First day at work: Describing past events

Summary

This 90-minute ESL lesson for A2 learners explores First day at work: Describing past events through a real audio recording. Across 11 interactive exercises, you'll develop listening comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, practical communication, speaking skills — all built around authentic English content.

What you'll practise:

• 5 key vocabulary items with definitions and usage notes
• Grammar focus: Past simple with examples and practice
• Real-world phrases for asking for help in your first week
• Gap-fill and cloze exercises to test vocabulary in context
• Matching exercise to connect terms with their meanings
• Error correction to sharpen grammar awareness
• A reading passage to practise newly learned language

Lesson activities (11 exercises)

Each exercise builds on the previous one. Work through them in order for the best learning experience.

1. Warm-up — Discussion questions to activate what you already know about the topic.
2. Comprehension — Answer questions to check your understanding of the main ideas and supporting details.
3. Vocabulary — Learn key words and expressions from the audio recording, with definitions and usage notes.
4. Fill the gaps — Complete sentences with the correct vocabulary. Drag and drop or type your answers.
5. Grammar — Study Past simple — explanation, examples, and key rules.
6. Error correction — Find and fix the mistake in each sentence — a great grammar workout.
7. Practical English — Learn phrases for asking for help in your first week — ready to use in real conversations.
8. Matching — Connect words, phrases, or concepts to their correct counterparts.
9. Reading — Read a short passage on the topic and answer comprehension questions.
10. Discussion — Reflect on the topic and share your opinions using the language you've learned.

Vocabulary

This lesson introduces 5 key terms drawn directly from the audio recording:

• Show someone around — to guide a person through a new place, like an office
• Get to know — to learn more about someone or something
• A team meeting — a planned event where you and your colleagues talk about work
• Ask for help — to say that you need assistance with something
• Settle in — to start to feel comfortable and happy in a new place

Grammar

This lesson focuses on Past simple.

We use the past simple to talk about actions that started and finished in the past. It is very useful for describing events like your first day at a new job, as you heard in the audio recording.

Examples from the lesson:

• I started my new job yesterday. — For most verbs, we add '-ed' to make the past simple form.
• I met my new manager in the morning. — Some common verbs are irregular. For example, the past of 'meet' is 'met'.
• I didn't know where the printer was. — For negative sentences, we use 'didn't' + the base form of the verb (know).

Key rules:

• For regular verbs, add '-ed' to the end (e.g., start -> started).
• Many important verbs are irregular (e.g., go -> went, have -> had).
• For questions and negatives, use 'did/didn't' + the base verb (e.g., 'Did you like it?', not 'Did you liked it?').

Practical English

Asking for help in your first week

When you start a new job, you will have many questions. It's okay to ask for help! These phrases will help you ask your new colleagues for information politely.

Phrases you'll learn:

• "Excuse me, [Name]? Sorry to bother you." — To get a colleague's attention politely.
• "Do you have a quick minute?" — To check if the person is free to talk before you ask your question.
• "I'm not sure how to..." — To explain that you need help with a process or task.
• "Where can I find...?" — To ask for the location of a person, place, or thing.
• "Could you show me quickly?" — To ask someone to demonstrate how to do something.