I'm kind of cross-posting this from my journal to reach a broader audience. Sorry!
I'm teaching an advanced English conversation class this summer. It's 5 weeks long, 5 days a week, 2 hours a day. That's actually more time with them than I teach each class during regular semesters--quite intense! And I can choose any topic I'd like.
So my topic? "Exploring 'Enough': Life Optimization via Deliberate Living." Basically Mustachianism 101, but not packaged as a preachy early retirement course. In fact, since they're mostly unemployed university students, it wouldn't make too much sense to try to get them to start planning for retirement.
HOWEVER, I think it's a wonderful idea to have students discuss things like: getting enough sleep, getting enough exercise, making spending count, time spent watching TV or playing video games, how much stuff is enough?, transportation options (Korea has great public transportation), desired career and salary, status symbols, healthy diet, travel, and community.
I'd like to share things with them like "The Time You Have (in Jellybeans)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOksW_NabEk,
http://100happydays.com/,
http://theproject333.com/, something about the Tiny Home movement, and the Fulfillment Curve from YMYL
http://foundryintheforest.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/fulfillment-curve.png Maybe even throw in an article from MMM and ERE for a discussion about early retirement. I'll monitor their reactions throughout the course.
So--open call for suggestions. Any neat resources you think would work for this course? It's a conversation class, so short video clips and short articles are best. The students' level is "advanced", so I'm hoping they're pretty comfortable with English. I'll know better once I meet them.
Summer 2014 Advanced English Conversation
Exploring “Enough”: A Look at Deliberate Living
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
--Henry David Thoreau, American author
In this advanced conversation course, we will explore what it means to have or be “enough.” We will discuss different lifestyle choices, including: spending habits, early retirement, amount of possessions, consumption of resources, sustainable living, status symbols, health, free time activities, and social relationships. This class’s goal is to encourage thoughtful living and questioning the status quo—in English!
Week 1
June 23-27 What is “enough”?
Week 2
June 30-July 4 Spending habits
Week 3
July 7-11 Consumption of resources
Week 4
July 14-18 Health
Week 5
July 21-25 Social relationships