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Tag Archives: multitasking

Colorful club meetings

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Zsombor
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The TAKE FIVE club seems to be working at full blast with an average of ten visitors a week. One month ago we almost broke the record of that particular night when we had a headcount of seventeen people in the room. We had to stand on a chair to handle the situation.

At the beginning of the season we made a big change by introducing the colored envelopes. Instead of obstinately sticking to one topic, we form small groups and each group draws a random topic from the hat. Every topic goes around the room to avoid boredom and embarrassed glances toward the exit. This way we can cover a wide range of interesting issues from the world of dreams through street scams to the iCloud scandal. The organizers arm in arm with British scientists are working day and night to fine-tune this new method until we win the Best English Conversation Club award.

envelopesSo far we have discussed seven topics from the hat, but we keep adding new ones every week. Remember that you can recommend a topic anytime. You just need to send us a short description with a few thought-provoking questions, and if we find it suitable for a club session, we will drop it into the hat.

Let’s not forget about games either.lastletter Two sessions ago we played that Activity-like game in which we write words on cards and two teams have to describe them in various ways. Last time we tried to catch murderers by bringing back Alibi. We are proud to announce that the stocks have been refilled, so we bought the Last Letter game, which promises plenty of fun for future club meetings.

You have five chances to visit the club during this season, so don’t hesitate. And finally, a piece of important news: If you would like to take part in a two-day intensive English course and you also have an inexplicable liking for the TAKE FIVE organizers, you have a rare opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. The last weekend of November is the time, but you can read more under Angol kurzus.

Check our Facebook page for the latest event. See you next week!

Posted in Previously On Take Five | Tagged account, Alibi, club, course, envelopes, Last Letter, meeting, multitasking, session, Take Five, topic hat | Leave a reply

Computers and Liars

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Zsombor
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The weary club organizer was trying hard to keep his eyes open on that particular Thursday evening. An endless amount of coffee and the Tom-and-Jerry-like matches in the eyes technique combined would not have been enough for success. “Be strong. Don’t break under the weight of the exam period.” said the voice within. A group of ten people gathered to discuss a few questions regarding computerized education, and also try out a new game together.

It is beyond doubt that with the arrival of the 21st century computers have invaded the area of education. So much so that in certain parts of the world (for example the States), childen do not even visit the schools personally. They stay at home, sit down in front of their computers, and cover the material online, using some educational software.

Embed from Getty Images

Although CNN education contributor Steve Perry says (video below) these online classes are based upon social networks, that is, students are actually in contact with their fellows or the teachers, the obvious question still arises: is this way of studying advantageous from the perspective of social life? Besides, Balázs came up with the question of motivation, conjuring up the following scenario: when we have to take an oral test in class, we are surrounded by our classmates while the teacher is standing in front of us. In that case, we are under pressure in a sense, and this pressure must affect our motivation. When it comes to online classes, this factor is out of the game.

There are, of course, many things in favor of online studying. One of the advantages would be that parents can monitor their children’s learning process more easily. There is much less miscommunication between the school and the parent. What’s more, children cannot really accuse any of their teachers of being unjust, asking something in the test that wasn’t covered, and so on.

We all agreed that, regardless of the presence of computers in education, the idea of replacing teachers with them in the long run is way too farfetched. Computers prove to be useful in many cases, but there are certain human factors that they won’t be able to substitute for – at least that’s what we think today. On a personal note, as long as we cannot have a realistic conversation with a computer chat bot, like Cleverbot, we can’t expect machines to take the place of flesh and blood teachers.

We wound up playing a hilarious game. It’s called “Poker Face” and it requires its players to become professional liars. Five cards are dealt to each player. In turns, we put one card on the table face down and tell a story of ourselves. If it is a black card, the story has to be true, but if it is a red one, the story has to be made-up. The point is to make everyone believe all our stories while we get rid of our five cards. In case we are not convincing enough and they become suspicious, they have the option of challenging our story. If it turns out to be made up, we have to start all over, picking up all our cards from the table.

Fannipoker

Club organizer and part-time magician Fanni pulling off a poker one night. A few months later she reenacted her trick with the same hand. Investigators are baffled.

Although the rules needed some fine-tuning in the beginning, everyone seemed to enjoy the short stories and fun facts, and most of all the surprise that some of us are indeed professional liars.

We have good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that June 5 is the last club meeting this season. The organizers deserve a bit of vacation, too. The good news: we are taking a break so that we can refresh our brains and collect our brilliant ideas for the next season. As always, we have quite a lot of plans for making the club better. Don’t forget that the final event will be held at a different place, as CD-FŰ closes for the summer on the last day of May. Come to Erzsébet tér, we’ll be gathering by the pool around 6.

Check out the schedule and join the event on Facebook. See you next week!

Posted in Previously On Take Five, Through My Eyes | Tagged account, child-rearing, childhood, club, computers, education, family, meeting, multitasking, Poker Face, session, social network, Take Five | Leave a reply

Organizers on their period

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Zsombor
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dontalwaysWe exactly know how you feel, my friend. As we announced earlier, the entire crew were going to disappear due to the forthcoming exam period. We have immaculately fulfilled this promise. We nonetheless forgot to inform you about the future. ‘Cause we do know the future.

On the last Thursday of June, the mighty organizers of the club will emerge from the depths of the red haze and regain their human shapes. Thereafter, you will be able to enjoy FOUR sessions in a row before Take Five goes on vacation. There will probably be some changes from the next season. Stay up-to-date!

Here’s a brief recap of the last two meetings:

May 9th: The Hipster Paradox

Cartoon-hipsterWe talked about a proliferating subculture that has recently arisen from its ashes: the hipsters. Who are they? A community whose goal is to stay away from everything that is considered to be mainstream. They aim to avoid being under the influence of popular culture. However, they seem to overlook a teeny-tiny detail that immediately defies the whole concept: they desperately fight against everything that is popular, which ironically results in being under control of the society. This phenomenon has been wisely named the hipster paradox. We made an attempt to figure out its underlying social aspect.

We discussed the questions of fashion, and finally talked in groups of two about our clothing habits.

May 16th: The Myth of Multitasking

multitasking

We listened to an 18-minute long NPR interview. “How long can you go without checking email, or glancing at your smartphone? Clifford Nass, a psychology professor at Stanford University, says today’s nonstop multitasking actually wastes more time than it saves—and he says there’s evidence it may be killing our concentration and creativity too.”

Many people claim that they are capable of multitasking, but is it really multitasking? We shared our experiences with each other, and concluded that real multitasking is quite rare. Our minds are basically adjusted to deal with one thing at a time.

We would gladly take your comments on both topics.

Posted in Previously On Take Five | Tagged account, club, experience, hipster, meeting, multitasking, music, NPR, session, social network, subculture, Take Five | Leave a reply
The next session of the spring season:February 15, 2023
11 days to go.

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