6.1 THE TIME OF MY LIFE

What are the advantages and disadvantages of being the ages in the box?

Milestones of my life: 11; 15; 21; 31; 55; 65.

Choose three questions that interest you and discuss them in pairs.

Are eighteen-year-olds too immature for university? At what age does a person have the maturity to make a decision about marriage or a career? At what age is a person elderly?

What do you think it means to "peak early"?

have success at an early age, and then lose it.

What do you think it means to be a "late bloomer"?

someone who finds what they're good at and possibly has success in it relatively late in life.

In the photographs, who do you think are late bloomers? Who peaked early?

late bloomers: Ang Lee, Colonel Sanders, Cervantes; peaked early: Wang Yani, Nadia Comaneci, Jocelyn Lavin.

In which of these fields is someone more likely to peak early: acting, singing, writing, sports, business?

sports ("Sports are particularly biased towards youth...")

One author says that sometimes a late bloomer seems to be a failure. Why do you think this is?

Malcom Gladwell is talking about the period before the late bloomers finds success, when they seem to be struggling and getting nowhere.

How do these change as one gets older: freedom, obligation, expectations? What is an exemple of each?

The article gives examples of:

freedom

first when you're allowed to do things on your own in childhood,

obligation

the teenager who has to do her homework and come home before 10 o'clock.

expectations

the 30-year-old who is obliged to work hard, doesn't feel successful, but meanwhile pretends he is successful because he feels it's expected.

What timeline and milestones do you think society sets out for you?

go to university; buy a house; get married; have children; retire

Do you feel pressured by this, or is it not a problem for you?

I think I'll be expected to... People tend to... It bothers me that...

to fade away

to gradually disappear

struggle to do something

to try very hard to achieve something difficult

achievement

something good and impressive that you succeed in doing

failure

when someone or something does not succeed OPP success

wherever

in any place

breakthrough

an important new discovery or development

stamp

a particular quality in something or someone, or a quality in something that shows it was done by a particular person or group of people

Are most of the people you spent time with your age or a different age? Why?

Personal answer.

How is your generation different from older or younger ones? What sort of misunderstandings or conflicts can this cause?

Personal answer.

Is the "generation gap" greater or smaller than it used to be? Why?

Personal answer.