Tell me about the company you work for

After a very busy month of work and travels I'm back with a quick activity suitable for Business English learners at pre-intermediate-intermediate levels.

I have recently started teaching a business English course to a group of adults who need to become more confident at speaking English in order to communicate with their international partners and clients. Even though their receptive skills are very strong, they struggle to express themselves without getting stuck for words. I've been trying to expand their vocabulary and involve them in a lot of speaking activities in order to encourage them to start using the language they already understand so well.

This lesson, which involves reading and speaking exercises, enhances students' vocabulary and helps them talk about the company they work for. 

First of all, show your students the four logos from  handout 1 (page 1) and encourage them to share anything they know about the companies. Then, show them the four texts one page 2 (the texts are taken from Wikipedia) and ask them to read the texts quickly and decide which companies are described in each text. Next, students should read the texts more carefully and underline some phrases used to talk about companies (e.g. the company empowers people to experience the world). After quick feedback give your students the list of useful phrases (page 3) and go over the ones that haven't been mentioned yet. I always give and elicit examples to check whether my students really understand the phrases and are able to use them.

At this stage students should be familiar with vocabulary needed to describe a company. They should also know what kind of information they are expected to give when talking about an organisation.
Divide them in pairs and give each pair an envelope with a logo of a company and some facts they can use to talk about it ( handout 2) Together they should discuss the companies using the vocabulary from the previous activities. Monitor the task and help if necessary. After a few minutes ask each pair to tell their classmates about their company (encourage them to take turns in speaking so that everybody gets a chance to speak).

Wrap up the lesson by asking your students to tell you about the company they work for. No excuses now- they have been given enough practice to be able to do that task without any problems :)

I beg to differ!

Some time ago I came across this article which lists 401 prompts for argumentative writing. Since my students are not very keen on writing these days, I've decided to exploit the article in a slightly different way and turn it into a speaking activity for my teenage and adult students. 

The activity will encourage your students to discuss some controversial statements, share their points of view, and agree or disagree with each other in a polite manner. 

The task is most suitable for intermediate-advanced students who are mature enough to talk about serious issues. It can be used as a time-filler activity or it might useful for those of your students who are preparing for some language exams such as FCE, CAE, IELTS or TOEFL.

Divide your students into pairs. Give each pair of students two piles of cut out cards placed face down. One pile should contain the cards with controversial statements while the other one should contain a shuffled set of  opinion cards . 

Students work in pairs. One student takes a card from the pile with the controversial statements and reads it out loud. His partner takes the first card from the pile with the opinion cards and needs to respond to the statement according to the opinion card he/she gets (either agree or disagree). They need to discuss the statement for at least two minutes (or any time you give them) sticking to their roles. They should try to come up with reasonable arguments whether they personally agree with their role cards or not. 


In order to run this activity more smoothly, you might pre-teach them some useful expressions . 

• Downloadable material:

controversial statements

opinion cards

functional language: useful expressions


Feel free to comment with your feedback :) 

I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you...

When was the last time you had to break some bad news to somebody? It's definitely never easy to disappoint a person. However, there are some ways in which we can deliver bad news in a less painful way. In this  lesson your adult students will learn some useful expressions we use to give and respond to bad news. They'll also get involved in a role play to put these expressions into practice.

I've prepared this lesson with my company students in mind and so far it's worked well with intermediate and upper-intermediate levels. My students have approached the topic quite lightheartedly and haven't shared any terrible news. However, remember to be sensitive if any very bad news comes up.  

Download the worksheet here . 

Have a great weekend!