ESL Business Lesson: Small Talk in the Workplace
🎯 Objective Students will be able to talk casually with co-workers using small talk expressions in English. 💬 1) Warm up: Do you talk to your coworkers during breaks? What are common small talk topics at your job? Is small talk important in business? 📚 2) Vocabulary and Phrases: Match the Phrases with their meaning 🕒 3) Dialogue Practice Kimberly: Hey Justin, how’s your day going?Justin: Not too bad. Busy morning though.Kimberly: Yeah, same here. Nice weather today, isn’t it?Justin: It is! Finally some sun. Did you catch the game last night?Kimberly: I did! That last goal was amazing.Justin: Totally. Let’s grab a coffee sometime and talk more about it.Kimberly: Sounds good. Anyway, I’d better get back to it.Justin: Me too. See you later! 🎭 4) Role Play Imagine you’re at your workplace — maybe in the break room, waiting for a meeting to start, or just passing a colleague in the hallway. Your task:Start a short, friendly conversation with a coworker. Use at least 3 small talk expressions from today’s lesson. Keep it polite, natural, and short — about 4–6 lines. You can talk about: The weather A recent event (like a game or holiday) Your workload Weekend plans Then, end the conversation politely, just like you would at work. 🗣️ 5) Reflection and Discussion Which small talk expressions felt the most natural for you to use? Was anything challenging about making small talk in English? How does small talk in English compare to small talk in your own language or culture? Can you think of a real situation at work where you could use small talk in English? What is one small goal you can set to improve your small talk skills this week? ✍🏼 6) Writing: You must be logged in to write/comment 🔁 7) Homework: Practice doing small talk with a coworker at work. Check your grammar knowledge: Grammar Challenge