Idioms & Expressions:

late bloomer (noun; someone who does something later than most other people do)

He didn’t have a girlfriend until he was 23. He was a late bloomer.

shrinking violet (noun; someone who is shy)

He is a shrinking violet and got really nervous in his meeting with the boss.

stop and smell the roses (verb; means to relax and enjoy yourself)

Life is very busy, but don’t forget to stop and smell the roses.

face to face (adjective; describes meeting someone in person)

Let’s have a face-to-face meeting next week to talk about the project.

heart to heart (noun; an honest conversation)

I had a heart to heart with my brother and we discussed our problems.

one on one (adjective; to have a conversation with just one other person.)

I met with her one-on-one to avoid any miscommunications.

Part 1: Class Discussion

1. Do you like to have flowers in your home?

I don’t know. I’m a guy and I don’t really think about flowers.

2. Where would you go to buy flowers?

Well, there are flower shops all over the place. In Hanoi, you can visit the flower market in Tay Ho to get big bouquets of flowers for cheap.

3. On what occasions would you give someone flowers?

For Mother’s Day or for anniversaries. And I guess for birthdays and graduations as well.

4. Are flowers important in your culture?

I have no idea – I don’t really think about flowers or buy flowers. I assume most women like to receive them for special events though. I think this is very common in many cultures.

Part II: Individual Presentations

Describe a meeting you remember going to at work, college or school. You should say:

• When and where the meeting was held
• Who were present at the meeting
• What the topic and agenda of the meeting were

Part III: Group Discussion

1. What are the different types of meetings that people often go to?

If you go to work, you have to go to meetings all the time. The type of meeting depends on your job.

2. Some people say that no one likes to go to meetings – what do you think?

Most people don’t like to go to meetings, because they think they’re a waste of time.

3. Why can it sometimes be important to go meetings?

In case you need to receive important information that can’t be conveyed via phone or email.

4. Why do you think leaders often have meetings together?

Leaders do this so they can communicate and avoid misunderstands and solve complicated problems.

5. What possible difficulties might be involved in organizing meetings between world leaders?

I think there are security concerns at that sort of meetings. International summits are extraordinarily difficult to pull off, I hear.

6. Do you think that meetings between international leaders will become more frequent in the future? Or will there be less need for world leaders to meet?

I think this is a silly question. I don’t see any reason for the frequency of meetings between leaders to change at all in the future. Face-to-face communication is and always has been important.