Welcome to
Week 2
www.britishcouncil.org
www.britishcouncil.org
•Discuss success and failure
•Practice and develop our listening skills
•Analyze some vocabulary in context
•Practice the vocabulary
www.britishcouncil.org
How would you define success?
How would you define failure?
Are both necessary?
www.britishcouncil.org
Work with a partner and discuss the following:
What do you consider one of your most important successes?
What do you consider one of your most challenging failures?
What lessons have your learned from your successes and failures?
(page 40) You are going to watch a TED Talk by Richard St. John called Success is
a continuous journey. Read the text about the speaker and the talk. Then work in
pairs and discuss the questions.
1. What words do you think might be on Richard St. John's list of eight words to
summarize success?
2. Which things could make businesses succeed or fail? Make a list.
3. Are the things on your list outside factors, or are they part of the business itself?
www.britishcouncil.org 5
RICHARD ST. JOHN describes himself as 'an average guy' who found success doing
what he loved. He spent more than a decade researching the lessons of success and
says he can summarize them in eight words.
Richard St. John's idea worth spreading is that success should be thought of as a life-
long journey rather than a one-way street, because the moment we think we've
reached success, we may stop trying altogether and may fail.
www.britishcouncil.org 6
www.britishcouncil.org
Exercise 2 (page 41) Read the sentences (1–6). The words in bold are used in
the TED Talk. First guess the meaning of the words. Then match the words with
their definitions (a–f).
www.britishcouncil.org
Answers
a. a powerful feeling of love passion
b. to attend to the needs of someone serve
c. to concentrate focus
d. to show drive and determination push ahead
e. to keep trying, to not give up persist
f. the inability to make or invent something new creative block / writer’s
block
www.britishcouncil.org
-
Exercise 3a (page 41) Look at the Authentic listening skills box. Then listen to
the beginning of the TED Talk. Write down the words you can remember.
Exercise 3b (page 41) Work in pairs. Compare your words with your partner.
Did you write the same words? Then listen again. Did you hear more words
than the first time?
The words we heard: success / reach / get there / sit back / comfort zone / fail /
downhill / one-way street / stop doing / big reason / that happened to me
Script: Why do so many people reach success and then fail? One of the big reasons is, we
think success is a one-way street. So, we do everything that leads up to success, but then we
get there. We figure we’ve made it, we sit back in our comfort zone, and we actually stop doing
everything that made us successful. And it doesn’t take long to go downhill. And I can tell you
this happens, because it happened to me.
www.britishcouncil.org 10
Exercise 1 (page 42) Watch the TED Talk. What does Richard St. John talk
about? Choose the correct option (a–c).
What does Richard St. John talk about?
a. the things he did right
b. the things he did wrong
c. both the things he did right and the things he did wrong
www.britishcouncil.org 11
Answers
What does Richard St. John talk about?
a. the things he did right
b. the things he did wrong
c. both the things he did right and the things he did wrong
www.britishcouncil.org 12
Exercise 2 (page 42) Watch the first part (0.00–1.39) of the talk again. Match
the things Richard St. John stopped doing (1–5) with the reasons (a–e).
www.britishcouncil.org 13
Answers because he thought …
He stopped … a. he should do things a company
1. pushing himself c president should do
2. trying to improve b b. he was good enough
3. doing things that lead to ideas d c. he'd made it and he could relax
4. focusing on clients and projects e d. ideas should just come to him
easily
5. doing what he loved a
e. spending his money was more
interesting
www.britishcouncil.org 14
Exercise 3 (page 42) Watch the second part (1.39–3.08) of the talk again. Put
the events (a–e) in order.
www.britishcouncil.org 15
Answers
Answers
1- d
2- a
3- e
4- b
5- c
www.britishcouncil.org 16
Work with a partner
www.britishcouncil.org 17
When you have a lot of money you can lose the sense or purpose in your life ☺
I agree. I think money is important but is not the most important purposal = purpose
I think happiness is more simple =simpler than we imagine
Money can make it more easy =easier the things = money can make things easier
If you buy a toy, the kid will be happy ☺
I heard another TED talk that/which said that …☺
When you find your passion, you will do anything for it. ☺
Health is important because if you are health you can…
Pronunciation
Passion ˈpæʃən
Cycle ˈsaɪkl
www.britishcouncil.org 18
focus ˈfəʊkəs
