English Conversation Course

    Pre-distribution prognosis   It’s been a tough year for humanity, but, with two COVID-19 vaccines rolling out, 2021 might look much better different. That'll all depend on how the rollouts go, but with few vaccines launching and even more being tested there is finally a cause to be optimistic about this year.   In less than a year, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna conducted clinical testing, submitted their programs to the FDA and won emergency authorizations. The U.K. approved the Pfizer shot Dec. 2, and limited vaccinations started the following week. European regulators just this week signed off on the Pfizer shot.   But winning an FDA authorization isn't the finish line. It'll be a monumental challenge for to distribute the vaccines and administer shots to hundreds of millions of people as COVID-19  continues to spread apace. Current vaccination situation Cumulative COVID-19 vaccination doses administered per 100 people, Jan 18, 2021 As of January 14, ju...

Hogwarts Legacy is a New Open World Game in the Harry Potter Universe During the PS5 Showcase presentation, Warner Bros. announced their new project in the Harry Potter universe. Fans of the famous wizard can explore witchcraft and wizardry at Hogwarts School in the new Hogwarts Legacy open-world action-RPG adventure, slated for release in 2021 on PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X. Hogwarts Legacy is an addicting open-world action RPG set in the Harry Potter universe. Embark on a journey across new and familiar locations, explore and discover fantastic beasts, customize your hero, create potions, master spells, improve talents and become a real wizard. Hogwarts Legacy takes place at Hogwarts in the 1800s. The main character is a student who possesses some ancient secret capable of splitting the magical world into pieces. It's up to you to decide whether you will defend this secret for the greater good or succumb to the temptation of more sinister magic. Avalanche Software an...

 Have you ever talked to someone who talked about something with greate passion but after he stopped you really didnt know what he was talking about? And i dont mean that he said something hard to get. I mean that he just literally was speaking about nothing. But even thought he talked about nothing you couldnt stop listening to this person because the way of speaking was so great that it sounded like he knows a lot of the things that he is talking about. If you havent met that kind of person yet now you have an oportunity. 1. Do you think he has a talent to talk about nothing or its precisely prepared ted talk? 2. Do you like to listen him talking? 3. Do you think its hard to prepare the presantations these days? Maybe some points or tricks in the video may be used to make regular presentation more interesting to listen.

  K2, Czogori (Chinese simplif. 乔戈里 峰 ; Chinese. Trad. 喬戈里 p; pinyin Qiáogēlǐ Fēng; 8,611 m above sea level) - eight-thousander, the highest peak of the Karakoram, the second highest peak on Earth. It is located on the border between China and Pakistan. https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/K2#/media/Plik:K2,_Mount_Godwin_Austen,_Chogori,_Savage_Mountain.jpg January 16 will go down in history of world Himalayan mountaineering. On that day, at 5 p.m. local time, K2 the second highest mountain in the world, the only one not yet climbed in the winter season, was defeated. This was done by 10 Nepalese Sherpas who earn their living working for foreign teams during their expeditions to this majestic and most dangerous mountain. Usually, they are not people who climb for sport, but who help the railing, that is, they lay ropes and other facilities for climbers who plan to reach the peaks of the highest mountains.  https://theconversation.com/on-everest-climbers-pay-to-take-risks-while-...

How video games turn players into Storytellers Have you ever watched a film or read a novel, wishing that you could change the narrative to save your favorite character?  Game designer David Cage allows you do just that in his video games, where players make decisions that shape an ever-changing plot.  In a talk and live demo, Cage presents a scene from his new project, letting the audience control a character's decisions. "Interactive storytelling can be what cinema was in the 20th century: an art that deeply changes its time" - Cage says. Sources:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XowcxCYbug0 Questions: 1. Have you ever heard of a term like storytelling in games? 2. When watching movies / TV series / cartoons, did you want to change the actions of the characters or the events that take place? 3. You have played or heard of games that feel more like watching a movie than playing a game?

I would like you to share your thoughts on microbiology. For the purpose of starting a conversion I would like you first to watch this short video.  If you enjoyed it, I encourage you to watch Apple's take on this kind of shows. "Tiny World" has the best footage of macro animals ever.  Link to the show:  Tiny World . Questions: 1. Do you like shows about nature? What aspect of nature interests you the most? 2. Do you feel empathy to the smallest creatures like insects? Or do you slap bugs with no remorse? 3. Seems like Demodex mites live on everyones face. How does that make you feel? Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBPFCvEhv9Y&t=93s https://tv.apple.com/us/show/tiny-world/umc.cmc.1sid6bqjoez4sxonuulq12af7

Accuracy and quality of AI models created in last decade, improved significantly. Every month researchers publish interesting papers about things that most people could not imagine being than by computers.   The video below describes and visualize results of the AI model which can design tax system that balances productivity with equality. Questions: 1.       What do you think about inequality of current tax systems in most countries? Should the tax rates be increased for most wealthy people? 2.       If the effective AI model designed to manage economy of the whole country would be created, would you choose the politician who wanted to implement it?  3.       Do you think that it is safe to make an AI the decision maker responsible for well-being of millions of people?

About 12,000 years ago humans abandoned hunter-gatherer lifestyle and started to build first permanent settlements, this big change in people’s lifestyle led to the world we live in today, where large population lives on a small area, rarely changing their location. Nomadic lifestyle became a niche and persisted only in couple of tribes in the most remote places of the world. But as quality of life increases and globalization leads to loss of cultural attachment, more and more people are trying different lifestyles. In the last 30 years, the new trend emerged between technology workers who had the privilege of working remotely and grew when more and more of tech companies allowed working from home. The trend can be simplified as: traveling the world, working remotely and changing your location whenever you want. People living this kind of lifestyle are called digital nomads. https://www.pixartprinting.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/digital_nomad.png Digital nomad lifestyle is ce...

  3D Printing. What is it and how does it work? What is 3d printing? By definition, it's simply creating 3d models from generic rolls or bottles of material. Athough its so much more. There are extremely different technologies, materials and ways to 3d print. Basically process of 3d printing is based on providing digital 3d model  and recreating it in real world, bit by bit.  I'll try to answer all basic questions in this article. What are main 3d printing technologies? First and most popular one is FDM: Fused Deposition Molding. It's the cheapest and simpliest one (so it helps with it's popularity). Basically, as soon as you provide 3d model (digital one), it get's sliced into horizontal layers (as printer prints layer by layer), and then printer is melting plastic from a spool and placing it on heatbed (the base for your 3d printed model), layer by layer. There are of course lots and lots of materials to work with: ones with higher heat resistance (ABS),...

Is there a future for TV?     Over twenty five years ago people already started to think that the end of television was close. However, it’s 2021 and we can still hear that prediction, even though television is still alive. To answer the question of this article, it is necessary to take a look at this topic from a different point of view.    Natalia Hatalska, a blogger at hatalska.com and a creator of Infuture Institute, worked on creating a report about the future of television. It is a collective piece of work prepared by UPC (a Polish media provider) and OMD (a marketing agency). Studies described in this report present three key change factors such as: social, economic and technological (AR, VR, 5G technologies). The research resulted in the analysis of the consequences of these changes. Needs and expectations of the youngest generations concern interactivity, easy access to content, immersive viewing and multiscreen. Economic aspects of the change can be seen i...

  Why people think they can't draw? As an absolutely the worst painter around, I've been intrigued with the very idea contained in this video. What if the problem of my "ugly drawing" isn't something that I have to live with, but something I can change? I actually did the video paintings (as instructed) and I'm pretty amazed with the result. Questions: -Can you draw nicely? Did you learn how to paint by yourself or joined classes? -What do you think about this video? Does this method look reasonable? -Did you try to paint as the speaker said so? How did it looked in the end? If not, what do you think would be better for bad painters?

 How to avoid pressure?  People can struggle at doing tasks under pressure. There is even a theory that our performance suffers when our thinking is distracted by worries, doubts, or fears. It affects our focus in  a negative way which causes worse performance.  This video explains how pressure may affect us and how to avoid it.   1. Do you have those kinds of struggles when pressure occures?  2. Can you handle performing under pressure? If you are able to do this, can you explain how you approach these situations?  3. Which common activities in your life are the ones that put you in stressful position?

  Have you ever watched cabaret? I’m pretty sure, that everybody had this opportunity. Since I remember, cabarets in Poland have a lot of fans. “Ani Mru Mru”? “Kabaret Moralnego Niepokoju”? Yeah, it sounds pretty familliar. Of course, cabarets have considerable group of haters, who say that level of embarrassment during the show is overwhelming. Finally, there is alternative – Stand up! Łukasz Lotek Lodkowski https://s.redefine.pl/dcs/o2/redefine/cp/qt/qtxiv2tjhx388tq3q2j669jwef8hn8r4.jpg Ani Mru Mru https://krynicazrodlemkultury.pl/wp-content/uploads/amm_2017.jpg Stand Up in Poland is relatively new, first Stand Up shows had place more or less 10 years ago, around the World this kind of show is more common. Abelart Giza is generally recognised for waymaker. His first show, during polish comedy show “Stand up. Zabij mnie śmiechem", gained huge group of fans. People were delighted, they had alternative for cabarets. Popularity of Stand up in Poland is growing rapidly. Abelart Giza ...

  Our voice can either conceal or reveal our emotions. During the speech, your tone of voice is as important as message, even excellent speech will be a total flop if your voice starts to quiver. The video shows how much voice says about you.   Have you ever had situation when your voice started to quiver? If so, what kind of situation was it? Have you heard before about vocal folds’ “extra” duties? Do you pay attention to your interlocutor’s tone of voice?