talking about MALE & FEMALE ROLES

The topic of the differences and similarities between women and men always sparks heated discussions in the class, especially if the class is gender diverse. My usually scheme is to use this topic in the conversation stage of a lesson with higher level as a follow-up to introduction of gender appropriate language, e.g. using words such as "a police officer" or "a firefighter" instead of "a policeman" and "a fireman". What I'm sharing today is an activity that aims at both the discussion and contrasting opinions in a single sentence, so the usage of WHEREAS, WHILE and ON THE OTHER HAND. Enjoy.

GRAMMAR PRACTICE
Introduce the concept of using contrast in a sentence with expressions such as WHEREAS, WHILE and ON THE OTHER HAND.

Whereas
Summers in the Mediterranean are hot and humid whereas winters are mild and pleasant.

While
Babies rely heavily on their parents while teenagers tend to be rebellious.

On the other hand 
Extroverts are very open about their feelings, introverts on the other hand keep emotions to themselves.

VIDEO
Students will watch a video contrasting women and men in the following categories:
* coming home
* speaking
* watching a romantic movie
* business trip
* on a diet
* date at 20:00
* discussion
* travelling
* seducing
* to the toilet
* handbag
* shopping
* ideal partner

The teacher stops the video after each sequence and encourages the students to form contrasting sentences,
e.g.
Women cry at romantic movies whereas men sleep.
Men talk in straight while women beat about the bush.
Whenever a man is travelling he's only packing the essentials, a woman on the other hand always travels with excess baggage.

Get some feedback from the video section asking the students whether they believe the animation tells the truth or exaggerates. Let them give their own contrasting ideas on the subject of male and female.

DISCUSSION POINTS

• What are some typical jobs for men and women in your country?
• Is it typical for women to join the military in your country?
• Is it typical for men to be teachers in your country?
• Generally speaking, what do women tend to be better at than men? Why?
• Generally speaking, what do men tend to be better at than women? Why?
• What are the roles of men and women in your society?
• In what ways, do you think, the world would be different if more world leaders were women?
• What does a woman need to do to be considered attractive in your country? What do men have to do?
• Do you see yourself as a typical man or woman?
• What are the responsibilities of a father?
• What are the responsibilities of a mother?
• Are fathers capable of carrying out the duties of a mother and vice versa?
• If all of the men in the world disappeared, what would it be like?
• If all of the women of the world disappeared, what would it be like?
• Can a man and a woman be only friends?  
• Do men/men friendships differ from women/men or women/women friendships? How? 

PAIN vs. ACHE

There's  a slight difference between the words PAIN and ACHE. Both are most commonly used as nouns which describe an unpleasant sensation or feeling of discomfort usually associated with illness. But are they actually same?

There are some slight differences between those two words.

• ACHE is a feeling of a rather long term discomfort; not sharp enough to call it PAIN. Since it's persistent you may try to ignore it or get used to it. Also, ACHE usually forms compound nouns with body parts, i.e. a headache, a toothache, a backache

e.g.
Weather changes always give me a headache.

• PAIN is often short-lived, sharp and difficult to ignore. It's also more localised. It does not form compound nouns with body parts but rather goes like this: a pain in the leg, a pain in the neck or a leg pain, a neck pain.

e.g.
After falling off the stairs I felt a massive pain in my ankle.

Now look at the difference:
When you cut your finger you feel pain.
In next few days you may have ache in the wounded finger.

Both words are also verbs. However TO PAIN is most commonly replaced with TO HURT.

e.g.
Whenever I spend few hours in front of a PC, my eyes ache terribly.
Your unjust remark pained me. (Your unjust remark hurt me.)