An only child is a happy child, says research (Bullying)

An only child is a happy child, says research

Source: www.speakup.com.br

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. Natalie Portman once said: I” would never have been an actress if I hadn’t been an only child, because my parents would never have let me be the star of the family at the expense of another child.* it turns out that, in terms of the advantages of life without brothers and sisters of life without of the advantages of life without brothers and sisters, she was on to something.

One of the widest-raging research projects on family life conducted in Britain has revealed that the fewer sibling’s children have, the happier they are – and that only children are the most contented.

BULLIES

The findings, shared exclusively with The Observer, suggested that “sibling bullying” could be part of the problem, with 31% of children saying they are hit, kicked of pushed by a brother or sister “quite a lot” or “a lot.” Others complain that siblings steal their personal belongings and call them hurtful names.

The figures are the first to emerge from Understanding Society, a study tracking the lives of 100.000 people in 40.000 British households.

·         Seven out of 10 British teenagers are very satisfied with their lives.

·         Children from ethnic minorities are on average happier than their white British counterparts.

·         Happiness declines the more siblings there are in a household.

INSULTS

The findings are based on in depth questionnaires completed by 2.500 young people. th questionnaires were analysed by Gundi Knies from the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex where the Understanding Society study is based. She suggested factors such as competition for the parents attention or the fact that toys, sweets or space need to be shared Knies also painted to other data within the study on sibling bullying 29, 5% of teenagers complain that brothers or sisters call them “nasty names” “quite a lot” or “a lot”, while 17,6% say their personal belongings are taken away from them.

STRESS

Professor Dieter Wolke of the University of Warwick, who carried out the work on tensions between brothers and sisters, said: “More than half of all siblings 954%) were involved in bullying in one form or the other”. Although there is also evidence that indicates that siblings sometimes support each other, he warned that children who faced bullying both at home and in the playground were particularly vulnerable to behavior problems and unhappiness.

Woke did not study the impact of such tensions on parents, but added. “From anecdotal reports, quarrelling siblings increase stress for parents and some      just give up intervening. Others intervene inconsistently, leaving the field wide open for the bully sibling.”

REFEREES

Siobhan Freegard, the co-founder of the website Netmums who has three children, said that many mothers felt like “referees” after their children reached a certain age and started quarrelling with their brother and sisters.

She questioned whether the findings on happiness were linked to the fact that children were desperate for parental attention. “With three children, it is three lots of dinner, three lots of washing, and three lots of driving to after school activities, so you do get less time for each. I like to think they are getting benefits in other ways,” said Freegard.

She said the findings would come as a relief to the parents of only children who often felt guilty about the lack of brothers and sisters.

SOCIABLE

Freegard discussed the issue recently with her friend, Tanya Honey, who has one child, a daughter. Honey admitted that her daughter, Geemma, seven, recently wrote “a baby” on her shopping list. “but friends always point out that she is a really happy child. When we go on holiday she is brilliant at making friends and if there was a brother or sister perhaps she wouldn’t be, because she would rely on them,” added Honey.

While the findings seem surprising, experts say there are clear reasons why more siblings could reduce happiness. Dr. Ruth Coppard, a child psychologist, said “in an average home the more children, the less privacy, for each child. Some love sharing a bedroom with a sibling but they would rather choose to do it than have to do it. There is competition for parental time.”

PERSONAL SPACE

Parent line Plus, a charity that offers support to parents, regularly receives calls about sibling rivalry “Families do report concerns regarding high levels of conflict among siblings and the stress that this can cause, but the import thing is to try to help and support families find more effective ways of dealing with this problem,” said Alison Phillips, director of policy and communications.

She has several tips for parents including ensure children have a special place for their belongings, insist they ask if they want to sue something owned by a sibling and show firmly that you do not approve of bullying behavior. 

The charm and joy of “Festa Junina”

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Popular Culture

The charm and joy of “Festa Junina”

Festivities in the month of June are part of the rich and beautiful Brazilian culture

   June is one of the most special months of the year. It is at this time that Brazilians enjoy typical country food and drink, such as corn-based sweets and savory dishes, and drinks such as quentão. During this month people celebrate the three June saints:  Saint Antonio, Saint John and Saint Peter. All over the country, schools, churches, companies, entities and city halls organize their own events. For the festival to be good, it has to recallthe country culture and be held in a space known as an “arraial” or “arraiá”. In this place tents are put up where typical country food and drink are sold. The “arraiá” can also have bonfires, greased poles (pau-de-sebo) and a lot of people dressed in country outfits.

The tradition from the Northeast

In many places in the country, mainly the Northeastern cities, the Festa Junina is more popular than carnival.  The festivals held in Campina Grande (Paraíba) and Caruaru (Pernambuco) are the most famous and attract tourists from all over the country. 

The three June Saints

The 24th is one of the most celebrated days in June. On this date Saint John’s day is celebrated, who is thought to be the most fun-loving saint. The date best remembered by single women is the 13th, when Saint Antonio’s day is celebrated, the “marriage saint”.  The official date for the ending of the June festivals is 29th June, Saint Peter’s day, who is known as the guardian of the gates to heaven and the protector of widows.

Vocabulary

1 joy – alegria

2 enjoy – desfrutar

3 corn-based sweets and  savory dishes – pratos doces e salgados, à base de milho

4 entity – entidade

5  City Hall – prefeitura

6 to be held – ser realizado

7 tents are put up – barracas são armadas

8 bonfire – fogueira

9 country outfits – trajes caipiras

Speak up in Class Macaulay Culkin

Language level: Pre-intermediate

Standard accent: American accent

Speaker: Chuck Rolando

 

Macaulay Culkin became a movie start when he was 10. In 1990 he starred in Home Alone. The film made $ 285 at the box office in the United States. Macaulay only received $ 100.000, but two years later, in Home Alone 2:  Lost in New York, he received $ 4,5 million. Two years later he starred in Richie Rich and his salary was & 8 million. He was “the biggest star since Shirley Temple.” But Richie Rich was a flop and, after other flops, Macaulay Culkin stopped acting. He also hadproblems with drugs. He married Rachel Miner when he was 18, but they divorced two years later. Macaulay’s career seemed finished, but today he is acting again.

MY FRIEND MICHAEL

The recent death of Michael Jackson has shown that the adult life of a child star can be tragic. Macaulay Culkin was a good friend of Michael Jackson and he is the godfather of his son. Macaulay once said: “Michael’s still a kid. I’m still a kid. We’re both going to be about eight years old forever in some place because we never had a chance to be eight.”

DAD

Like Michael Jackson, Macaulay had a difficult relationship with his father. His father, Christopher Culkin, was also a child actor. He later became Macaulay’s manager, but he wasn’t a good one: today they don’t talk. When Christopher separated from Macaulay’s mother they went to war over their son’s money. Macaulay’s mother, Patricia Brentrup, won.

COMEBACK

Macaulay didn’t work between 1994 and 2003. In 2003 he played Michael Alig in Party Monster and in 2004 he acted in the bizarre comedy, Saved! He also worked ontelevision and he has found happiness in his private life: he is a relationship with actress Mila Kunis. Today he seems happy. He has an estimated fortune of $ 17 million, so he doesn’t need to work!

Source: SPEAKUP MAGAZINE

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? MACAULAY CULKIN (A2) – Issue 280

GETTING STARTED.

TASK 1. Speaking. With your partner(s) discuss these questions.

a) Do you remember Macaulay Culkin? Who is/was he?

b) Why was he famous?

c) How old is he now?

d) Where do you think he is now and what is he doing?

e) Are there any famous “child actors” in Brazil? Give examples.

LISTENING

TASK 2. Prediction. Before you listen, discuss these questions with your partner(s). What are the correct answers? If you don’t know, guess.

1. Was Macaulay Culkin rich when he was a child?

a. Yes

b. No

c. Not sure

2. Did he have a good relationship with his family?

a. Yes

b. Only the mother

c. Only the father

3. How is Macaulay Culkin today?

a. Rich and unhappy

b. Poor and happy

c. Rich and happy

TASK 3. Listening for Specific Information. Listen (without reading) to all of the recording and answer the questions from TASK 2:

Check your answers before completing the reading TASKS.

READING

TASK 4. Prediction #2. Before you read all of the article, discuss the possible answers to these questions with your partner(s). Make some notes.

a)    How old was Macaulay when he made “Home Alone?”

b)    How was “Richie Rich” different from “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2”? (2 reasons)

c)    What does Macaulay have in common with Michael Jackson?

d)    What does Macaulay have in common with his father?

e)    What did Macaulay do between 1994 and 2003?

TASK 5: Reading for Specific and Detailed Information: Read all of the text and answer the questions to TASK 4.

K.E.T. EXAM PRACTICE

(Paper 1: Reading and Writing Paper, PART 7)

TASK 6.

Complete this letter.

Write ONE word for each space (41 to 50)

Dear Peter

I hope you are well.

I'm (41) _____ holiday in the USA.

I’m staying in (42) ____ small town by (43) ____ seaside with an American family. They are very nice.  Last week my friend and (44)  ____ went to  (45) ____  beach and we saw the famous actor, Macaulay Culkin.  Do you remember (46) ________? He  (47) ______  in the movie “Home Alone.”

Have you seen (48) _____ ?

What about you? Have you got (49) ______ plans?   (50) ____  are you doing tomorrow?

Best wishes

Michael

WRITING

TASK 7. Write a short answer to this question.

“Is it morally correct to encourage children to be actors or singers? Why (not)?”

www.manythings.org/voa/people

Jessica Tandy, 1909-1994: She Performed in More Than 100 Plays and Movies

I'm Shirley Griffith. And I'm Rich Kleinfeldt with the Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA.

Today, we tell the story of Jessica Tandy who died in nineteen ninety-four. She won many awards for her acting during the almost seventy years she performed.

(MUSIC)

Jessica Tandy probably is best known for winning an Academy Award in nineteen eighty-nine for the movie "Driving Miss Daisy. " She was the oldest person to have won the award. But for many years, she had received praise for her great performances.

Tandy appeared in more than one hundred stage shows, twenty-five movies and on many television programs during her sixty-seven years of acting. Most of her performances were in the United States, although she did not become an American citizen until nineteen fifty-four.

Jessica Tandy was born in London, England in nineteen-oh-nine. Her father died when she was twelve years old. Her mother taught and took other jobs at night to make extra money for her three children.

Jessica's older brothers showed an interest in the theater. They would put on shows in their London home. Jessica said later that she was terrible in all of them. But she said taking part in those plays as a child created a desire in her to be someone else.

Jessica loved going to the theater. And she loved British writer William Shakespeare. Years later, she acted in many of Shakespeare's plays, with great actors like John Gielgud and Lawrence Olivier.

This love of the theater led her to attend an acting school in nineteen twenty-four. When she was eighteen years old, she performed in her first play. It was called "The Manderson Girls." She did not earn enough money to pay for the five different dresses she had to wear in the play. She solved the problem by sewing them herself.

(MUSIC)

Jessica Tandy always thought she was plain-looking. So did most theater professionals. She said people in the theater knew she was a good actress, but did not believe she was pretty enough to be a success. She noted that they said: "She is plain but on the stage she looks all right. "

Pictures of Jessica Tandy do not suggest that this is true. She just looked different from the leading women actors of the day. Later, she said that it was good that she was not considered pretty. She said she got more interesting parts that way.

In nineteen thirty-two, critics in London recognized her great acting skill in her performance in the play "Children in Uniform." That part gave her what she said was one of the moments she loved most in the theater. She said at one performance, people watching were so moved they continued to sit quietly when the play ended.

That same year, she married actor Jack Hawkins. They had a daughter, Susan. Tandy continued to work in the theater in London. By nineteen forty, her marriage was ending. So she took her daughter and moved to the United States to escape World War Two. In New York City, she met a young actor named Hume Cronyn. Two years later they married and moved to Hollywood. By nineteen forty-five, they had two children.

In California, Hume Cronyn was getting good parts in movies. But Tandy was not. She got only small parts, when she got them at all. She said the producers in Hollywood did not take her seriously as an actress. She began to feel like a failure.

Jessica Tandy was considering not acting anymore. But then her husband did something that changed her life. He gave her the lead part in a play he was directing in Los Angeles. It was "Portrait of a Madonna" by Tennessee Williams. She played a lonely woman. Critics praised her.

Tennessee Williams came to Los Angeles from New York just to see her in the show. He said later that he knew he had found the actress to play the lead in his new play, "A Streetcar Named Desire. "

That play opened in New York in nineteen forty-seven. Jessica Tandy, Marlon Brando and Kim Hunter were the stars. It won a Pulitzer Prize and many other awards. Tandy won the first of her four Tony awards for best actress in a play. One director said that she was full of surprises. He said that she always did things better than expected.

(MUSIC)

During the nineteen fifties, Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn began working together in theaters in New York City. Their first appearance together in a major Broadway theater was the hit play "The Fourposter. " Through the years, they appeared together in nine other plays on Broadway, including "A Delicate Balance," "The Gin Game" and "Foxfire. " Their last Broadway appearance together was in "The Petition" in nineteen eighty-six.

Tandy also worked with her husband in local theaters across the United States. They liked doing it because they had a chance to play parts in the older well-known plays.

In nineteen sixty-three, for example, Miss Tandy played Gertrude in Shakespeare's "Hamlet," Olga in Anton Chekhov's "The Three Sisters," and the wife of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman." She also acted in plays in the Shakespeare festivals in Stratford, Connecticut and in Stratford, Ontario, Canada.

Jessica Tandy said she hated seeing herself in the movies. She said she never was as satisfied making movies as she was working in the theater. But she thought it was important to accept the acting jobs that were offered. It helped pay expenses when she performed in small theaters for less pay.

Tandy played Hume Cronyn's wife in four movies during the nineteen eighties, including "Cocoon" and "Batteries not Included." In nineteen ninety-two, she played an old woman in the movie, "Fried Green Tomatoes. " But she never really thought of herself as a movie actress. Perhaps that was because of her experience earlier when she was not accepted in Hollywood.

Even after her success in the play "A Streetcar Named Desire," Hollywood producers did not choose her to be in the movie. Vivien Leigh replaced her in the part of Blanche Dubois. Tandy said she was surprised when she won the Academy Award for "Driving Miss Daisy." She said then that the wonderful part she had made up for her lack of experience in movies.

(MUSIC)

Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn were married for fifty-two years. During their years of acting together, they won almost every cultural award possible. In nineteen eighty-six, they won the Kennedy center lifetime achievement award. In nineteen ninety, President George Bush presented the National Medal of Art to them. A few months before she died, Tandy and Cronyn were honored with a special Tony Award for their work in the Broadway theater.

Reporters always were asking them how they were able to work so closely together for so long. Tandy said they never discussed their work at home. She said they always honored each other's ideas if they did not agree about something.

(MUSIC)

Jessica Tandy suffered from stage fright that became worse as she grew older. It made her feel sick before a performance. Yet her husband said she was at her best when she was working. She was in great demand as she grew older. Tandy took good parts and bad ones. She always said a person is richer for doing things. If you wait for the greatest part, you will wait a long time and your skills will decrease, she said. You cannot be an actor without acting.

Tandy was an actor until the end. She had problems with her eyes and her heart. Yet they did not slow her down. In nineteen eighty-eight, she won an Emmy Award for a television movie of the play "Foxfire. "

Three years later, Jessica Tandy had a cancer operation. But she continued working. She did not let her pain lessen the effectiveness of her performance. She appeared in more television movies in the years before her death. And she made several movies that were released after she died September eleventh, nineteen ninety-four. She was eighty-five.

Jessica Tandy said as an actor her job was getting the best out of what the writer expressed in the play or movie. The critics said she did. They said she always was able to show deep meaning in the people she played. One critic wrote that she was such a good actor that only poets, not critics, should be permitted to write about her.