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Showing posts with label READING. Show all posts
Showing posts with label READING. Show all posts

Emotions in the Wake of Disaster, by Sarah Rose Cavanagh Ph.D. (From Psychology Today)

How you respond to emotions may have implications for your psychological health
Source: Psychology Today
Michiko is at home, contentedly sipping coffee and flipping through the pages of a gossip magazine while her toddler plays at her feet and her 7-month-old naps in her crib. She lives in an area with frequent earthquakes, so at first she hardly notices as her cup begins to clatter in its saucer. But quickly the shaking becomes more and more severe, and the apartment building begins to rock alarmingly from side to side. The quake is not letting up.

She grabs her son by the arm and rushes to her infant daughter’s room to swoop her up. Michiko manages to get to the stairwell, one struggling child under each arm. Dust begins to fall from the ceiling, and she realizes that there is no way to get all three of them down the long, steep staircase safely. She rushes to return her infant to her crib, kisses her hot face, and begins the challenge of wrestling her toddler down the perilous stairs.

Once outside, she looks desperately for someone she can entrust her toddler to so that she can return for her daughter. Huge buildings tilt and crack as a sea of panicked humanity rushes by her.

This is a fictional recombination of several real accounts told to us by our research participants, living and working in Tokyo, Japan during the March 2011 tsunami, earthquake, and nuclear crisis.

The Regulation of Emotion

I study emotion regulation, or the strategies people use to change or modify their emotional states in order to feel better or meet some other sort of goal, such as behaving appropriately in a social situation. Most of the time, the situations that require us to regulate our emotions are fleeting and minor (you must dampen your irritation with a frustrating client in order to maintain a good working relationship). Decades of research have taught us a lot about which methods of emotion regulation are most successful.

This research seems to indicate that one of the most effective emotion regulation techniques is that of cognitive reappraisal – the ability to rethink the nature or implications of a situation in order to alter its impact (the client is just trying to please his own boss – I can recall being in similar situations and should be more patient).

So, cognitive reappraisal is effective, and both how frequently you use cognitive reappraisal in your daily life and how successfully you are able to use it to reduce negative emotions have been linked to all sorts of good outcomes like lower depression and heightened well-being. (Continue reading)

🔎Sarah Rose Cavanagh, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of Psychology and Director of the Laboratory for Cognitive and Affective Science at Assumption College.

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WEEKLY PICKS - 14

This is a weekly selection of recommended free online exercises, games, videos and resources so that you can improve your English language skills while having fun – ENJOY!

📜READING PICKS – Articles, blog posts, quizzes and more:

From BBC FUTURE: The obsolete tech that children can't recognise, Helene Schumacher. Show your age by seeing if you recognise this list of tech objects from the recent past. A recent study has revealed which kinds of tech have stood the test of time – in terms of recognition, if not use. Would your children recognise these? (And would you?). (Continue reading)

From Mind Tools Blog: Does Your Profession Reflect Who You Really Are?, by Bruce Murray. Toni Morrison is a favorite author of mine, who recently brought to my mind one of life’s fundamental questions: “Does the work that I do define me? Or is the ‘real me’ the person I am outside of my work?” – What Defines You? (Continue reading)

From BBC CAPITAL: This single phrase makes Japan go round, by Yukari Mitsuhashi. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu” is a term that is heard all the time but hard to define. It’s the Swiss Army knife of the Japanese language, and it goes a long way in any type of situation.
... “It’s a phrase to convey respect and appreciation. It’s usually accompanied by a bow that can range from a little tilt of the head to a full sweeping bow.” Goto adds: “Yoroshiku onegaishimasu is critical to ensure that everyone is appreciated for their different skills. I would say it to the hair stylist that I am planning to see tomorrow. But I would say it much more seriously with desperation if I needed to go see a doctor tomorrow for a medical emergency. Both the stylist and the doctor play a role in society that makes the world go round and it’s really a sort of verbal lubricant.”
Although commonly translated in Japanese class textbooks or travel guides as ‘nice to meet you’ or ‘please take care of me’, these fall far short of truly encompassing its diverse uses and how it embodies Japanese culture and its people. (Continue reading)

🎬 VIDEO PICKS – Short and fun videos:

LESS
-THAN-5-MINUTE VIDEOS:
Stop Saying...: Avoiding direct language to sound more polite (3:02 minutes)

5-TO-10-MINUTE VIDEOS:
Learn about cultural differences in 6 minutes (6:12 minutes)
Archetypes and Male Divinities: Crash Course World Mythology #15 (11:45 minutes)


💬 VOCABULARY PICKS:

📌 This week's special ⇒ WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

Between or Among? (From Learn English with Emma)
After watching the video, take the quiz here ⇒ http://www.engvid.com/between-or-among/

A few more vocab picks:
💡 GRAMMAR PICKS – Assorted exercises and games:



MORE PICKS NEXT WEEK!

TOP TIPS for WRITING a SUCCESSFUL SPEECH (From OXFORD Living Dictionaries)


At some point in your life, you will probably have to make a speech. There are many kinds of speeches, including those intended to inform, persuade, instruct, motivate, and entertain. They all share the same goal, however: to communicate clearly and effectively to an audience.

💡 Here are some guidelines to make it easier to talk to a room full of people you don’t know.
  1. Know your audience
  2. Narrow your topic
  3. Outline your speech
  4. Get the attention of the room
  5. Organize your speech
  6. Offer examples, statistics, and quotations
  7. Craft a powerful conclusion
  8. Use presentation aids if appropriate
  9. Write for the ear, not for the eye
  10. Time yourself

1. Know your audience

Understand what your listeners care about. Tailor your speech to their knowledge and their interests. If you are an expert speaking to a general audience, be sure to define your terms. If you’re a manager talking to a staff that has recently experienced lay-offs, acknowledge that you understand their concerns.

2. Narrow your topic

A good speech makes a claim. And a good speech is about one thing only. Even if your speech is a wedding toast, your point is that the bride and the groom were meant for each other. Have a specific focus and make sure everything you say supports it.

3. Outline your speech

A conventional organization usually works best. Tell the audience what you’re going to say (introduction), say it (body), and then tell them what you said (conclusion) ⇒ Repetition is a powerful tool, especially in a speech. Audiences tend to absorb only a small portion of what they hear, so it’s good to make your point several times.

4. Get the attention of the room

Your opening should engage listeners immediately. Engage them with a unique personal story that is relevant to your topic. Or try a specific reference to the location. Most people will appreciate a speaker who says she’s glad to be in Australia in January.

Other good ways to begin:
  • ask a question;
  • report a surprising statistic related to your topic;
  • find an apposite quotation.

5. Organize your speech

Structure your speech according to your purpose. If your goal is to inform, try a chronological or alphabetical organization. When your goal is to convince your audience to take a stand, introduce the problem and then propose a solution. Use transitions between your examples, so people can follow your logic.

6. Offer examples, statistics, and quotations

You need evidence to support what you’re saying. Try examples from history, current events, and your own life. Consult government sources for statistics. Use quotations from experts in the field. Don’t overdo quotations, though: most of the words in your speech should be your own. Check your facts—inaccuracies will undermine your credibility.

7. Craft a powerful conclusion

Keep it short, memorable, and to the point. Consider ending with a concrete, vivid image or anecdote that illustrates your topic. Or ask people to take an action, such as promise to write to a decision-maker or to contribute to a cause.

8. Use presentation aids if appropriate

Charts and tables quickly convey data, and photographs can offer compelling support. Incorporate visuals into your speech if they’ll make it more powerful. Know what technology will be available for you to share these visuals. And be prepared to do without them, in case something goes wrong with the equipment.

9. Write for the ear, not for the eye

Once you’ve finished a draft of your speech, practice reading it out loud. You’ll hear anything that sounds awkward. Revise so you are more comfortable giving your speech. You want to sound natural, no matter what the occasion.

10. Time yourself

Have someone else run the stopwatch, so you won’t be distracted. Read slowly and clearly. Include pauses for emphasis or for audience reaction if you’re saying something that might cause listeners to laugh or gasp. If you’re over your time limit, you’ll need to edit to shorten your speech.


💡 Go to Oxford Dictionaries for more Top writing tips.

💡 You might also be interested in:

WEEKLY PICKS - 13

This post offers you a selection of recommended free online exercises, games, videos and resources so that you can improve your English language skills while having fun – ENJOY!

📜READING PICKS – Articles, blog posts, quizzes and more:


From BBC FUTURE: The new phones that are stuck in the past, by Peter Rubinstein. These sleek, downgraded cell phones are meant to promote mental wellbeing – by turning the clock back to the pre-smartphone era.
… After several years of tinkering, Neby invented the solution to his mobile obsession: another cell phone. But unlike his Blackberry, this one was specifically designed to promote healthy behaviour by being used as little as possible. With this idea in mind, Neby’s company Punkt was born.
It now stands as one of several start-ups aimed at tempering advanced technologies with a return to good old-fashioned humanity, providing an escape route from the anxiety and addiction of smartphones. Because these secondary devices do little more than make calls, owners say they have rediscovered the freedom they had before their iPhones were surgically attached to their palms. (Continue reading)

From BBC CAPITAL: Are you guilty of 'cyberloafing'?, by Emily Lowe-Calverley and Rachel Grieve. A spot of online shopping, checking out your holiday snaps on Facebook: if you break up your work day with non-work online activities you may be guilty of 'cyberloafing'.
Cyberloafing – engaging in non-work online activities while “on the clock” – is a modern form of counterproductive workplace behaviour ...
Cyberloafing can lack malicious intent, but not always ... So, who is likely to cyberloaf, and why? (Continue reading)

🎬 V
IDEO PICKS – Short and fun videos:

LESS-THAN-5-MINUTE VIDEOS:
BBC Masterclass: Advanced Learner Mistakes - go, come, bring and take (3:26 minutes)

News Review: Money spent on time makes you happy (8:14 minutes)

A LITTLE LONGER BUT WORTH IT!
Meet Your Master: Getting to Know Your Brain – Crash Course Psychology #4 (12:33 minutes)

MORE PICKS NEXT WEEK!

WEEKLY PICKS - 12

This post offers you a selection of recommended free online exercises, games, videos and resources so that you can improve your English language skills while having fun! ENJOY!

📜 READING PICKS – Articles, blog posts, and more:

From 
BBC CAPITAL: What is the future of English in the US? By Bryan Lufkin. Similar to the UK and Australia, US citizens can rely on the luxury of being native English speakers – but in today's changing world, could monolingual Americans be left behind? (Continue reading)

From BBC FUTURE: The 'invisible allies' inside the body, by David Robson. How bacteria can save children’s lives. A ground-breaking new project in Bangladesh could help reduce the life-long health problems that come from childhood malnourishment – by focusing on the gut. (Continue reading)

From BBC NEWS: The troubled 29-year-old helped to die by Dutch doctors, by Linda Pressly. BBC News, The Netherlands. In January a young Dutch woman drank poison supplied by a doctor and lay down to die. Euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide are legal in Holland, so hers was a death sanctioned by the state. But Aurelia Brouwers was not terminally ill – she was allowed to end her life on account of her psychiatric illness.
"I'm 29 years old and I've chosen to be voluntarily euthanised. I've chosen this because I have a lot of mental health issues. I suffer unbearably and hopelessly. Every breath I take is torture…" (Continue reading)

🎬 VIDEO
PICKS – Short and fun videos:

LESS
-THAN-5-MINUTE VIDEOS:
How do we smell? - Rose Eveleth (4:19 minutes)
A LITTLE LONGER BUT WORTH IT!
LITERATURE: Franz Kafka (10:32 minutes)
💡 GRAMMAR PICKS – Assorted exercises and games:

MORE PICKS NEXT WEEK!

WEEKLY PICKS - 11

This post offers you a selection of recommended free online exercises, games, videos and resources so that you can improve your English language skills while having fun! ENJOY!

📜READING PICKS – Articles, blog posts, and more:

Article from BBC FUTURE: Five myths about heatwaves, by Claudia Hammond. What you should – and shouldn’t – do in a heatwave.
As summer temperatures climb, keeping cool becomes a priority. But what age-old tips are worth sticking to? BBC Future takes a look.
With heatwaves everywhere from Japan to the UK, and Algeria to California, everyone has plenty of tips on how to keep cool. But which tips and facts stand up to scientific scrutiny? We look at the evidence for whether you should do the following 5 things or not. (Continue reading)

Article from BBC CAPITAL: Does ‘mindfulness’ kill motivation? By Jessica Brown. Companies are investing huge sums in mindfulness programmes for employees, but could these be having unintended results?
Meditation has long shed its Buddhist roots to become a secular answer to all of our ills in the West, with numerous studies finding benefits like reduced stress and better concentration.
Some of the world’s biggest firms, including Google and Nike, have embraced the practice, using meditation programmes as a way of tackling stress, staff turnover and absenteeism.
Meditation is also used as a tool to motivate workers, partly thanks to research on the relationship between wellbeing and productivity. But a new study suggests that mindfulness meditation, a popular type of meditation that practises being aware in the present, may not be the best way to increase your motivation at work. (Continue reading)

🎬 VIDEO PICKS – Short and fun videos:

LESS-THAN-5-MINUTE VIDEOS:
USING ZERO ARTICLES (2:05 MINUTES)

5-TO-10-MINUTE VIDEOS:
10 Things That Will SHOCK You About London, England (9:06 minutes)
A LITTLE LONGER BUT WORTH IT!
RSA ANIMATE: The Empathic Civilisation (10:39 minutes)
💬 VOCABULARY PICKS:

MORE PICKS NEXT WEEK!

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