English, baby!

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Naps
小睡

Date: Oct 08 2010

Themes: Work

Grammar: Zero Conditional

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Intro

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Basketball superstar LeBron James recently said that he takes a nap every day. And if he does it, shouldn’t everybody?

In some cultures, it’s common to lie down and rest or even sleep in the middle of the day. But in the U.S., not many people take naps during the work week, except for children. A quick nap can be a good way to refresh oneself after a late night. But people who nap all the time are usually seen as lazy. Find out if Amy and Devan like to catch some zzz’s in the middle of the day.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Amy

Devan

Amy: I wish that I were a person who could take naps. It seems like such a nice thing to do and such a good way to refresh yourself if you’re, you know…if you didn’t sleep well or if you’re having a hard day.

Devan: So why don’t you take naps?

Amy: I just can’t do it. I just can’t go to sleep in the daytime. I don’t know. I try, and I just end up lying there, you know, for hours, potentially, just staring at the ceiling. Do you take naps?

Devan: Sometimes I’ll take like a power nap, like right after I get off work I’ll take a quick 20 minute nap. But I can’t take a nap longer than that, because if I fall asleep for hours in the middle of the day, then when I wake up I feel really awful. Like I just need a really quick power nap to get me re-energized, but if I sleep too long then I’m gonna want to sleep all night and then I’ll wake up again at three o’clock in the morning. But you know, in a lot of cultures it’s very common to have like a siesta or a nap in the middle of the day, and I wonder why in the United States that hasn’t really become a common practice.

Amy: Sometimes I’ll just take it easy in the middle of the day, if I’m feeling tired and I need to have a little break, just watch TV for a half an hour or do something mindless to relax. But I just…I kind of feel the same way you do, like if I really lay down and tried to take a nap in the middle of the day, it would be really hard to get up and go back to work. I don’t know how people do it.

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Discussion

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Amy doesn’t take naps, because she finds it difficult to fall asleep in the middle of the day. But sometimes she wishes she could take naps, because it seems like a good way to refresh oneself in the middle of the day.

Devan sometimes likes to take short naps after work, but she doesn’t like to sleep for a long time when she takes a nap. If she takes a long nap, she has a hard time getting up and doing anything productive afterward.

Is it common to take a nap in the afternoon in your country? Do you enjoy taking naps?

Comments

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hss1007

South Korea

For AIE class

Anna Aragonès

Spain

It's common in south Spain to take naps in the middle of the day. Even, I tink they have some places where you can go and take a nap, or some hotels which hire their rooms for a while in the afternoon. It is not usual in Catalonia, which is my country, to take naps. Work's timetable doesn't allow that, and we are not used nowadays to take naps. Years ago, and in some jobs perhaps they were able to do, but not now.

rebel lee

China

It’s very common to take naps in our country. And I always take naps if I have time. You don’t need a lot of time to take naps, half an hour will be long enough to re_energize you.
If I can’t get enough asleep, I will get angry. And I hate to be woke up.

alfarese2

Yemen

taking naps in the afternoon is wow,i like it

murad ali

Yemen

it is healthy to take a nap for a short time -i like to take in my free time .

MARKYU

China

YES it'scommon to take a nap at class .Because for a student whose domain is accounting , the class is boring,u need to face large amounts of forms which can make u wanna to say shit. lol…..

yoshilim

Malaysia

It's not common to do so in my country and I dun like to take naps, it seems like wasting time. But as I know taking naps is good for the health.

ShadiSpire

Syrian Arab Republic

This is how you take a good nap.

Before i tell you how, i want you to know what happen when you go to sleep at night.

When you go to sleep, your brain activity start to decrease, and within a few minutes your brain waves (activity) start to be flat, after 30 – 45 minute, you are in Stage 1, and you are asleep, after less than that time, you are in Stage 2, then 3 then 4 within an hour. So within 1 hour you are in the Stage 4 of sleep, stages 3 and 4 are called Deep Sleep, here your body take some real rest ;)

But you don't stay in stage 4 all the night, your sleep mode is like this:

Awake, 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM….4, 3, 2, REMMMMMM, Awake.

that's what happen when you sleep. REM is the stage where your brain witness a high activity during your sleep, and your dreams is in this stage.

Now to have a healthy Nap, you should not go in stages 3 and 4. How?

Easy, you normally go in stages 3 and 4 within 45 to 60 minutes, so set your alarm to take a 45 to 60 min Nap. If you take a longer nap (more that 60 min) you will enter stages 3 and 4 (deep sleep) and when you wake up you will feel so tired, 'cause you enter deep sleep in a nap! and that's not good.

So, make your nap up to 60 min, if you wake up after a 45 to 60 min nap and you still tired, make your nap less than 45 min, make it 40 for example, till you wake up not tired ('cause people are not the same in the time that they enter stages 3 and 4)

Remember, you MUST NOT enter the 3, 4 stages in your nap, otherwise you will feel tired. If you succeed to make a nap without going in 3, 4 stages, you will feel so good when you wake up from your nap, it's not true that the longer your nap is the better for you, at all.

Remember that we all, in one day, slept for a moments (maybe in a bus, while waiting dinner…) and wake up feeling so good, that's it, your brain take some rest, without going in deep sleep stage, and That's what a REAL HEALTHY Nap is for :)

Jansen silva

Brazil

Here in Brasil is common too but depends where you work. very nice class.

An-china

Germany

i always take naps on the bus~ha

jack289

Algeria

In my opinion naps are as having a bath…What do you think?...I feel the same thing after both a nap or a bath…refreshed…but I have a little problem…when sometimes I take a nap…I stay there lying…waiting my eyes to be closed…and then I find that I slept more than an houre…

In my copuntry…if you bother someone taking a nap…he will be mad at you…

I read somewhere that naps are common for the South countries cause they are lazy…but it's seldom to find people taking a nap in the North countries…

Brunapf

Brazil

In my country is so common take a nap, mainly after lunch….. Actually I don't like taking a nap because instead of resting I'm even more tired.

Lucas Silva

Brazil

Some times i take a nap, but it happens after work inside the during the way to college. Whaen i do it for 20 or 30 minutes i wake up revitalized.

alexcai

China

It's not common here in my hometown.Yes,i enjoy that!I doze off often at class if i don't take a nap.

janetbba

Algeria

i am like amy i can t take naps i always tried but i cant but if i do it ,it will be for a long time ,for 1 hour or two hours .but really , taking a nap during the day time is of great importance for health

AgeStone

China

it is common to have siesta in china . school rule requeired students take nap in the middle of day.

lolita_lempicka

Yemen

In Islam,ther's Hadith (a talk) recommended by the prophet Mohammed peace be up on him says: "Take a nap, the Devils do not take naps"
cuz naps enhance memory and concentration, and allow for new cycles of activity
and let the brain rain in a pattern more comfortable. "
adviced to nap after lunch time – enough to nap for 10-40 minutes.personaly i always take a nap if i'm free of work or collage lectuers .

pouria52

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

I agree!!!

Bebe Cita

Puerto Rico

I WANT TO TELL THE WHOLE WORLD I LOVE TAKING NAPS!! I LOVE THEM, NO MATTER WHAT TIME, NO MATTER WHERE, I LOVE THEM!!

iamcj

Taiwan

Usually, I take a power nap in the middle of the day. It's really a good way to get me re-energized, especially after a hard work. But, if i fall asleep more than that, it is not so good since I will have difficulty in falling asleep at night. I just end up lying there for hours, just staring at the ceiling.