Summary
This B2 level English class material delves into the universal dilemma of career choices: should one follow passion or opt for security? The lesson encourages students to reflect on their own views and experiences. Through a thought-provoking video, targeted vocabulary exercises covering terms like dilemma, instability, and penury, and grammar practice focusing on conditionals (especially mixed conditionals), students enhance their ability to discuss hypothetical situations and express nuanced opinions on job satisfaction versus financial stability.
Activities
Kick off with a warm-up discussion where students share personal experiences and opinions about career decisions, passion versus pragmatism, and the meaning of job security versus satisfaction.
Introduce and practice key vocabulary related to career choices and personal challenges, such as dilemma, conventional, instability, acute dissatisfaction, and dichotomy, through contextual reading and definition matching.
Engage students with a video about passion versus safety in careers, prompting them to listen for specific information and analyze the speaker's arguments regarding risk, true safety, and pursuing one's calling.
Expand vocabulary further by matching advanced terms from the video like penury, onerous, masochism, muster, obsessed, inherently, timidity, and heed with their definitions, enhancing nuanced expression.
Reinforce understanding and use of conditional sentences by having students complete sentences based on themes from the video, focusing on real, hypothetical, and past hypothetical situations.
Deepen grammatical understanding with a focus on mixed conditionals, explaining how past actions affect present results and vice-versa, followed by a sentence transformation exercise to practice this structure.
Foster critical thinking and fluency through a group debate on statements about career philosophy, encouraging the use of conditional language and newly learned vocabulary to express agreement or disagreement.
Consolidate vocabulary learning with a sentence completion task where students apply words like acute, masochism, obsessed, and penury in meaningful contexts related to career decisions.
Develop writing skills with a personal reflection essay where students articulate their stance on passion versus safety, incorporating lesson vocabulary and at least two conditional sentences, including a mixed conditional.
Promote practical language application and empathy through role-play scenarios, where students act as career counselors or individuals facing career dilemmas, using conditionals and lesson vocabulary to give or seek advice.
Vocabulary focus
Students will learn and practice vocabulary crucial for discussing career choices and personal dilemmas. Key terms include words describing difficult situations (dilemma, acute), states of being (instability, uncertainty, dissatisfaction, penury), common approaches (conventional), psychological states (obsessed, masochism, timidity), and actions or qualities (muster, heed, onerous, inherently). This vocabulary will enable more nuanced discussions about personal fulfillment and practical considerations.
Grammar focus
The primary grammar focus is on conditional sentences, exploring how to discuss hypothetical situations related to career choices. Special attention is given to mixed conditionals, enabling students to express complex relationships between past decisions or situations and their present or past consequences (e.g., "If I had followed my passion, I would be happier now" or "If I were braver, I would have started my own business"). This enhances their ability to reflect on past possibilities and future outcomes.
