Man and Society

Man and Society

Talk about:

– Social problems
– Good and bad manners – dobré a zlé spôsoby
– at home and in society – doma a v spoločnosti
– when we travel – pri cestovaní
– table manners – správanie pri stolovaní
– Teaching good behaviour – učenie dobrému správaniu
– Communication in society – komunikácia v spoločnosti

1. Social problems

There are many social problems:
– Alcoholism - alkoholizmus
– Drugs and drug addiction – drogy a drogová závislosť
– Homelessness - bezdomovectvo
– Criminality and violence – kriminalita a násilie
– Poverty – chudoba

Homeless people - I am sorry for homeless people because they have nowhere to live – we can help homeless people, for example we can buy a magazine called Nota Bene. This magazine is sold by homeless people and it gives them a chance to earn some money for better life.

When we want to help homeless people, we can also give them some food, clothes or give money to organizations or to charity – these organizations can help them.

2. Good manners start at home. At home and also in society people should/should not:

– a man and his wife should not argue in front of their children because they give a bad example to them => people shouldn’t argue in public – they should say their opinions politely. If people argue, they should do it in private.
– We shouldn’t talk when other people are talking – it is polite to wait until they say what they want to say and then we can give our opinion politely.
– We should greet our guests when they come for a visit to our house – we should say “hello” –  we should offer them a cup of coffee or something to drink, offer a snack and so on.
– We should answer if somebody greets us (when somebody says “Good morning”, “Hello”) –  a man should greet a woman first, a younger person should greet the older person first.
– We should say “please” and “thank you” often
– We shouldn’t make comments about disabled people, racial comments…
– If we make a mess, we should tidy it up – we shouldn’t throw rubbish on the street…
– We should apologize when we make a mistake => we should say:

– I’m sorry. – Prepáč/te. Je mi to ľúto.
– I apologize. – Ospravedlňujem sa.
– Excuse me, could you ...– Prepáčte, mohli by ste... (ak niekoho vyrušíme pri nejakej činnosti) => for example: Excuse me, could you tell me the time, please?
– Pardon? – Prepáčte? (ak nerozumieme alebo potrebujeme, aby niekto niečo zopakoval, pretože sme ho nepočuli alebo neporozumeli.)

When we travel:
– we should let older or disabled people and pregnant women or mothers with young children sit down
– we shouldn’t smoke or drink on the bus / train …
– we shouldn’t be noisy – listen to loud music, laugh too loudly, make loud phone calls because it disturbs other passengers
– we shouldn’t argue with other passengers

Table manners:
– we shouldn’t spit out the food
– we shouldn’t talk when our mouth is full of food
– we should use a knife and a fork for eating
– when we are in a restaurant, we shouldn’t be noisy

3. Children can learn how to behave well:

a)  at home – parents should give their children a good example at home. They must look after them and teach them what is good and what is bad. They shouldn’t let them do everything their children want to do. They should talk to them and explain if they have a problem. Sometimes parents punish their children but the punishment should always be adequate.

b) At school – teachers must also give students a good example. At school students can have lectures organized by the school about how to behave on a bus/a train, in a restaurant, when we go to a party…

c)  At special institutions – some institutions organize courses where people can learn how to behave well in society – how to eat, drink, talk politely, how to ask woman for a dance and so on…
 
– Communication in society

We talk differently to different people:

a)  When we talk to our parents and friends – we use informal language and slang. When we are angry, we sometimes argue with them and sometimes we even shout. When we talk to our friends or parents we can chew a chewing gum. When we meet our friends, we usually say “Hi!”

b)  When we talk to our teachers – our communication is more formal. We usually don’t use slang words and we shouldn’t argue or shout at our teachers because it is rude. When a teacher comes into a classroom, students should stand up, because it is a way how we greet teachers in Slovakia and it is polite. When we meet our teachers, we usually say “Good morning/afternoon/evening!”