Subject areas - Society and Living Standards

Society and Living Standards
How do you think your current lifestyle and living standards compare with that of your parents?
Should unemployed people get state benefits?
What is in-fashion at the moment for men and women?
Is immigration a problem in your country?

vocabulary
get better, get worse, go up, go down, increase, decrease, poverty, to deserve, look for.

Living Standards
Nowadays lifestyle has changed a lot, concerning all aspects.

This is mainly due to a continuous progress of technology, who let us to do things in less time. In addition in Italy customs between young people has changed in the last few years: while when our parents were young they enjoyed spending time out with friends, we prefer spending our spare time watching television, staying at the computer or playing videogames. Concerning school I can say that in my country teaching methods have changed, my parents always tell me that their teachers are more demanding then mines, even if I attend a grammar school too.
I think that unemployed people should get benefits from the state, because the number of people without job is growing every year. The important aspect is that nowadays you need more abilities to work than the ones you needed 50 years ago.
I am not very keen on fashion, but I know that the colours in fashion are pink for man and light blue for women. In spite of that, I don’t like pink clothes and I don’t wear them, so I can consider me a not in fashion person.
Immigration is a very great problem in my country, in fact due to its geographical position in the world, Italy has been invaded for years by a lot of people from other countries. The majority of people comes from African countries, but there are even a lot of Asian people and even Europeans, mainly Albanians and Romanians. Politicians have recently start some campaigns to limitate the immigration flews. After all, Italy is a small country and can't host a lot of people.

Personal values and ideals
In my opinion the most important personal values are loyalty and fidelity. These values have been given me by the school but the majority of them by my family. I believe a lot in the unity of the family and in familiar traditions, for example we love spending time together even with my grandparents. When I was young, I have been living for about six years in their house with my parents and after my family moved to a bigger town, my grandparents came and stay with us every day. About my ideals, I can say that I would like to be a good citizen, I would like to have a family with children in the future, and finish my studies with good marks to find an employment soon.

The world of work
In Italy there are many unemployed people and the matter is becoming bigger and bigger among women and young people. There are areas of my country in which there are less possibilities of finding a job, for example south regions as Sicily, Calabria and Campania. In fact in these regions there is plenty of organized criminality with phenomenons as mafia, camorra, andrangheta, brought by Italians all over the world. Many humble jobs in Italy are made by immigrants because Italians don’t want to do them anymore but there are political parties which don’t want immigrants in the country, such as Lega Nord. Many graduated students don’t find a job and this causes a migrations of the best young brains abroad in the countries in which research is more developed, and, if they rest in Italy, their wage will be lower than they should earn in other countries. A few young people are not sure if they will continue working or soon they’ll lose their places.

Supernatural
There is no absolute scientific proof that beliefs in religions exist, yet people belief in them anyway. Why should the paranormal be different? Just because no one has found scientific proof yet, doesn't mean it doesn't exist? At one time, people believed the world was completely flat, and it was finally proven to be round; just took time.
It appears the whole world is going paranormal in a sense as the skeptics come up empty handed.
You can talk about ESP extrasensory perception and all it's abilities, I believe it's related to paranormal experiences. How they usually work with one another.
Ghost and spirits, ectoplasm (the substance that enables manifestation), the theories of how a residual haunt happens, the many dimensions, like steps to heaven, developed psychic powers, intuitive insights... In this vast universe we have millons of unexplained phemomenon and celestial events that no one can explain. No argument this is a trueism. Compared to the age of earth we are infants born just a second ago. Our tiny minds cannot comprehend what
wonders surround us nor can we ever know all there is to know.
The supernatural is that which is above the natural. Of course there is no scientific evidence, because current science lacks the technology and theory sufficient to the task. Its a matter of experience. Some people filter all experience through logic, math, science and reasoning. It is their loss. But they are free to do it. Know that their self-imposed limitations aren't binding on anyone but themselves. The paranormal is real, as my experience has shown to me, but its rare, which is a good thing. It's easy to say that what hasn't yet been proven scientifically is just imaginary, but that's flawed. The earth, for instance, existed before humans even existed, let alone before they could observe it scientifically. Saying something doesn't exist, because there is no proof, doesn't make it not exist.
Our perception as humans is limited. We must understand there will be unexplainable phenomenons occurring due to ignorance of the situation. We do not need to invoke the supernatural because there is no evidence of the supernatural.

National environmental concerns
One of the most amazing problems in my country now is the waste material disposal,mainly in the city of Naples,always broadcasted on television news.This city produces a lot of rubbish but it can’t destroy them,probably due to criminal organizations in the area.But in Italy there are even many other issues on environment.For exemple recently we have had a referendum about nuclear power because a part of Italian government wanted to build nuclear centrals to provide energy.The majority of Italian people voted against the nuclear because even if this type of energy can be provided in great amounts, it can damage the environment like in japan a few months ago.In addition in Italy the price of petrol always grows and the eolic energy or the energy provided by the sun aren’t developed enough. Another problem to considerate is the one of Italian rivers or seas,more and more polluted and very at risk.If Italian see will be polluted,we will assist to the damage of beaches.

Public Figures Past and Present
Tell me about someone well-known who you admire.They can be dead or alive.
Are footballers worth the money they're paid?
Are all politicians corrupt and self-seeking?
Tell me about a famous artist who has influenced you.
Does your country have any famous historical figures? What did they do?

Vocab: legend, despot, hero, mastermind, genius, villain, bad guy, to achieve, to be successful, to contribute, to disgrace

A person I admire is the president of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano. When he talks he always make good reflections about the actual and difficult situation of our country, and I admire him because he’s quite old but in spite of that he never gives up and always try to solve the difficult problems my country faces every day such as immigration or unemployment.

In my opinion, the distibuction of wages isn’t at all fair. Footballers for example are paid too much, and there are some clever people who can’t find a job, even if they have studied a lot.

About politicians I can say that in Italy politicians are very corrupted and even our prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi has been involved in some recent scandals.

A famous artist I particularly love is Lorenzo Jovanotti, an Italian singer who has tried in his career lots of different kinds of music. I love very much the lyrics of his songs, often dedicated to a girl, as the ancient poets did. Someone considers him as a poet.

As a famous figure I should mention Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was the man who united Italy in XIX century.