Skills for the job

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Vocabulary - skills

hard and soft skills

This is a standalone lesson but it can also be used as part of the set titled:

LESSON OVERVIEW

In this lesson, students watch a video about different types of skills, learn useful vocabulary, and practise talking about hard and soft skills. 

A2 / Pre‐Intermediate60 minStandard LessonUnlimited Plan

VOCABULARY

The lesson starts with a task in which students talk about some photos of people learning and say whether they would like to be in these situations. Then, they read sentences and find verbs which go with the noun ‘skills’ (e.g. improve, work on, measure). They find two pairs of synonyms among the verbs. After that, students find different types of skills mentioned in the statements in the previous exercise (e.g. computer skills, communication skills, presentation skills) and spend some time talking about hard and soft skills. Their task is to give examples of the skills, say which ones they would like to develop, whether someone taught them the skills when they were children, etc. They also brainstorm how someone could improve these skills. 

HARD AND SOFT SKILLS

Before watching the video, students look at some pictures and try to guess the difference between hard and soft skills. Then, they watch the video and check their answers. Before the second viewing, students look at seven sentences and decide which skills they describe. They watch the video again to see if they were right. After the viewing part, students create different skills by matching their halves (e.g. being a good leader, time management). Then, they practise talking about hard and soft skills. First, they categorize skills. If they think some skills can be both hard and soft, they need to explain why. Students also talk about the importance of soft skills in the workplace. Finally, students look at four categories and decide which three best fit each category (e.g. ‘most important in the job market today’).

WORKSHEETS

 

Comments

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  1. Inna

    Hi Ewa! Thank you for this great lesson plan! I used it with a pair of students last week and they loved all the talking points as well as the vocabulary focus of this lesson 😉

    1. Ewa

      That is really great to hear, Inna! Thanks for your feedback 🙂

  2. libalmeida

    The lesson is great, but I believe you should also have the slides not only the pdf file.

    1. libalmeida

      Oh I found the slides, forget what I said.

  3. Khadija Ait slimane

    Hi Ewa thank you for this wonderful lesson. I only wanna say that there is a mistake in the teacher s version.

    The synonym of work on = practise.

    work on = improve = develop , practise = use.

    1. Ewa

      Thanks!
      I don’t think it’s necessary to add ‘use’ here, as it is not a synonym of any of the words. ‘Improve’ and ‘develop’ mean ‘to make better’, and ‘work on’ and ‘practise’ mean ‘to spend time doing something’.

  4. aiganym20

    It is really helpful

  5. Яна Чевнова

    Thank you so much for such a useful lesson plan:))))

  6. Valentyna Iazina

    Hi! It is a very interesting lesson plan! My HR A2 student was engrossed by this lesson!

    1. Ewa

      That is so good to hear, Valentyna! Thanks!

  7. Livia Pavan

    loveeeeed

    1. Ewa

      Wow! Thanks 🙂

  8. delsolar

    great

    1. Ewa

      Happy to hear that 🙂

  9. smalleyseattle

    Another nice lesson. Thank you! One small thing though regarding slides 5 and 6. Because the clause “which go with noun skills” is a restrictive clause (it is essential to the meaning of the sentence and specifies which verbs you should find) the sentence should read “Read the sentences and underline seven verbs THAT go with the noun skills.” Thanks again for all you do.

    1. Ewa

      Hi there! I’m glad you like the lesson 🙂
      When it comes to ‘which’ and ‘that’, I believe both can be used to introduce a restrictive clause so the rubric you are referring to is correct. Please see some examples here.

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