1. How to be happy in love
2. How to manage your worries
3. We’re not meant to be happy all of the time
(Combined Time: 8.00 - various British accents)
“just because we are not happy, doesn’t mean we are unhappy” - James Rhodes | Concert Pianist
BBC Ideas Beta is a platform for short, factual videos. The platform is organised by topic and have several videos on the happiness and issues related to happiness.
These three videos talk about very different aspects of happiness: How to be happy in love, how to manage your stress, and the danger of making happiness your life goal.
STRATEGY: Ideas Beta videos are very short, which means they are great for English language learners. They also include subtitles and sometimes highlight key words in the subtitles to help you focus your attention in the right place. Follow the steps below when watching
- Watch one video in full, without stopping.
- At the end, try to remember or summarise the main points of the video.
- Watch again, pausing when you don’t understand key vocabulary.
- Record the vocabulary that interests you.
Start with these videos and then explore BBC Ideas Beta for other topics that interest you.
4. Choice, happiness and spaghetti sauce (17.30 - canadian accent)
“In embracing the diversity of human beings, we will find a surer way to true happiness.” - Malcolm Gladwell | Journalist, author and speaker
TED Talks are a great way for English learners to engage with English and have many playlists on happiness. In this particular TED Talk, Canadian journalist Malcom Gladwell talks about the connection between choice, happiness and the food industry and offers an interesting lesson on happiness and spaghetti sauce.
Gladwell describes the research undertaken by Howard Moskowitz in the 1970s for companies such as Pepsi and Nestle to identify what makes consumers happy. In the 1980s, Moskowitz was given an even bigger task – find the best spaghetti sauce for Americans. Moskowitz’s innovative approach to testing food and finding out exactly what people want was the first step in American food producers moving away from authentic Italian style sauce and developing dozens of sauces targeting American tastes.
STRATEGY: TED talks are great for learners for many reasons, but the two most important features for English learners are the subtitles and the interactive transcript.
1. Decide for yourself if you want to watch the video with or without the subtitles. There is no right or wrong decision. Watch in a way that is comfortable for you.
2. While you are watching the video, it is important that you always ask yourself if you understand what Gladwell is saying.
In the first part of the presentation, Gladwell describes Moskowitz’s research for several American food brands. After each section, summarise to yourself what Moskowitz did for that company.
Pepsi: 01:38 – 03:42
Vlasic Pickles: 04:44 – 05:11
Campell Soup / Prego: 05:11 – 09:21
3. Later, Gladwell describes the three lessons Moskowitz taught the food industry.
Lesson 1: We cannot always explain what we want (09:31 - 11:04)
Lesson 2: The democracy of taste (11:04 – 12:43)
Lesson 3: There is no universal taste (13:18 – 16:07)
4. Use the transcript to check your understanding and to help you identify difficult words or phrases. Record the language that is most useful for you.
5. Enjoy more TED Talks on the topic of happiness through their video playlists.
