Why I don’t believe in coincidences? I was walking around in the city with Nóra before the club meeting. No sooner had we reached Vörösmarty square than we heard somebody playing the trumpet. It was a middled-aged woman. We were standing meters away from her, and I said to Nóra: ‘I wish she played Take Five.’ When she finished, I walked up to her and dropped some coins into her box. We exchanged a smile, but not a single word was spoken. I turned around and went back to Nóra. That was the moment when the woman began to play Take Five. How is that possible? She had surely been playing for a while, and when we got there, she started playing the music I wanted to hear. On top of that, it was Thursday afternoon.
Tag: experience
Facebook me!
Last week we began with a TED talk recommended by Nóra. In her 20-minute long presentation, Sherry Turkle talks about how social networks have changed relationships and the way we shape our self-image. The witty title Connected, but alone? suggests that even though we are able to get in touch with a huge number of people via the net, it isn’t necessarily the way out of solitude. As a matter of fact, it might have the opposite effect.
Zoli reflected on the presentation in detail by giving a speech offhand. He pointed out that it’s not the technology that influences social behavior, but the way we use it. He says that a weak-minded person or somebody who is inherently socially awkward will easily fall victim to virtual reality. It is up to us to keep it under control. You will be able to read more in his upcoming post.
After discussing how much time we spend socializing online, we attempted to collect the pros and cons with regard to social networks. Among the most useful features are organizing groups or events. The advertising potential of these sites are also worth mentioning. In addition to inviting all your contacts to check out your new page, you have the possibility to invest money into advertising. You can even narrow down your target audience based on age, gender, or anything.
The most irritating downside is obviously the loads of spam we encounter on these sites. Besides constantly receiving requests from friends (asking to vote on their pictures or videos for a contest), we come across the most malicious invention of the internet: hoax – scientifically doubtful writings that warn us about the dangers of butter, or fake solicitations with stock photos… and the list goes on forever. Unfortunately, people don’t take the trouble to look them up on sites specializing in scams and hoaxes, just carelessly click on share.
We finished our discussion with the question “Have you had any unpleasant experiences with online communication?” The most frequent answer was related to the previously mentioned socially awkward people who act totally differently behind the screen and in person.
We will keep pursuing exciting and controversial topics. Check our Facebook page for the latest event.
Religious matters
Last week we decided to raise a rather sensitive topic to find out how far we can go. Based on a thought-provoking article, we set the goal of discussing all the possible aspects of religion.
“The False Equation: Religion Equals Morality”. However obvious this message might seem, it served as a perfect debate starter. Before diving into the matter, we took a piece of wise advice from Balázs, that is, we should primarily distinguish between faith, religion and the church. We subsequently formed groups of two and started approaching the topic from numerous perspectives. Besides commenting on the article, we collected a bunch of reasonable questions.
- What is it like to be raised on the Bible?
- Do you attend a religious service on a regular basis?
- If so, what does it give to you?
- Is there a difference in terms of moral values between a religious and a non-religious person?
- Have you ever encountered an extreme situation with regard to religion?
(E.g. someone tried to convert you in a sly manner.) - Is it possible in the 21st century to live our lives following the “rules” of the scripture?
The last one was brought in by Enikő. She recommended an article about A. J. Jacobs, a man who decided to live one year of his life according to the Bible. We could even take a look at his book The Year of Living Biblically.
Although the topic was meant to be provocative, the tone of the conversations stayed moderate all along. Everybody seemed to be cautious and respectful.
In the remaining hour we continued to play Alibi.
Day one: Back on track
Ladies and Gentlemen, we proudly announce that we have successfully re-launched the world-famous and highly acclaimed TAKE FIVE – English Language Club! After endless months of dire anticipation, the club has eventually regained its strength and emerged from the swamp of oblivion.
May 17th, 2012. This was the day of the last meeting that was followed by a break, more than half a year long.
What was the reason behind the shutdown? After months of grueling work, I realized that I no longer had the capacity to run the club all by myself. I found that the only way to continue was to recruit at least one co-organizer who could even take over the club in case of my absence. Fanni was the first to take this position, although we didn’t manage to restart the club during the previous semester. Then came Zsuzsi who also offered to play an active role in organizing.
Three people proved to be enough to pull the chairs together, plug the stereo in, and start Take Five.
It was a euphoric feeling to walk along the way up to the room. I stopped in the center and slowly looked around. Everything seemed as if we’d never left. The chairs rested along the walls. The two lamps, the stereo and the good old cardboard box were also awaiting us. What’s more, we found the legendary red metal box with a considerable sum of money in it. I did a little shopping while Fanni got ready to receive the early birds.
To my surprise, quite a number of people had already gathered when I arrived with the bags. The clock soon struck six and nothing but English could be heard thereafter. Despite my predictions, the session went seamlessly with a total of 12 visitors. We will keep advertising the club both online and on street posters. The latter is “on the drawing board”.
The show must go on. See you next Thursday!
TAKE FIVE — English Language Club 