121: What if you are the opposite of your friend?

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Questions about the Video File:

  1. What are friendships based on?
  2. How can an opposite friend help you?
  3. What is the downside of having opposite friends?
  4. How can you resolve an argument with an opposite friend?
  5. Why do you need to compromise?

General Questions:

  1. Do you tend to pick friends who are similar to you or those who are opposite? Why is it so do you think?
  2. To what extent are you similar to or different from your best friend?
  3. How often do you argue with your friends? What do you usually argue about?
  4. What do you do to handle your disagreements with your friends?
  5. If you had the opportunity to make friend with anyone, what type of person would you pick? Why?
  6. Do you consider yourself a good friend? When was the last time you did a favor for your friend?
  7. If you could change one thing about your best friend, what would it be? Why? Have you ever told him/her so?

 

Related Quotes:

“A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself”. Jim Morrison

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” F. Scott Fitzgerald

Related Idioms and Expressions:

  • When the going gets tough: when a situation becomes hard
    • She is a true friend, you can trust that she remains in your side when the going gets tough.
  • For the sake of sth/sb: because of, for the purpose of
    • Do it for the sake of friendship. You know that your friendship is too valuable to be ruined by a simple mistake.
  • Be two sides of the same coin: to be very different but related
    • Love and hate are two sides of the same coin.

 

Related Words and Phrases:

To be into sth (n) to be interested in something

  • She’s really into jazz. She goes to lots of jazz concerts every year and she buys almost every new jazz album.

Comfort zone (n): a situation in which you feel comfortable and you are not in danger or under pressure

Conflict (n) disagreement between people caused by having different ideas.

  • There has always been a conflict between Mary and her mother. They are always arguing about everything.

Turn into (ph v): change something into another thing

  • Turn your fears into motives. They can encourage you to take action.

Resolve (v) to find a solution for a problem

  • You need to resolve your problems with Mr Rayan before you start a new project with him.

Frustrated (adj) feeling irritated especially because you couldn’t get what you wanted

  • She was really frustrated when she found out she couldn’t get the job because of her poor qualifications. .

Genuinely (adv) really; truly

  • She was genuinely sorry for braking his promise, one could hear it in his voice.

Dash (n) a bit; a little; a small amount of something

  • I need a little salt in the soup. A dash of salt will make it perfect.

Crucial (adj) very important; vital

  • It’s crucial to take care of your health when you are young and strong.

Step back (phv) to stop being involved in a situation for a while to think about it more  

  • You need to step back from your work problems and give them a rest. Think about new ways to handle them later.

Composed (adj) calm and in control of your feelings

  • Surprisingly she stayed composed during the debate and didn’t lose her temper.

Appreciate (v) to understand the value of something and praise it

  • You must learn to appreciate art, it can be really enjoyable to understand art.

Grounded (adj) logical; reasonable

  • Teenagers are hardly ever grounded, they normally dream about everything and are not really realistic.

Considerate (adj) if you are considerate you care for the other’s feelings and ideas

  • She’s not very considerate, she says whatever comes to her mind without regarding their feelings.

Compromise (v) to decrease your demands in order to achieve an agreement  

  • You can’t simply get all you want, you have to compromise on some issues.

 

 

Related Collocations

Mutual interests (v) an interest that you share with someone else

  • Skiing was their mutual interest. They both enjoyed it very much.

Offer of conversation (n) to suggest someone to talk about an issue, especially a problem in order to resolve it

  • She made an offer of conversation to find a solution for their free time problems. They talked about finding an activity which they both liked.

Do the talking (v) to talk

  • Let’s go to Maya together, I’ll do the talking. I know how to convince her to come with us.

 

Please leave a response to the following question as a comment: 

What do you do to handle your disagreements with your friends?