ESL WORKSHEET - Making Apologies and Excuses

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

SAYING SORRY

LinguaHouse
Nov. 20, 2023

Level: Pre-Intermediate (A2-B1)
Type of English: General English
Tags: Socializing; Apologizing and Forgiving; Making Apologies and Excuses; 13-15 Years Old; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old; Speaking; Vocabulary Lesson
Publication date: 11/20/2023

In this lesson, students develop their conversational skills by practicing how to say sorry for something. The students start with a short discussion and then make predictions about why someone is apologizing. They then develop their listening skills with three short conversations and complete gist and comprehension tasks before identifying the functional language used for apologies. They then practice the language in a variety of engaging and communicative tasks. They finish the lesson by consolidating and personalizing the language in a roleplay task. There is an additional speaking practice task (by Victoria Aitken).

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audios (Am/Br English).

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

Conversation 1
Jack: I’m sorry Kim, are you ok?
Kim: Yes, that was lucky, I nearly dropped my coffee.
Jack: I’m sorry, it is my fault, I wasn’t paying attention.
Kim: Don’t worry about it.
Jack: I will look where I am going next time.

Conversation 2
Ned: Hi Sacha, do you like the book I lend you?
Sacha: I wanted to talk to you about that. I loved the book, but my new puppy thought it was a toy and chewed the pages. I sincerely apologize, I feel bad about it.
Ned: Oh, that’s ok. I remember my dog chewed everything when he was young.
Sacha: Thank you, I will buy you a new copy.

Conversation 3
Mr. Cole: Good morning, Gary, nice of you to join us.
Gary: Please accept my apologies. I missed the bus.
Mr. Cole: Never mind, take a seat.
Gary: Thank you, I will be on time next week.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/saying-sorry. Accessed on November 22, 2023. © 2008–2023 LinguaHouse.com. All rights reserved.