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How´s your work/life balance?

Level: Intermediate- Advanced

Time: 30- 90 minutes

Language Focus: linking words and connectors, modal verbs

Skills: Reading, Writing, Speaking

1. Tell the learners that the topic for today´s lesson is linking words and ask them
what this term means to them. Ask them for any examples of linking words they can
give. The definition of linking words is, of course, very broad and could include a very
wide range of words and expressions. Personally, I see linking words as any word or
phrase which does not have any meaning in and of itself, but which can be used in
combination with other words in order to show a contrast, give a reason or provide
additional information, amongst other things.

2. Give the learners the “Linking Words Quiz” and make it clear to them that it´s OK if
they don´t score 100% on it. The point of this activity is to find out what they already
know about linking words and also where the gaps in their knowledge of them are, so
that you can work on filling these gaps together in the next stage of the lesson. Read
the sentences aloud to the group, leaving a gap for the answer to give the activity
more of a “quiz feel”.

3. Collect the answers to the quiz as a whole group activity as there should be at
least one person who has the correct answer to every question, and this will help to
boost morale within the group, if some participants find the activity challenging.
Reassure them that 3/ 8 is OK, 4/8 is good, 5/8 is very good, 6/8 is excellent and 7 or
8/8 is expert level.

4. Point out the position of the linking words in the sentences in the quiz and the fact
that despite and in spite of must be followed either by a noun or a verb in the –ing
form. Underline the fact that these “rules” can´t be ignored.

5. The learners now have a chance to practise what they have just learnt. Introduce
the topic of the text: work/ life balance and warm them up by asking what they
understand by that term and what they would see as being a “good” work/ life
balance or a “not so good” work/ life balance.

6. General vocabulary-learning is not the main focus of this exercise and the learners
should be encouraged to concentrate above all on the linking words, rather than on
any other language in the text. You know your group the best though, and if you feel
that some vocabulary pre-teaching would be beneficial for them, then these seven
items are the ones most likely to be unfamiliar: obtain, be on top of things, attempt,
retain, sanity, carry on, blame. It could also be interesting to give these seven

Copyright Claire Hart- Business English Lesson Plans (2011)


words/ expressions to the group in this order and ask them to predict the contents of
the text as a pre-reading task. The teacher could also point out that verbs such as
obtain, attempt and retain, are more often found in written English than spoken
English and ask them to consider what the spoken English equivalents would be (get,
try and keep).

7. The activity itself is fairly simple: the learners read the original text, which has the
linking words highlighted in bold, and then fold their paper over or cover up the top
half of the page and complete the second text, filling in the gaps with linking words.
Make it clear to the learners that they do not have to use exactly the same linking
words, but the linking word has to fit into the sentence and the sentence´s meaning
can´t be altered as a result.

8. When the learners have completed the activity, encourage group feedback on the
solutions that they have found since different participants are very likely to come up
with quite different possibilities. Some learners will try to reproduce the original words
from memory, while others will remain loyal to the linking words from the quiz and
there will also be others- the “mavericks” in the group- who will suggest that all of the
gaps could be filled with the word still, for example (which is incidentally not true!).

9. The text then provides a perfect springboard to discussion on the topic of work/ life
balance. Be aware of the fact that some participants will be willing to reveal personal
information about their own work/ life balance, but others won´t be, so you might want
to keep the discussion fairly neutral.

You can find additional materials on the topic work/ life balance online. This article
from Time is interesting because it shows the results of an international study into
which countries have the best (and worst) work/ life balance.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/06/04/overworked-no-way-10-countries-with-the-best-work-life-
balance/

10. The text also includes a number of modals and the exploration of the use of these
modal verbs could provide an interesting extension activity.

Copyright Claire Hart- Business English Lesson Plans (2011)


LINKING WORDS QUIZ

Complete the sentences with the correct linking word(s).

1. We didn´t get the contract, the company were, ____________, impressed by our
presentation.

a. although

b. however

c. since

2. ___________ the poor profitability of this product, we will have to withdraw it from
the market.

a. since

b. in any case

c. due to

3. The meeting got off to a slow start, ____________, we were still able to reach an
agreement on the key issues.

a. however

b. although

c. in fact

4. What we should do, _____________, is take a more aggressive approach to


marketing.

a. in fact

b. nevertheless

c. otherwise

Copyright Claire Hart- Business English Lesson Plans (2011)


5. His salary is higher than mine, _____________ we do the same job.

a. nevertheless

b. even though

c. despite

6. ____________ the fact that I told him very clearly that I can´t work weekends, he
still asked me if I could work on Saturday.

a. despite

b. nevertheless

c. although

7. You have to attend the meeting tomorrow ____________ you won´t know what the
future of the project will be.

a. nevertheless

b. otherwise

c. since

8. You must ensure that the report is completed by the end of the day
_____________ we have to present it to the boss tomorrow.

a. otherwise

b. though

c. since

Copyright Claire Hart- Business English Lesson Plans (2011)


How´s your work/ life balance?

Achieving a good work/life balance doesn´t have to be difficult, although, for some of
us it can prove harder to obtain than we might have imagined. Despite knowing that
working too hard can be bad for our health and our well-being, we nevertheless find
ourselves doing it on a regular basis. We often feel that we should stay at our desks
into the evening, even though we started work early in the morning. Some people
even feel that they have to work at the weekend since they won´t be on top of things
in the week ahead otherwise. Add to the mix hours spent travelling while on
business trips and you´re spending a lot of time on your work.

What can we do to solve this problem? There may be no solution in fact. In any
case, we should attempt to retain our sanity! Coffee definitely helps due to its ability
to make us feel more awake, so we have enough energy to carry on. Sleep, however,
is also good, as are hobbies and enjoying the little free time that you have. Whatever
happens you shouldn´t blame your employer! It´s not their fault- they just want the
best for you.

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How´s your work/ life balance?

Achieving a good work/life balance doesn´t have to be difficult, ______________, for


some of us it can prove harder to obtain than we might have imagined.
_____________ knowing that working too hard can be bad for our health and our
well-being, we ______________ find ourselves doing it on a regular basis. We often
feel that we should stay at our desks into the evening, ______________ we started
work early in the morning. Some people even feel that they have to work at the
weekend ______________ they won´t be on top of things in the week ahead
______________. Add to the mix hours spent travelling while on business trips and
you´re spending a lot of time on your work.

What can we do to solve this problem? There may be no solution ______________.


______________, we should attempt to retain our sanity! Coffee definitely helps
______________ its ability to make us feel more awake, so we have enough energy
to carry on. Sleep, ______________, is also good, as are hobbies and enjoying the
little free time that you have. ______________ happens you shouldn´t blame your
employer! It´s not their fault- they just want the best for you.

Copyright Claire Hart- Business English Lesson Plans (2011)


Copyright Claire Hart- Business English Lesson Plans (2011)

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