5. Learning English through Popular Culture

This week’s question in the Young Post’s Over to You column is:

Where do you get information about the latest trends in pop culture? Do you turn to newspapers and magazines or do you prefer blogs and videos on social media?

• Write an article for the Over to You column
• Choose one or two areas of pop culture from the chart below and tell readers where you like to get information about the latest trends. Provide the name of the sources you recommend
• Give your article a title

Nowadays, due to the advancement of technology, people can receive news and information online from the internet in addition to traditional newspapers and magazines in print. As teenagers born in the digital age, I prefer blogs, websites and social media sites to newspapers and magazines to get information about the latest pop culture because it is cheap, fast and convenient and is also easy to share the information with family and friends. There are two areas of pop culture which I am particularly interested. They are food and drink, and style and beauty. I am keen to share with you and recommend the following sources where you can get the latest and interesting information about these two areas of pop culture.

For food and drink, there are several channels where you can get to know the latest popular cuisine and delicious dishes. Go to U Magazine Facebook Page which features the most popular food among the teenagers. For example, each month, it covers a story about affordable local specialties favored by teenagers, such as HeyTea, the tea-drink brand which blends tea drinks with fresh milk, cream and fruit. From the built-in comment boxes, you can see reviews about the customer experience of the product quality. Also, very often, it features hidden gems found in the city, such as egg tarts, egg waffles, pancakes and soufflé etc. Apart from U Magazine, another way is to try Eat Weekly Instagram page which publishes photos and descriptions of seasonal food promoted by different eateries and restaurants, such as spicy chicken hotpot, Japanese Toro and Sashimi, A5 beef eat-unlimited buffet etc. There are also video posts about the preparation or cooking process of different dishes which enhance your visual appetite.

For style and beauty, despite the Facebook and Instagram Page of the fashion and beauty brands where you can easily see up-to-date information about the hottest products, you can turn to renowned blogs to get access to the latest trends in fashion and beauty. One of the famous blogs called Trendy Zone composed by a fashion and beauty consultant and blogger Victoria Chu is my favourite choice. Each day, there is a blog entry about the best selected clothes and the best bargain clothes among the popular fashion brands. Besides, there is another blog entry about how to mix and match different clothes together with stylish make-up to give a trendy and chic look. The recommendations are professional and well-received by teenagers.

If you are one of those who like to keep abreast of the trend in pop culture, I would definitely recommend the above sources where you can follow the latest teen pop. I hope you will have a well-informed choice before you head for food and fashion.

7. Learning English through Poems and Songs

Taylor Swift is an award-winning singer-songwriter. In an interview with Parade magazine she said:

I wrote the song ‘Mean’ about a critic who kept giving me really bad reviews. I get that, no matter what, people will criticise what you do. But there are different ways to criticise someone… and there’s a line that you cross when you just start to attack everything about a person.

You lead an after-school arts club. You would like to instruct members on how to review each other’s work.

• Write a speech to be delivered to club members
• Discuss what a critic does, how to give criticism and ways to respond to criticism
• Give your speech a title

A Line Drawn for Criticism

Dear club members,

Today I am going to give a speech on how to review a work of arts by your counterparts. Recently, some members have revealed that they constantly receive extremely bad reviews and opinions on their works and even personal attacks and criticism. As such, I would like to reiterate how to criticize as a critic should do and how to respond to criticism.

A critic is a person who assesses and evaluates a work of arts according to his knowledge and taste of the subject matter. It is supposed that a critic is knowledgeable so that his criticism and comments will have a reference base and follow a set of rules and values upheld by the specific field. A critic should also be well-intentioned to prevent abusively attacking a person because of his dislike or hatred of the person. A critic should also have a good taste about his professional area so that he can distinguish good work from bad work.

For example, when evaluating a poem, we should first read the poem aloud to see if it has rhythm and sounds good to the ear. Then, read the poem closely. Next, spot each line if it has used figurative language like simile, metaphor, rhyme, imagery, personification etc and see if they have been used properly. After that, look at the content of the poem and try to figure out the meaning of the poem. What is the context of the poem? When and where does it set? To whom the poem is talking? Does the poem follow any pattern? Does the poem evoke any feelings, emotions, pictures, associations and imagination? Is the language used beautiful? Is the poem cohesive and coherent? How does the poem speak to you personally? Finally, based on the above rules, you can draw a conclusion about the poem and give a review whether it is well-written or not.

When you receive bad reviews on your work of arts, you should remain open-minded as it often happens. As works of arts have both their objective and subjective level, it is unrealistic that you expect everyone to appreciate and like your work. For example, when you receive bad reviews on your poem, you can at the very least refer to the above-mentioned standard to discern whether your poem has failed in a certain way. However, if you receive personal attacks such as hostile insults or shameful remarks due to your work of arts, it is likely that the critic is ill-intentioned and has crossed the line and you should refute the disapproval.

In short, when we review a work of arts, we should criticize based on the work of arts and not the person. Moreover, it is common that we receive bad reviews on our work of arts as everyone has different perspectives and taste. We should not only be open-minded to others’ criticism but also beware of malicious attacks.