General Discussion on Unit 3 “Means of Communication”

Answer the questions.

1. What does the success of communication depends on? (Appearance, good nature, various sides of character, special psychological techniques)?

2. What are the advantages of successful communication activities?

3. Does a good communication help you in life, domestic happiness and special career?

4. What are main purposes of communication in your life?

5. What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘e-mail’?

6. How important is e-mail to you?

7. Do you prefer writing e-mail or real letters with a pen and paper?

8. How much time do you spend reading and writing e-mails?

9. Do you think e-mails are fun?

10. Do you ever receive spam mail? What do you do with it?

11. Have you ever pressed ‘send’ and then wish you hadn’t?

12. Are you good at replying quickly to e-mails?

13. How many mails are there in your InBox?

14. How many different e-mail accounts do you have / need?

15. Which e-mail provider do you use (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, etc)? Are you happy with the service?

16. Do you prefer e-mail via your mobile phone or a computer?

17. Do you think e-mail can be dangerous?

18. When was the last time an e-mail made you very happy or excited about something?

19. What new functions would you like to see with e-mail?

20. Are you worried that governments or criminals can read your mail?

21. Have you ever waited, and waited, and waited and waited for an e-mail to arrive? How many times did you check?

22. If you could secretly have access to someone else’s e-mail account, who would it be and why?

23. What will replace e-mail in the future?

24. What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘telephone’?

25. How important is the telephone to you?

26. What would life be like with no telephone?

27. Do you ever talk in English on the phone?

28. How many calls do you make every day? How many of these are necessary?

29. Who comes to your mind first when your telephone rings?

30. Have you ever received any prank calls?

31. Do you think Internet telephone will replace the current telephone system one day?

32. What’s the best and worst news you’ve received over the phone?

33. Do you like using the telephone?

34. What was your longest telephone call?

35. What is the most annoying thing about using the phone?

36. Can you remember life before the mobile phone?

37. Do you think you use the telephone too much?

38. Do you like listening to other people’s telephone conversations?

39. Have you ever got really angry with someone over the telephone?

40. Do men or women talk more on the phone? Why?

Comment on the quotes. What is your opinion?

1. Middle age is when you're sitting at home on a Saturday night and the telephone rings and you hope it isn't for you. Ogden Nash

2. People use a telephone because they hate being close together and they are scared of being alone. Chuck Palahniuk

3. Any problem, big or small, within a family, always seems to start with bad communication. Someone isn't listening. Emma Thompson

4. As our country increasingly relies on electronic information storage and communication, it is imperative that our Government amend our information security laws accordingly. Jo Ann Davis

5. Bad human communication leaves us less room to grow. Rowan D. Williams

6. Communication – the human connection – is the key to personal and career success. Paul J. Meyer

7. Communication is a skill that you can learn. It's like riding a bicycle or typing. If you're willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of evry part of your life. Brian Tracy

8. Communication works for those who work at it. John Powell

9. This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us. Western Union internal memo, 1876

10. He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know. Lao Tzu

11. Today, communication itself is the problem. We have become the world's first overcommunicated society. Each year we send more and receive less. Al Ries

12. The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate. Joseph Priestley

13. Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true. Charles Dickens

14. Two monologues do not make a dialogue. Jeff Daly

15. The fantastic advances in the field of electronic communication constitute a greater danger to the privacy of the individual. Earl Warren

5-6 Week