LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERSWORK AND MEANING
LinguaHouse
Mar. 24, 2023
Level: Mixed Levels (B2-C1 and C1-C2)
Type of English: Business English
Tags: Problems at Work; Companies and Jobs; Human Resources (HR); Business People; Small Business; 18+ Years Old; Article Based
Publication date: 03/24/2023
This lesson looks at what it is that gives our work meaning and how important it is to have meaning in our jobs. Students will read an article on the topic and listen to three people talk about their work and what gives it meaning. Exercises focus on reading and listening skills, related vocabulary and provide an opportunity for discussion. An optional writing task at the end provides practice with describing a graph (by Joe Wilson).
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
Speaker 1: When I left school, I was so excited to be an adult. I wanted the independence, the lifestyle and most importantly, the money. We’d never had enough when I was growing up. My dad left when I was young and it was just me and Mom and my two sisters. Everything felt really stretched and we were never able to have a lot of anything. Like, we’d sit down to watch a film and there was popcorn, but it was one little bag between all of us. I wanted to do really well for myself and stop worrying about how much of everything I was using. I went into banking and worked really hard to get my career off the ground. So I had the money now, but I’d groan every morning when I woke up for work. It was stressful and honestly, I just didn’t care about any of it. I started doing yoga to relax. I got really friendly with my teacher and we even went to India together to do a course in it. I ended up leaving banking to teach yoga to others. I love working with people rather than being stuck behind a desk and I feel so good. I’ve got less money and have to watch what I spend, but I’d much rather have a life I love. Took my ten years of misery to work it out, but better late than never, I suppose.
Speaker 2: I wanted to be a photographer from day one. Nothing else interested me at school and I loved spending time cycling around the area where I lived and taking photos of birds and the animals I’d see around a river that I’d go to. I wanted to make my mark on the world of photography, but knew that nature photography wasn’t going to pay much immediately, so I started doing portraits. I bought a lot of photography equipment and set up a studio which was really expensive and used up most of my savings. Unfortunately, I quickly found out that the truth of my job was that there were a lot more emails and dealing with people than actual photography. Also, the photos I was taking just felt like the same ones all the time and everyone wants to look like something they aren’t these days. I ended up getting a job selling cameras and not even using my own for years. I just feel as though I haven’t got what it takes to be a photographer. Now though, I’ve been promoted and I make reasonable money from my job. So at the weekends, I go out and photograph what I want without having to explain it to anyone. Next month, I’m going to Africa to see what I do there. I’m so excited. Sales isn’t exactly what I want, but it lets me do this and that makes me happy.
Speaker 3: I got a job in a bakery after I left school because I didn’t really know what else to do. Twenty years later, I’m still here. I’m not sure that baking bread and making cakes is really what interests me, but we have such a great team. Honestly, I laugh out loud every day. The rest of the team are fantastic and we have such a good time together. I’ve learned a lot and I’m actually pretty great at what I do and have put those skills to good effect. We’re always busy and it makes me happy to see the products I make be so popular. I sometimes have people I was at school with coming in and saying things like ‘Wow, you still work here?’ as though I have a long way to go in life. But I just ignore it. I’m really happy and the idea of getting another job just doesn’t interest me. I’m part of something here. It always smells fantastic and people come into a bakery to get things they really want. So everyone is always happy when they’re here. Who wouldn’t want that? If you want to be a lawyer or a banker with loads of money and a nice car, I wish you the best of luck with that, I’m happy for you. But you’re not going to see the light in a child’s eyes when you give them a cake, and that’s what makes me happy.
Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/business-english/work-and-meaning. Accessed on March 28, 2023. © 2008–2023 LinguaHouse.com. All rights reserved.
Type of English: Business English
Tags: Problems at Work; Companies and Jobs; Human Resources (HR); Business People; Small Business; 18+ Years Old; Article Based
Publication date: 03/24/2023
This lesson looks at what it is that gives our work meaning and how important it is to have meaning in our jobs. Students will read an article on the topic and listen to three people talk about their work and what gives it meaning. Exercises focus on reading and listening skills, related vocabulary and provide an opportunity for discussion. An optional writing task at the end provides practice with describing a graph (by Joe Wilson).
- CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English (L5).
- CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English (L6).
- CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English (L5).
- CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English (L6).
- CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in American English.
- CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English (L5).
- CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English (L6).
- CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English (L5).
- CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English (L6).
- CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in British English.
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
Speaker 1: When I left school, I was so excited to be an adult. I wanted the independence, the lifestyle and most importantly, the money. We’d never had enough when I was growing up. My dad left when I was young and it was just me and Mom and my two sisters. Everything felt really stretched and we were never able to have a lot of anything. Like, we’d sit down to watch a film and there was popcorn, but it was one little bag between all of us. I wanted to do really well for myself and stop worrying about how much of everything I was using. I went into banking and worked really hard to get my career off the ground. So I had the money now, but I’d groan every morning when I woke up for work. It was stressful and honestly, I just didn’t care about any of it. I started doing yoga to relax. I got really friendly with my teacher and we even went to India together to do a course in it. I ended up leaving banking to teach yoga to others. I love working with people rather than being stuck behind a desk and I feel so good. I’ve got less money and have to watch what I spend, but I’d much rather have a life I love. Took my ten years of misery to work it out, but better late than never, I suppose.
Speaker 2: I wanted to be a photographer from day one. Nothing else interested me at school and I loved spending time cycling around the area where I lived and taking photos of birds and the animals I’d see around a river that I’d go to. I wanted to make my mark on the world of photography, but knew that nature photography wasn’t going to pay much immediately, so I started doing portraits. I bought a lot of photography equipment and set up a studio which was really expensive and used up most of my savings. Unfortunately, I quickly found out that the truth of my job was that there were a lot more emails and dealing with people than actual photography. Also, the photos I was taking just felt like the same ones all the time and everyone wants to look like something they aren’t these days. I ended up getting a job selling cameras and not even using my own for years. I just feel as though I haven’t got what it takes to be a photographer. Now though, I’ve been promoted and I make reasonable money from my job. So at the weekends, I go out and photograph what I want without having to explain it to anyone. Next month, I’m going to Africa to see what I do there. I’m so excited. Sales isn’t exactly what I want, but it lets me do this and that makes me happy.
Speaker 3: I got a job in a bakery after I left school because I didn’t really know what else to do. Twenty years later, I’m still here. I’m not sure that baking bread and making cakes is really what interests me, but we have such a great team. Honestly, I laugh out loud every day. The rest of the team are fantastic and we have such a good time together. I’ve learned a lot and I’m actually pretty great at what I do and have put those skills to good effect. We’re always busy and it makes me happy to see the products I make be so popular. I sometimes have people I was at school with coming in and saying things like ‘Wow, you still work here?’ as though I have a long way to go in life. But I just ignore it. I’m really happy and the idea of getting another job just doesn’t interest me. I’m part of something here. It always smells fantastic and people come into a bakery to get things they really want. So everyone is always happy when they’re here. Who wouldn’t want that? If you want to be a lawyer or a banker with loads of money and a nice car, I wish you the best of luck with that, I’m happy for you. But you’re not going to see the light in a child’s eyes when you give them a cake, and that’s what makes me happy.
Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/business-english/work-and-meaning. Accessed on March 28, 2023. © 2008–2023 LinguaHouse.com. All rights reserved.
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