Talking about changes in life

This ESL lesson plan is designed to help learners confidently discuss life changes in family and work contexts. This lesson focuses on building practical vocabulary and phrases that are simple, relevant, and applicable to everyday conversations.

By exploring key terms like “move,” “married,” “job,” and “promoted,” along with versatile sentence structures, students will gain the tools to share personal experiences and engage in meaningful dialogues.

Through interactive activities like role-plays, timeline creation, and personalized discussions, learners will practice speaking, listening, and writing in a supportive environment.

The lesson is adaptable for various proficiency levels, culturally sensitive, and designed to make real-life topics accessible and engaging.

Basic vocabulary

Introduce keywords related to life changes in family and work contexts. These should be simple, commonly used, and relevant to everyday conversations.

Vocabulary list

• Change: A difference or shift in life (e.g., “A big change happened in my life”).
• Family: People related to you (e.g., parents, siblings, spouse, children).
• Work: A job or professional activity (e.g., “I work as a teacher”).
• Job: A specific role or position (e.g., “I got a new job”).
• Move: To change location or residence (e.g., “I moved to a new city”).
• Married: Having a spouse (e.g., “I got married last year”).
• Baby: A newborn child (e.g., “We had a baby”).
• Career: A long-term profession or work path (e.g., “I changed my career”).
• Promoted: Moved to a higher position at work (e.g., “I was promoted to manager”).
• Quit: To leave a job (e.g., “I quit my job”).

Vocabulary for extension

1. Relocate: To move to a new place, often for work or family (e.g., “I relocated to London”).
2. Engaged: Planning to get married (e.g., “We got engaged last month”).
3. Divorce: To end a marriage (e.g., “They got divorced”).
4. Retire: To stop working, usually due to age (e.g., “My dad retired last year”).
5. Career switch: Changing to a different profession (e.g., “I made a career switch to teaching”).
6. Freelance: Working independently, not for one company (e.g., “I’m freelancing now”).
7. Layoff: Losing a job due to company decisions (e.g., “I was laid off”).
8. Parenthood: The state of being a parent (e.g., “Parenthood changed my life”).
9. Transfer: Moving to a different branch or location in a job (e.g., “I was transferred to the New York office”).
10. Balance: Managing multiple responsibilities (e.g., “I’m learning to balance work and family”).

Teaching tips

• Use visuals like timelines or photos (e.g., a family photo, a workplace) to connect vocabulary to real-life scenarios.
• Practice pronunciation, especially for tricky words like “promoted” (/prəˈmoʊtɪd/) or “relocate” (/ˌriːloʊˈkeɪt/).
• Create flashcards with words and definitions or pictures to reinforce memory.

Useful Phrases

Teach simple, versatile sentence structures for describing life changes. These phrases should allow learners to express past changes, current situations, and future plans.

Key phrases

1. Describing family changes
   • “I got married [last year/in 2023].”
   • “We had a baby, so life is different now.”
   • “My family moved to [city/country].”
   • “I’m engaged to [name/person].”
2. Describing work changes
   • “I started a new job as a [job title].”
   • “I was promoted to [position].”
   • “I quit my job to [reason, e.g., study].”
   • “I changed my career to [new field].”
3. General changes
   • “A big change in my life was [event].”
   • “I moved to [place] because of [reason].”
   • “My life is different now because [reason].”
   • “I’m trying to balance [work/family].”
4. Asking questions
   • “What’s new in your life?”
   • “Have you had any big changes recently?”
   • “Did you change jobs?”
   • “How is your family doing?”

Teaching tips

• Write phrases on a board or handout, and model their use with examples (e.g., “I got married last year.”).
• Have learners substitute their own experiences into the phrases (e.g., “I started a new job as a ____.”).
• Practice question forms to encourage interactive dialogue.

Example conversations

Use short, realistic dialogues to model how to discuss life changes. These examples should show both asking and answering questions, with increasing complexity.

Conversation 1: Basic exchange (Family focus)

Emma: Hi, Maria! What’s new in your life?
Maria: Oh, a big change! I got married last month.
Emma: Wow, congratulations! Who did you marry?
Maria: His name is Juan. We live in Madrid now.
Emma: That’s so exciting! Are you happy there?
Maria: Yes, it’s great, but very busy!

Conversation 2: Work focus

Liam: Hey, Ahmed, have you had any big changes recently?
Ahmed: Yes, I started a new job last week.
Liam: Really? What do you do now?
Ahmed: I’m a software engineer at a tech company.
Liam: Cool! Why did you change jobs?
Ahmed: I wanted a better balance between work and family.

Conversation 3: Advanced (Mixed family and work)

Sophie: Hi, Raj! I heard you moved. Where are you now?
Raj: Yeah, I relocated to Canada for work.
Sophie: That’s a big change! What happened?
Raj: I was transferred to our Toronto office, and my family came with me.
Sophie: Nice! How’s your family doing?
Raj: Good, but my kids are still adjusting to the new school.

Teaching tips

• Role-play these conversations, switching roles to practice both asking and answering.
• Encourage learners to create their own dialogues using personal experiences.
• In group settings, pair students to practice, prompting them to ask follow-up questions for natural conversation flow.

Teaching strategy

Here’s a step-by-step plan to teach this topic effectively.

Step 1: Warm-up (5 minutes)

• Start with a question: “What’s one big change in your life?” (As Grok, you could say, “I got a big update from xAI, so I’m ready to help you!”).
• Show a timeline graphic (past → present) and ask learners to name one family or work change they’ve experienced.

Step 2: Vocabulary introduction (10 minutes)

• Present the core and extended vocabulary using visuals (e.g., a picture of a family or an office).
• Practice pronunciation and have learners repeat words like “relocate” or “parenthood.”
• Play a quick matching game: Pair words (e.g., “promoted”) with definitions or scenarios (e.g., “getting a higher job position”).

Step 3: Phrase practice (10 minutes)

• Display key phrases and model their use (e.g., “I quit my job to study.”).
• Have learners practice by filling in blanks with their own details (e.g., “I moved to ____ because ____.”).
• Correct grammar and pronunciation gently, focusing on natural speech.

Step 4: Conversation practice (15 minutes)

• Read through one example conversation as a model, emphasizing intonation and pacing.
• Pair learners (or role-play with them) to practice the dialogues, substituting personal details.
• Encourage follow-up questions to extend the conversation (e.g., “Why did you move?”).

Step 5: Wrap-up and personalization (5 minutes)

• Ask each learner to share one sentence about a life change (e.g., “I started a new job last year.”).
• Provide feedback on fluency and accuracy.
• Assign homework: Write 3-5 sentences about a family or work change, or practice a dialogue with a friend.

Additional tips

• Cultural sensitivity: Be mindful that some learners may find topics like divorce or job loss sensitive. Allow them to share what they’re comfortable with.
• Visual aids: Use timelines, family trees, or workplace images to make vocabulary and phrases more relatable.
• Listening practice: Share a short audio or video clip (e.g., from a language learning resource) of people discussing life changes to expose learners to different accents.
• Adapt for level: For beginners, focus on simple phrases like “I got married.” For intermediate learners, encourage detailed explanations (e.g., “I changed careers because I wanted to help people.”).
• Incorporate technology: Use online tools like a virtual timeline creator or Google Slides to let learners map out their life changes visually.

Common mistakes to address

• Grammar: Learners might say “I marry last year” instead of “I got married last year.” Emphasize past tense forms (e.g., “got,” “was,” “changed”).
• Word choice: Clarify differences between “job” (specific role) and “career” (long-term profession), or “move” (change location) and “relocate” (often for work).
• Pronunciation: Practice words like “relocate” (/ˌriːloʊˈkeɪt/) Saurabh) or “promoted” to ensure clarity.

Example activity: “Life change timeline”

• Ask learners to draw a simple timeline of their life and mark 2-3 major changes (e.g., got married, changed jobs).
• Have them present their timeline to a partner or the class, using phrases like “In 2020, I moved to…” or “Last year, I was promoted to…”.
• Encourage partners to ask questions like “Why did you change jobs?” to practice conversation skills.

Homework or follow-up

• Writing: Write a short paragraph (5-7 sentences) about a major life change, using at least 5 vocabulary words.
• Speaking: Record a 1-minute audio or video describing a family or work change, using key phrases.
• Research: Find a short article or video about someone’s career change or family milestone and summarize it in English.