Smart and poor financial decisions

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Vocabulary - finance

finance vocabulary

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

LESSON OVERVIEW

Teach your students finance vocabulary and encourage them to talk about good and bad financial decisions. In this lesson, students will also watch a video and share some financial advice

B1 / Intermediate60 minStandard LessonPremium Plan

WARM-UP & FINANCE VOCABULARY

In the warm-up activity, students discuss some questions related to personal finances. Then, they read ten sentences containing finance vocabulary (e.g. invest in, stocks, budget, lease). They need to choose the correct definition of each of the words and phrases. They also decide which of the sentences are true for them. Before watching the video, students read a short text about 401(k) and discuss whether they have something similar in their country. While watching the video for the first time, students do a comprehension task. They need to match speakers with the things they talk about. During the second viewing, students complete gaps in the sentences with the information from the video. 

DISCUSSION

Students use the finance vocabulary throughout the second part of the lesson. First, they discuss some questions about financial decisions presented in the video. Students also read some financial tips (some of which are pretty unusual). They need to explain what they think the tips mean and share their opinions about the tips. Finally, students read two situations: about a student who struggles with finances and a man who inherited some money. They have to give three pieces of advice to each person and explain why they think it would be good for them to follow the advice. 

HOMEWORK/REVISION

The lesson includes a supplementary task to practise the finance vocabulary from the lesson. In the task, students need to comment on some situations using the target lexis. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet and can be printed for students or accessed in the e-lesson plan for online teaching.

WORKSHEETS

 

Comments

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  1. hannahduncan

    On slide 20 is it ‘love your life without credit cards’ or should it be ‘live your life without credit cards’ ? 😀

    1. Iulia

      Hi, Hannah!
      It’s ‘love’ 🙂

  2. Edgar Benavides

    Perfect for accounting students, well done, love the content and organization of it all.

  3. jpbruce

    Great lesson, I’ve had some good discussions from it.
    Just a couple of notes –
    On the last reading slide, “It’s Uma” sounds odd to me, maybe ‘This is…’
    Also, I wouldn’t say university dormitory, I’d say ‘university accommodation’. A dormitory makes me think of a big room with lots of beds, which I don’t think would be the case in most universities.

    1. Justa

      Thanks for the comment! As for ‘It’s Uma”, we consulted it again with our editors and we feel that it follows the more informal and conversational nature of the activity text itself. Regarding ‘university dormitory’, we can also use it to refer to a building where students live, so there is no need to change it. You can see some examples here.

    2. DavidRichmond

      I am going to use this lesson tomorrow, my first as a new subscriber. Agree with the “it’s Uma” comments. Sounds unnatural or mistranslated (eg I had many Czech students who said this, whereas I’d usually expect “This is…”). Overall it looks impressive though and I’m sure it’ll go over well

      1. Justa

        Welcome 🙂 Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. We still hope you have a good class and your students enjoy the lesson!

  4. Filipe

    Amazing lesson .

  5. Kev

    Great material as ever. One point from my side, if we add more amounts like 150$, 1500$, etc to ex 1, it may ignite more discussions, since the lesson is about investments.

    Keep up the good work guys.

    Best.

  6. MIchelle Leuthart

    In Slide 22, shouldn’t it be : “This is Uma” and ‘This is Larry’?

    1. Justa

      As we mentioned in the comment above, as for ‘It’s Uma’ and ‘It’s Larry’, we feel that the expressions follow the more informal and conversational nature of the activity text itself.

  7. Alex

    What a great lesson! Thanks a lot!

    1. Justa

      We’re happy you like it!

  8. Zuzanna_M

    It’s a very nice lesson overall – well-structured and engaging!
    However, I found that exercise 2h) is misleading for students. They often get confused by the use of “can’t afford”. It might be clearer and more helpful if the example used “can afford” instead.

    1. Justa

      Thanks for taking the time to comment! Great to hear that you find this lesson so useful 🙂 And thanks for the suggestion, we’ll look into it!

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