Conversation class on Consumerism
In this week's lesson you will learn the necessary skills to talk about consumerism in English with your online English teacher via Skype.
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Quote on Consumerism
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In this first class we will be looking at a quote by Oscar Wilde, and discussing some questions based on vocabulary related to consumerism and you.
We also recommend that you take some time to study the common pronunciation problems and common mistakes that our students make.
Before we get started, let's look at a couple of warm-up questions on the topic of consumerism.
Warm-up questions to discuss with your teacher
1. Do you like shopping? Do you like spending time in shopping centres?
2. When was the last time you bought something for yourself? What was it?
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Now check your pronunciation of the below vocabulary with your native English teacher, and discuss the questions to put this new vocabulary into use.
Vocabulary
Question
Benefits
What are the benefits of consurmerism?
To spend
How would you spend a million euros?
Mass media
Does mass media affect teenage consumerism? How?
Shopping spree
Have you ever been on a shopping spree? How much did you spend?
Consumerist culture
Is there any way to escape consumerist culture?
Quote of the Day
Finally, discuss the Quote of the Day with your native English teacher via Skype.
First explain the meaning, and then say whether you agree or disagree:
"Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing."
– Oscar Wilde
Common pronunciation problems
Consumerism 
Consumerism 
Interests
Interests
Misled
Misled
Common mistakes
| WRONG | RIGHT |
| ✘ I feel guilt | ✔ I feel guilty |
| ✘ I do shopping every week | ✔ I go shopping every week |
| ✘ People buy more in Christmas time | ✔ People buy more at Christmas time |
We no longer live life.
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In this class we will be looking at questions and vocabulary related to saving money.
We also recommend you watch the video before your English class to be able to discuss it with your English teacher.
Before we get started, let's look at a couple of warm-up questions on the topic of consumerism.
Warm-up questions to discuss with your teacher
1. Are you good at saving money or is it something you find difficult?
2. What do you prefer, spending or saving?
Now check your pronunciation of the below vocabulary with your native English teacher, and discuss the questions to put this new vocabulary into use.
| Vocabulary | Question |
| To save up | Are you currently saving up to buy or pay for something? If so, what are you planning to buy? |
| Second hand products | Do/would you buy second hand products? Are there charity shops close to where you live? |
| Price conscious | Are you a price conscious shopper? Do you compare prices of products between shops? |
| To tip | Do you feel comfortable tipping? Is it typical in your culture? |
| To haggle | Have you ever tried to haggle when shopping? Did it work? |
Now discuss the video with your English teacher in your online conversation classes via Skype:
Click to do the English listening exercise on this video!
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This article talks about consumerism and how it is still growing in the US. Read and discuss the article with your native English-speaking teacher online via Skype:
Article “We have just been through what has now become an American tradition — Black Friday — and big box stores opened earlier than ever before, despite protests by employees at Walmart. Because of the recession, sales in physical retail stores were down 1.8 percent from the same date the year before; but as reported by Reuters on November 25, online retail sales jumped 26 percent, topping $1 billion." Read more… Questions to discuss with your English teacher 1. What is Black Friday? 2. How has the recession affected consumerism in the USA? 3. How does Christmas affect people's shopping habits? 4. What do climate change scientists like to talk about? 5. What don't the scientists like to talk about?
Irregular Verbs
| Present | Past | Participle |
| Buy | Bought | Bought |
| Mislead | Misled | Misled |
| Sell | Sold | Sold |
Role play on Consumerism
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Role plays are a fantastic way of practicing real life English expressions, which are incredibly important to know if you want to increase your fluency and speak English like a native speaker.
Choose your favourite role (role A or role B) and practice the below role play with your native English teacher via Skype. Your teacher will help you with typical spoken English expressions that will help you speak English like a native speaker!
Improve your English writing skills by choosing one of the following essay questions, and sending it to us for correction.
We will reply within 48 hours with the corrected text, clearly marking your mistakes, and a feedback sheet, which you can use to improve your future written work.
See our other English conversation lessons, to improve your grammar and vocabulary, and practice your reading and listening skills.
And don't forget to book your online English conversation classes with one of our native English-speaking teachers to put into practice what you’ve learned in this lesson.
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