TIME Conversation Group Discussion questions What time do

TIME Conversation Group

Discussion questions What time do you get up in the morning? What time do you go to bed? When do your homework? What time do you like to get up? What time do you like to go to bed at night? What time do you think high school students should go to bed? How much time do you spend sleeping? Do you wish you could sleep more? Do you usually arrive on time? Do you prefer to show up late or early? What is your busiest day of the week?

What is your busiest day of the week? Do you like to be busy, or do you like to have a more relaxed schedule? What takes up most of your time? Do you think you manage your time wisely? What do you do if you show up too early for something? What do you do if you show up too late for something? Do you spend a lot of time when preparing for something? Does waiting for something bother you? Do you get bored easily? What do you do if you forget an appointment? Do you schedule out what you have to do every week? Do you make a schedule for every day? Are you good at getting things done on time?

More advanced discussion questions If someone is late, what message does this send to the person who is waiting for you? Do you think time moves slowly or quickly? What would you do if you had a few extra hours in a day? Would you rather have more time or more money? In your culture, is it more common for people to always show up on time, or to show up a little late? How important is time in your culture? What's the most significant time of your life? (Significant for any reason: because you liked it or hated it; because of your profession; because of a relationship; or because it was a turning point in your life) Are you a "night owl" or an "early bird"? Which time of day do you feel you are most productive in your work or study? If you are a punctual person and your friend is not, how do you resolve conflicts that arise?

Hypotheticals • If time travel were possible, which period of world history would you like to return to? Why? • How far into the future would you like to travel? What do you hope to see? • Do you think there will be a common language in the future? Why? Which language will it be? • On your journey through time, you can take five objects with you to show people what life is like in the 21 st century. What five objects would you take? Why? • Are you optimistic or pessimistic about your future? How about the world's future? • One day, our grandchildren will look back at what we did to the world. What parts of our history do you think they will admire? • What parts of our history will they look down on? • What major advancements would your grandparents never have imagined were possible when they were children? • What major advancements do you think the human race will achieve this century? • What would you do if you had a telephone that could make phone calls into the past? • Which historical figure would you most like to meet? Why? • What would you ask them? • How would you spend the time with them? • If you went back to prehistoric times, what do you think you could teach humans of that time? • Have you seen any movies about travelling into the future? What happened? Were they believable?

Quotes related to time Explain what is meant by one of the quotes and discuss whether you agree with the idea. Time is what we want most, but what we use worst. William Penn Time is a created thing. To say “I don’t have time” is to say “I don’t want to”. Lao Tzu It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time. Steve Jobs Better three hours too soon than one minute too late. William Shakespeare Never leave ’till tomorrow what you can do today. Benjamin Franklin A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life. Charles Darwin There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want. Bill Watterson

Idioms related to time Time flies Meaning: Time passes extremely quickly Example: Look how fast our children grew up, how time flies. It’s high time Meaning: It’s the right time to do something, or past the appropriate time to do something. Beat the clock Meaning: Finish something before time is up, before a deadline. Example: Although she was late to the exam, she managed to beat the clock and finished all of it 10 minutes before the end. Better late than never Meaning: Doing something late is better than not doing it at all. It can be used sarcastically if someone is very late. Example: Well hello John. Better late than never, huh? Class started half an hour ago. In the long run Meaning: In the long term, over a long period of time. Example: I hate having so much after school activities now, but I know in the long run this will be beneficial for me.

Make up for lost time Meaning: To catch up, to do something intensely to make up for a long period of not doing it. Example: Where have you been for so long? I ran into Katie, we had to make up for lost time and talked for hours. In the nick of time Meaning: at the last possible moment, just before it’s too late. Example: I made it to the wedding in the nick of time, I almost missed the ceremony. Ship has sailed Meaning: A lost opportunity, missed shot. Example: I should call Annie, I’ve been thinking about her lately. Sorry Chad, that ship has sailed. She got married last month. Call it a day Meaning: To finish working on something, a day’s work has been completed. Example: We’ve been working for a long time on this with no progress. Let’s call it a day and come with some new ideas tomorrow. Not born yesterday Meaning: Experienced, not naïve or easily fooled. Example: You can’t expect me to believe that the vase broke itself. I wasn’t born yesterday, you were playing ball with the dog in the house again!

Form a statement in response to each statement featuring a suitable idiom. 1 I don’t know where the day has gone. No sooner had I eaten breakfast it seems than darkness fell. 2 Congratulations, you’ve just won $10 million in a competition. If you can just let me know your bank details, we’ll transfer the money into your account right away. 3 I am going to send in an application for a job that I think is perfect for me. The only issue is that the deadline for applying was three weeks ago. Do you think I should still give it a try? 4 I can’t believe you got on the plane so close to take-off; you almost missed the flight completely. 5 Well, it’s 6 pm and we’ve been here since 9 am, I know the job isn’t finished yet, but do you think we finish off there? 6 Your phone battery lasts for under an hour, the screen is cracked, and the camera doesn’t work, have you thought about getting a new one? 7 I was supposed to start doing my homework two hours ago, but I’ve wasted this time getting distracted on social media. I’ll never get the tasks finished before the deadline now. 8 I keep practising the guitar every day for hours, but I just don’t seem to be getting any better. 9 There are 30 seconds remaining in the match, and the team has the ball in their own half, can they get one more chance to level the game. 10 I’ve been waiting for you for half an hour, and now we’ve already missed the start of the film Discussion Questions 1 Were you born yesterday? 2 Describe something that you managed to accomplish in the nick of time? 3 What is it high time that you did? 4 In what situations does time fly by most quickly? 5 What can you do to most effectively make up for lost time?

Extended speaking tasks

Describe your daily routine. What time do you do these activities?