Being young and having fun

Being young and having fun

Youth culture as we know it today really started about sixty years ago when young people ____________________________ (try/ create) their own music and styles in order to differ from their parents and grandparents.

In the 1950s a lot of young people ______________________ (want/ lead) a life that was different from the one their parents had led so far. They were rather __________________________ (interested/go) to dance parties and listening to rock ’n roll music, even though their parents regarded this music as noise.

People who were young in the sixties say that today they

________________________ (miss/ go) to concerts where the young women got completely crazy when seeing their favourite stars such as the Beatles, who were performing still in suit and tie at the beginning of their career. Being young also ________________________ (involve / have) arguments with your parents who had grown up in a completely different world. At the end of the sixties the provocation got worse. Young men let their hair grow long and ___________________________

(decide/ live) as hippies. They ________________________________ (want/

people/ know) that they wouldn’t support the political system any longer and that they saw drugs such a marijuana as a new way of creating a better world.

In the 1970s teenagers _____________________________ (enjoy/ go) to the disco and they ________________________________ (used/ wear) glittering tops and fancy high heel shoes. Some of them were really keen on ______________________

(learn) one of the dances that were popular in the famous clubs.

The 1980s showed different kinds of youth culture. There were the ones who believed in _________________________ (get) rich as quickly as possible and not

_____________________ (care) about the problems in the world and there were others who went on demonstrations and protested against nuclear weapons, the pollution of the environment and many other issues. Pop music was mainly made by synthesizers and crazy hairstyles were in.

Later in the 1990s most teenagers __________________________ (want/ have) as much fun as possible and they went to techno parties. Drugs like ecstasy were popular and easily available. Now the fashion of the 1970s had a revival. Girls were wearing mini skirts and flared trousers again. Also in the 2000s and 2010s lots of the styles of past decades came up again. What will the 2020s have in store for us?

Task (U3/T1):

Write a similar paragraph in which you describe what youth culture

 was like in the 2000s,

 what it is like in our 2010s

 or try to make predictions about the 2020s.

Think about

 the different inventions,

 music,

 clothes

 or political/ social issues*

that played a big part in these decades.

*issue > a topic of public interest, a problem people talk about

Task (U3/T1):

Write a similar paragraph in which you describe what youth culture

 was like in the 2000s,

 what it is like in our 2010s

 or try to make predictions about the 2020s.

Think about

 the different inventions,

 music,

 clothes

 or political/ social issues*

that played a big part in these decades.

*issue > a topic of public interest, a problem people talk about

Quiz

Do you still remember?

 Why didn’t adult people of the 1950s like their kids wearing jeans and T-shirts?

 What music was big time in the 1950s?

 How did James Dean die?

 After the war Germans went first on holiday again in the 1950s. Where did they prefer to go?

***

 Why were there jobs for everyone in the 1960s?

 In what clothes did most musicians still perform at the beginning of the 1960s?

 Name an example for a famous band of that time.

 What was most young people’s attitude towards war?

 Why did a number of musicians die young?

***

 Were the 1970s still the decade of the hippies? Explain.

 Name three key words that describe the fashions of the 1970s.

 Name two completely different styles of music popular in the 1970

***

 Why was the situation a bit depressed?

 What did teenagers wear?

 Which technical device was used by a lot of teenagers?

***

 What happened in Germany in 1990?

 What kind of music was in?

 What is ecstasy?

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s