Opinions on Xmas and New Year liberal and conservative views discussion

Opinions on Xmas and New Year liberal and conservative views discussion

Use phrases from below to give your opinions on the end of year and beginning of the new year and see if your partner agrees. 

Suggested topics

• Alcohol
• Changes
• Charity/ Charities
• Children
• Commercialism/ Materialism
• Decorations
• Entertainment
• Families
• Food and drink
• Gifts/ Presents
• Giving/ Generosity
• Globalisation/ Americanisation
• Imported…
• Multiculturalism
• Music
• Parties
• Religion
• Shops/ Shopping
• Spending
• Superstitions
• The environment
• Traditions/ Customs
• Young people
• “The Xmas spirit”

 

Suggested opinions phrases

• Changes in… are inevitable and so we should just accept them.
• I can’t bear (modern)…
• I don’t agree with…
• I don’t like changes in…
• I don’t mind if people… (but I wouldn’t do it myself).
• I don’t see any reason to change…
• I embrace/ welcome the changes in…
• I miss the… when I was a child.
• I object to (the new)…
• I prefer traditional…
• I think that it would be a shame if… disappeared/ became less popular/ died out/…
• I think that people have the right to… if they want to.
• I think… is (rather/ completely) inappropriate.
• I think that the changes in… are a positive thing.
• I wouldn’t agree to…
• I wouldn’t complain if people…
• I’d like to complain to someone about…
• I’m (really/ really quite) offended by…/… offends me.
• I’m against (the new)…
• I’m open-minded about…
• I’m upset by…
• It doesn’t matter whether people… or not.
• It’s nobody else’s business if people want to…
• More needs to be done to maintain…
• People should be discouraged from…
• People should be free to… (if they want to).
• The government shouldn’t allow…
• We should preserve…
• We should just accept…
• People should be allowed to express…

 

When discussing the topics above, did you share views which were more conservative/ disliking of change and liking traditions) or more liberal/ progressive/ accepting of changes and difference?

Are your views on other topics generally more conservative or generally more liberal/ progressive?

Label the opinions phrases above with C for conservative or L for liberal.

Check your answers as a class.

Did you mainly use conservative or liberal phrases during the initial speaking task? Does that match how conservative or liberal you think you are?

 

Suggested answers

Most of these are debateable, so please check if you labelled them differently.

• Changes in… are inevitable and so we should just accept them. – L
• I can’t bear… – C
• I don’t agree with… – C
• I don’t like changes in… – C
• I don’t mind if people… (but I wouldn’t do it myself). – L
• I don’t see any reason to change… – C
• I embrace/ welcome the changes in… – L
• I miss the… when I was a child. – C
• I object to… – C
• I prefer traditional… – C
• I think that it would be a shame if… disappeared/ became less popular/ died out/… – C
• I think that people have the right to… if they want to. – L
• I think… is (rather/ completely) inappropriate. – C
• I think that the changes in… are a positive thing. – L
• I wouldn’t agree to… – C
• I wouldn’t complain if people… – L
• I’d like to complain to someone about… – C
• I’m (really/ really quite) offended by…/… offends me. – C
• I’m against the new… – C
• I’m open-minded about… – L
• I’m upset by… – C
• It doesn’t matter whether people… or not. – L
• It’s nobody else’s business if people want to… – L
• More needs to be done to maintain… – C
• People should be discouraged from… – C
• People should be free to… (if they want to). – L
• The government shouldn’t allow… – C
• We should preserve… – C
• We should just accept… – L
• People should be allowed to express… – L

 

Conservative and liberal views discussion

Choose a topic below and give your views on it. Listen to your partner’s opinions. Discuss it as long as you like, then say who you think is more conservative and who is more liberal on that topic (and who is in the middle if there are three people). Does your partner agree with your ranking? 

• Changing the education system
• Changing this country’s writing system
• Children born out of wedlock
• Children having mobile phones
• Classical music
• Divorce
• Immigration
• Mergers with foreign companies
• Multiculturalism
• Online dating
• Punishments and rehabilitation for criminals
• Same-sex marriage
• Sex and violence in movies
• Swearing on television
• Technology in schools
• Traditional dress
• Traditional food
• Using modern music in school music lessons
• Younger politicians