123 Create a timeline of yourself at different ages (e.g. six to 90 years) and consider major points of personal growth and change. At what age do you believe you were/will be your most curious/serious/beautiful/educated/patient/ fun/stressed out etc.? Give reasons for your expectations. Present your timelines in small groups, then compare them. Are your expectations similar to those of your classmates? Expand your vocabulary: Personal growth Read the text about life and personal growth. Make sure you know what the highlighted expressions mean. SPEAKING 3 a Becoming who you are b LANGUAGE 4 a Being imperfectly perfect As with many other issues, personal growth is a topic which can be seen from radical standpoints. Should you accept yourself for who you are, or does that mean that in the long run you’ll become complacent? Should you strive for self-optimisation and constantly work on improving yourself, thereby potentially pressuring yourself into burn-out or depression? Where is the middle ground, and how can you grow as a person without overdoing it? Consider the following tips for a healthy relationship with yourself. Forgiveness: Everyone makes mistakes every once in a while, and so will you. Don’t beat yourself up about them, but try to be thankful for these teachable moments. Compassion: In a tough situation, ask yourself, “What advice would my best friend give me?” and act accordingly. Being your own best friend might help you in the long run. Self-awareness: You probably have a good knowledge of your own strengths and weaknesses. Being aware of them and allowing them to exist will help you better deal with problems in the future. Breaking free: We all know how we are supposed to act and think, in accordance with society’s values. But your ideas might be a little different. So what? Sometimes you simply need to be true to yourself and swim against the tide towards you own personal happiness. Use five of the highlighted expressions to write sentences in which you give advice to young people on how to make themselves really unhappy. What do you think of self-improvement and self-acceptance? Talk to a partner. Listen to a podcast episode about the growing number of British people who change their names. What reasons for these changes are mentioned? Make a list. Which of these reasons make sense to you? Why? Discuss in small groups: 1 Would you change your first or last name? If so, what would you change it to? 2 What other aspects of yourself would you change if you could? 3 What aspects of yourself would you never change? b SPEAKING 5 LISTENING 6 a 22 b SPEAKING 7 Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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