The English Debate

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The English Debate

Give your opinion and express yourself in English.

 

Frustated because you have an opinion, but you can’t express it in English?

Join a lively discussion on interesting relevant topics. Practise giving your opinion, disagreeing and agreeing, and develop your conversation skills on a wide range of subjects.

This is not a class. It’s an online debate on a different subject every two weeks. Debates are controlled by a native English speaking mediator who will ask questions and ensure that all members of the group have their opportunity to participate.

Maximum number of participants: 6. Duration 60 – 90 mins. Price 12€ per person.

 

The English Debate Calendar:

Wednesday, February 2nd, 19:30hrs

Work: The future of work has never been more uncertain. The pandemic may have changed where and when most of us work, but there are even bigger issues on the horizon. Self-employment, pensions, automation and AI….

 

Wednesday, February 9th, 19:30hrs

Money: Is cash about to disappear? How will the black economy function without cash? Are unregulated cryptocurrencies the answer or small local town based currencies? Do banks have a future? How can ordinary people save money these days with rising costs and rock bottom interest rates?

 

Wednesday, February 16th, 19:30hrs

“It’s a conspiaracy!”: The pandemic has exacerbated an already growing trend to believe in conspiracies, to distrust authority and once respected institutions. Why is this and what needs to be done to win back people’s confidence?

 

For more information contact pynches@speaktome.es or phone/whatsapp 685 88 93 67

April Fools’ Day

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April Fools' DayToday in countries such as the UK, Australia and the USA we are celebrating a rather strange tradition called April Fools’ day. At any time before 12 noon, you are allowed to play a prank on whoever you think will be gullible enough to believe you. These jokes range from a spider in your cereal to larger and more adventurous hoaxes such as Burger King announcing they had created a left-handed whopper with all the sauces rotated 180 degrees in order to make eating it easier for its minority consumers.

Every year most people forget this day until it’s too late. I am one of these people. This morning I was woken up to the “news” published on Facebook that one of my oldest friends was pregnant. After a good half hour in shock and wondering how her mother was going to react (my friend is currently travelling alone in Burma) it dawned on me that maybe this was an April Fools’ prank.

This made me take a moment to look back on the various jokes I have fallen for over the years. But unfortunately I wasn’t alive for what is considered by many as the best prank of all time. In 1957, the BBC released their own April Fools’ report for their Panorama documentary. Thousands watched a black and white video of farmers in a small Italian village picking spaghetti from trees in what was known as the annual “spaghetti harvest” and then serving it up for lunch to the hungry townsfolk. Obviously, the BBC came clean about their hoax, but not before fooling even the channel’s Director General himself into thinking that spaghetti does in fact grow on trees.

Sadly, once you read this it will be past 12 o’clock by which time if you play a hoax on someone it is you the prankster who is considered the fool. On the plus side, you have a whole year to think of a joke which will befuddle your friends. Just make sure you remember to tell them the truth afterwards……