep the magazines they leave, never know when they will come in useful! Like now! :) Thanks! Oooh! Found an Investors Chronicle! That's suitably yawn-worthy! :D
 
I understand your pain!

Once years ago when I had a 'proper' job I was struggling with my basic school french at a dinner party in Paris when the host turned to me and said..'please explain Margaret Thatcher's monetarism'....apparently it got better the more wine I drank!!!
 
I love economics, did it at A level and degree level.

I personally would get together a list of leading questions and ask his opinion on things rather than stating yours.
 
Joyscarer's right - you're teaching him English, not politics: get him to do the talking, don't disagree with him, and make notes of words he mispronounces ... Any (English) words you don't understand, ask him to explain, and don't be afraid to get the dictionary out if necessary. (I teach French - that's what works for me). :wink:
 
My advice is dont go there especially the protestant catholic bit, thats started wars up here in Scotland or at least serious stabbings, Rangers and Celtic need i say more.
 
pinkheather said:
My advice is dont go there especially the protestant catholic bit, thats started wars up here in Scotland or at least serious stabbings, Rangers and Celtic need i say more.
Click to expand...

Yep. We don't go there!! ;) One lesson, I asked them to say the first thing that came into their head which they loved and hated and why. Bless her, the girl said she loved her horse and she hated learning German! The boy said he loved his girlfriend (ahhh!) and hated the Pope!!! :eek: :ninja: :eek: At that point I actually wondered if I would regain control of the lesson at all, which then very quickly became a 'respecting the beliefs of others' lesson. They know now that religion must NEVER be mentioned in the class again. ;)

I know how to conduct discussion lessons, I hold 3 or 4 discussion classes per week, and usually, yes, the students do the talking! (Thank goodness!) But this guy said he's very keen to hear ME speak too, so he can hear English spoken properly by an Englishwoman. :eek: It's very interesting when I teach that I lose all trace of any accent and speak absolutely correctly without thinking about it, but as soon as I am home, I am back to my usual self! ;)

(That's unless the students ask me to 'do the accents' (I am a great accent-mimic!) and beg me to read a poem in 'American' or 'Australian' or 'Scottish'! :) )

Thanks for all your suggestions, I have some interesting material to work with now. And eml...that is hilarious! I would have swigged the bottle before I attempted to answer that one! ;)
 
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