Learning a foreign language means more than just acquiring a second language for communication purposes. Language and culture reflect one another. By studying a certain language, the learner also gets to grasp the culture where the language is spoken. Another advantage of learning a foreign language is understanding other people’s feelings. Understanding other people’s feelings is about identifying the speaker’s emotions to interpret the intended message accurately. It comes with understanding not only one’s message but also the intention behind it.

Today, English is the most common second language spoken in the world. Learning a foreign language can give two major benefits–first is learning about cultures, second is understanding people’s feelings.

Let me talk about the benefit of learning about cultures. When studying a foreign language, we also learn something about the culture behind it. Let’s have idioms as an example. Idioms are expressions that have another meaning aside from their original definition. Their origin is often based on the local customs where the language is spoken. For example, the idiom “know the ropes” means to know how to do a particular task. It began in the 19th century during the golden age of sailing where knowing how to handle the ropes is essential to operate a ship. This idiom is still in use even until now.

As for understanding other people’s feelings, it is said that people who can speak two or more languages have stronger intellectual abilities. Imagine that a foreigner in your country is asking for directions. As someone who understands other people’s feelings, you don’t only try to understand him through words. You also try to identify his emotions, so you understand him on a deeper level.

Studying a foreign language can widen a person’s perspective on various cultures. It also develops understanding of other people’s feelings which is essential when communicating in a foreign language.

The professor is talking about the benefits of learning a foreign language, the topic mentioned in the passage. According to the passage, learning a foreign language means more than just acquiring a second language for communication purposes. The professor gives two examples of the benefits of learning a foreign language. The first point in the passage is that language and culture reflect one another. The professor explains that the learner also gets to grasp the culture where the language is spoken because idioms are often based on local customs. The second idea in the passage is that learning a foreign language helps students develop an understanding of other people’s feelings. The professor states that people who can speak two or more languages have stronger intellectual abilities. He says that people who understand other people’s feelings don’t only try to understand others through words. They also try to identify others’ emotions, so they could understand them on a deeper level.

Laughing is essential to people as it is one of their ways to express their emotions. It also helps them feel better since it improves their mood. Another reason why people laugh is to communicate with others. It helps them build relationships. According to a study, laughing is associated with human interaction. In fact, people laugh for about 30 times more when they are with other people as compared to when they are alone.

In today’s lesson, we will be discussing the reasons why people laugh. Laughing has always been a huge part of people’s lives; they can’t go on a day without it. People laugh to express their emotions. They usually laugh when they hear funny jokes or when they are being tickled.

However, people do not only laugh because of funny jokes, but they also laugh to communicate. People laugh for about 30 times more during conversations with their family and friends. It is their reactions to statements and comments. In social interactions, people laugh to display some sense of belongingness. It is a way to show the people around them that they understand and agree with them. A study on human relationships reveals that families, couples, or friends who deal with problems through laughter feel less stressed. They feel it most especially when they are doing it together. When these problems turn into positive emotions, people feel a lot better both physically and mentally.

The professor is talking about the reasons why people laugh, the topic mentioned in the passage. According to the passage, people laugh to express their emotions. He also mentions that they laugh to communicate. The professor gives 2 examples to show the connection of laughter to human interaction by saying that people usually laugh during conversations with their family and friends. The first point in the passage explains that people laugh to express their emotions. The professor explains that they usually laugh when they hear funny jokes or when they are being tickled. The second point in the passage mentions that people also laugh to communicate. The professor mentions that it is their reactions to statements and comments during conversations.

The human auditory system is the sensory system responsible for detecting different sounds from long distances. It is made up of two main parts: the ear and the brain. The ear is the organ of hearing. It transforms sound energy into neural signals. On the other hand, the brain is an organ inside the head that controls bodily functions essential for survival. It is the one that receives and processes the information delivered by neural signals.

The human auditory system is the sensory system responsible for detecting different sounds from long distances. It is made up of two main parts: the ear and the brain. The ear is the organ of hearing. It transforms sound energy into neural signals. On the other hand, the brain is an organ inside the head that controls bodily functions essential for survival. It is the one that receives and processes the information delivered by neural signals.

I will discuss how the sound travels into the ear. The source of sounds produce waves of pressure that travel through particles in fluids. When the fluid travels through the ear, it triggers a signal that travels through the hair cell, into the auditory nerve then forth the brain. For example, the sound from a mosquito produces waves of pressure that the ears transfer into the fluid and travels inside our ear and onto our brain. That’s when the brain interprets specific sounds.

After the brain interprets the sound, it now has to identify where the sound is coming from. It collaborates then again with the two ears. When the sound is coming from directly in front of you, both of your ears will hear the same quality and respond at the same time. When a mosquito is on your left, your brain uses both of your ears to detect where it is located. So, when a mosquito is in front of you, you get to hear its sound with the same quality on both ears. It makes our hearing a spectacular system.

It is said that humans might be replaced by robots in the future because of the continuous innovation in AI (Artificial Intelligence). Basically, there are two types of jobs: one is where AI is superior and the other one is where humans are superior.

AI is good at dealing with enormous amounts of data. What AI can do is store vast information and accumulate data. When it comes to the quantity of data, AI is superior to humans.

On the other hand, humans have the ability to connect information, so they can come up with new ideas from scratch.

Technology has improved drastically over the years. Some dangerous jobs that people do can be done with the help of AI in the future. Through that, people would not have to put themselves at risk while working. On the other hand, some people worry that AI might steal their jobs which would lead to an increase in unemployment rate.

Now, I will give you tips on how we can get rid of anxiety by talking about jobs that AI and humans can do better, respectively.
Let’s start with what AI can do better. One developer made a formula that could evaluate written essays by high school students. Its evaluation is the same as how human teachers evaluate students. Teachers may read ten thousand essays in their entire career, but AI is capable of reading millions of essays in a few minutes. Compared to humans, AI is more efficient in dealing with enormous amounts of data.
As for what humans can do better than AI, humans can assess data even without any previous experience. In other words, AI can’t deal with data that it has never encountered before. But humans connect information and derive new ideas.

When humans understand their strengths and weaknesses, they would know how they can handle the concern “AI might steal their jobs”.

This is to inform that all student tenants of the dormitory are required to renew their access cards due to security purposes.

All student tenants need to surrender their current access cards to the admin office by June 30. After that day, students cannot enter the dormitory without the new access cards.

Please surrender your access cards during office hours. Our office is open on weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Please note that a $30 deposit is necessary for claiming your new access card.

Thank you for your understanding.

Please be informed that the Medical Department is requiring all students to wear the official school uniform when attending laboratory classes for safety purposes.

Students can buy the uniform in the bookstore for $60. Students who are not wearing the required uniform will not be allowed to attend any laboratory classes. The new regulation will be implemented starting September.

To avoid any inconvenience, the Medical Department advises all students to buy the new uniform as soon as possible.

This is to announce that the management has decided to expand the parking area due to the following reasons:
・increase in the number of students
・illegal parking
All students are not allowed to use the parking area from April 14 to May 31 due to construction activities.
We will provide a free bus service from the campus to the station from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. during the mentioned dates.
Any questions should be directed to the management office.
We appreciate your understanding and thank you for your cooperation.

The female student and the male student are talking about an announcement made by the management.
According to the announcement, all students are not allowed to use the parking area from April 14 to May 31 due to construction activities.

The male student disagrees with the management’s decision and gives two reasons why he is against it.
First, he feels that it is ridiculous that the duration of the construction is too long. He argues that the management should schedule all construction activities during spring vacation instead. It is because the public transportation is busy in April since it’s the start of the school year.

Second, he adds that the bus operating hours are only until 7:00 p.m. He says that some students might miss the last bus since their last class ends at 6:50 p.m.
For these reasons, the male student doesn’t support the expansion of the parking area in their school.

This is to notify all students that the library will be temporarily closed from November 28 to December 22. Annual maintenance and pest control will take place during the said dates. Please be advised that no student will be allowed to enter the library on the dates mentioned above.
Kindly return your books before the said dates.

The library will resume its normal operations on January 4 at 10 a.m.
If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to the administration office.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

The female student and the male student are talking about the announcement made by the school library.
According to the announcement, the library will be temporarily closed from November 28 to December 22.

The annual maintenance and pest control will take place from November 28 to December 22. All students are not allowed to enter the library on the mentioned dates.

The male student disagrees with the announcement and gives two reasons.
First, he thinks that the annual maintenance and insect nuisance control will be inconvenient for the students. It is because the duration of the construction activities interferes with the students’ examination schedule. He says the administration office should conduct it during winter vacation instead.

Second, he adds that the study space next to the cafeteria is always crowded. He says students do not have enough space to study.
In short, the male student gives a couple of reasons why he is against the annual library maintenance taking place during their examination schedule.