B1 – Choosing a Place to Live

A quick update on the new group lessons on Preply – they aren’t going as well as I hoped for. To have a class, you need at least two people to sign up for the class. Unfortunately, I keep getting stuck on one student only! This hasn’t stopped me from continuing with group lesson planning and developing my courses. After all, I can always use those plans with my private students.

The second lesson of the My Space, My Place course is about choosing the right place to live. In this lesson, students talk about their current houses or flats and discuss which additional features they would like to have in their future housing. To expose students to authentic language experience, this class is based on two short videos in which two real estate agents talk about existing properties and all the features included. This should prepare students to look for their ideal place and help them with the language needed to describe their housing needs.

Scroll to the end of the post to get the lesson plan and the presentation.

Start the lesson by revising the housing vocabulary. Look at the main rooms in the house and brainstorm as many words associated with these rooms (objects and furniture) in pairs or small groups. This should provide a good warm-up and put the students into the mindset of speaking in English from the very beginning.

Since the class relies heavily on videos and listening, I think that it’s good to let students speak for as long as possible. Then slowly transition from the warm-up to a group discussion. Allow students to talk about the houses and flats they live in right now. Think about the features they are missing in their current locations and what they would like to have in their future accommodation, for example, a spacious kitchen or two sinks in the bathroom. Let the imagination run loose!

Proceed by watching two authentic videos of real estate agents presenting two flats, in Reading and Milan. It is a great opportunity to listen to a native and a non-native speaker using the target language naturally. If you watch the videos on YouTube, you can use subtitles in case there are any difficulties with understanding. Before turning on the videos, ask the following questions: What are the benefits and drawbacks of each accommodation? Which place would you prefer to live in?

After discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each location and choosing the place students would like to live in, watch the videos one more time, this time focusing on details. Show questions regarding both flats and decide whether they refer to the place in Reading, Milan, or both. Some of the questions are: Which flat is fully furnished? Which flat is conveniently located? Which place is brand new?

Practise some new vocabulary by reading three short flat descriptions and filling the gaps with the words. I wanted accommodation descriptions that are real and commonly seen online. I found and adapted three from the website Eat, Sleep, Wander. Once the descriptions are completed, students work individually and match them with three types of people looking for a new place to live: a businessperson, two university students and a couple with a dog. Students present their decisions and justify their choices.

The class ends with a short roleplay. One of the students acts as a potential renter who describes their situation and needs. Students get to choose one of the three roles: a family of four, a couple and a single businessperson. The real estate agent presents their three flats and chooses the one that best suits their needs. If you have more time, you can also ask students to present their actual situation and needs and pick a place that would be best for them in real life.

In case you have some extra time left, there are additional group class discussion questions in which students describe their perfect location and what features they would like to have in their ideal accommodation. Encourage students to use newly learnt vocabulary.

If you liked this lesson plan, make sure to have a look at Lesson 1 – Our Home, Our World. Click below to download the files!