Can you elaborate on your thinking here? (polite language)

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Polite language

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

photo of the author Paula |

LESSON OVERVIEW

In this ESL lesson on polite language students watch a video, have a discussion, learn and practise useful phrases. 

C1 / Advanced60 minStandard LessonUnlimited Plan
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WARM-UP & VIDEO

The lesson starts with a short warm-up. Students read and discuss a quote about being polite. They also look at some common workplace issues (e.g. being given unwelcome advice, being micromanaged, etc.) and discuss whether they have experienced them and if they are difficult to solve. Then, they read some phrases and decide how to say them using polite language. After that, students watch the video and compare the influencer’s ideas with their own. They also look at some messages from the video and complete the gaps with the correct words. They watch the video again and check their answers. At the end of this part of our ESL lesson on polite language, students have a short discussion about using this kind of language at work. 

POLITE LANGUAGE & PRACTICE

In this part of the ESL lesson on polite language students learn more phrases and put them into practice. At first, students look at some phrases from the video with different endings (e.g. Can you elaborate on your criticism/your earlier remarks…?; I feel as though it is resulting in…/we should consider…; I’m consumed with other work/several projects… etc.) and add one more idea. Then, students rewrite some sentences to make them sound more polite. At the end of the worksheet, students put their knowledge into practice and create short conversations using polite language for six distinct scenarios.

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This ESL lesson plan on polite language also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. It’s available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it, cut it up and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.

WORKSHEETS

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Comments

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Leave a Reply

  1. Evening Jazz

    Hi Paula,
    Welcome to the team!
    Cheers.
    Julien

    1. Paula

      Hi, Julien! Thanks for the warm welcome.
      Cheers 🙂

  2. Ana Martínez Martín

    Fun lesson!

    1. Paula

      Thanks Ana! I’m glad you like it 🙂

  3. Lorenzo2023

    I love Laura! She creates amazing content!

    1. Paula

      She’s great, isn’t she? I love her videos 🙂

  4. Kyle Dammay

    Laura’s one of my favorite tiktokers. Love her!

    1. Paula

      Awesome!

  5. Anna Komarevskaya

    Are you sure that “unwelcome advice”? if you google it, you’ll find unsolicited only

    1. Justa

      I think that both are correct and are very similar in meaning 🙂

  6. Helen Pearce

    Some of the language in the video is surely tongue in cheek?! We wouldn’t naturally use those long sentences, unless it’s common in the US?

    1. Stan

      Yes, the whole series of videos made by Laura (the video creator) is making fun of the corporate language. It’s exaggerating the reality, of course, poking fun at the often convoluted and overly-complicated language used by Corporate America.

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