January Week One

Welcome back to class in 2020! I hope you enjoyed the holiday break, and had some time to relax and celebrate with your friends and family. Now it's time to get back to our English practice!

In honor of the new year, and in a spirit of optimism that we will stick to those new year's resolutions, we talked about how to form good habits and how to break the bad.

Listening:
Learners can try something from the listening lab --Smoking: Kicking the Habit

For original version, try a recent podcast episode from Hidden Brain called Creatures of Habit: How Habits Show Who We Are -- And Who We Become.

Reading:
Learners can try the reading comprehension article Make Health a Habit.

For original version, check out the article How Culture Molds Habits of Thought. Or try an article from the Guardian, Is It Weird to Eat the Same Sandwich Every Day?

Writing:

1. What do you consider your worst habit to be? Describe it in detail, including how and under what circumstances you engage in it.
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2. Perform a word association exercise with the name of your habit. Then, freewrite for ten minutes about all of the concepts and images associated with it.
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3. Why do you consider this habit “bad” or “worst”? What negative consequences come with it, for you and for those around you?
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4. When you do whatever this “worst” habit is, in what ways do you punish yourself? Or do you? How does having this habit affect your self-image and esteem?
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5. What essential inner need does your habit fulfill? In other words, in what ways does indulging in this habit work for you; what are its positive aspects? Think about when you first began this habit. What were it’s positive aspects then? What did you achieve for yourself by doing it?
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6. What is the opposite of your habit? For example, whether your habit is to procrastinate, to drink, or to bite your nails, what do you consider its opposite to be? Freewrite for ten minutes about this opposite quality or habit and what you think your life might be like. Do you feel resistance to your habit’s opposite? Write about the resistance. Who and/or what events does it remind you of?
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7. Write about what your life would be like without your habit. Would you prefer a life without it? If so, make a list of five things you’d need to do to change it. If not make a list of five things you’d need to do to find more acceptance from yourself and/or others.

Best,
Kelly