I love to laugh and have fun. Serious topics with dark tones are okay every once in a while, but for the most part I try to keep the topics light and happy. This is a great lesson that will put students into a good mood and can probably be used in conjunction with my Jokes for ESL Class lesson.
This can be used as a whole class lesson for small classes, but I recommend breaking students into groups of three or four when at all possible. This article is pretty straight forward so you can either go over the article together and then split them up after or split them up right away and have hem take turns reading the article out loud to their individual groups.
I usually ask students this one question before handing out the following exercise. “How many minutes a day do you usually laugh?” Then hand out the paper and begin the class.
Koreans Laugh 1.5 Minutes a Day
Koreans laugh 10 times a day, and for 8.6 seconds each time, a straw poll by the brand management team of the SK Group has found. Polling 500 people aged between 20 and 50, the survey finds that Koreans laugh for an average of 90 seconds per day. Assuming that a person lives for 80 years, the figure roughly translates into 30 days of laughing for 80 years of life. Among 500 respondents, nine, or 1.8 percent, said they never laughed.
But average Koreans spend three hours and six minutes per day worrying about something, or more than 10 years out of the 80-year lifespan. Women tend to be more worried than men as they spend three-and-a-half hours compared to men’s two-and-a-half. According to age, young people tend to be more apprehensive; those in their 20s spent three hours and 15 minutes worrying, those in their 30s three hours and seven minutes, and those in their 40s two hours and 50 minutes.
The poll also showed that Koreans spend an average of 6.7 hours sleeping, or 22 years out of 80, and eight hours, or 26.6 of a lifetime working. Eating and drinking took an average of 2.6 hours per day, or nine out of 80 years. Women tend to spend 20 minutes longer eating and drinking than men.
Discussion Questions
1. How do you think you would answer on these questions? How many minutes a day do you laugh? Worry? Sleep? Eat? Drink?
2. Why do you think women worry more than men?
3. What do you worry about?
4. What kinds of things make you laugh? Slapstick? Animation? Other people’s pain?
5. Do you find it strange to laugh at something like “Happy Tree Friends?”
6. How can you bring more laughter into your life?
7. If you know a funny joke, tell your partner.
8. _______________________________________________________________
Did Your Students Laugh?
I hope this class gave you a chance to share some laughs with your students and allowed them to share a laugh with each other. As always, leave me a note in the comments below to let me know how this class worked for you. If you have any other ideas feel free to share them.
I will be starting a guest post soon in which I post articles or interviews with some of our fellow teachers. If you’d like to contribute, you can email me at Jim@TeachingEnglishisFun.com
Jim
