Maximum Variety
16 exercises
Note: Today's post includes 5 UI discussion exercises, 2 expressing-opinions activities with audio, and 9 artificial intelligence in business exercises (3 with audio). Paid subscribers can download all the content at the end of the post.
Today, I want to discuss the importance of variety in teaching. While teaching a course with materials from other instructors, I gradually incorporated my own content. The course's effectiveness improved with each iteration, leading me to analyze why. Two key factors emerged: First, the content was precisely calibrated to student abilities. Second, and more importantly, the diverse teaching activities created an engaging, dynamic learning experience.
Maximum variety has become one of my core teaching principles. The most effective courses maintain engagement through diverse activities. While achieving this variety was challenging before AI, it's now feasible. Today, I've developed two new exercises: a mobile UI discussion activity and a listening-based opinion expression exercise.
Mobile UI Q and A exercises
Tipping
Tipping is an ideal topic for English language learners given its universal relevance. Through the Tip Tracker app worksheet, students practice essential language skills while exploring payment customs across cultures. The activity naturally prompts discussions about service expectations, cultural differences, and modern payment technologies as students share personal experiences and compare their tipping practices.
AI Language Learning Chatbot
AI chatbots are part of everyday life now, making them an engaging topic for ESL students. This worksheet explores how the fictional LinguaGenius app helps students practice business scenarios and communication skills using a mobile user interface. Students can discuss AI's role in business English while building essential vocabulary about technology and professional communication.
Customer Order Tracking
Almost everyone has anxiously tracked a package - whether it's a birthday gift, important documents, or something they ordered online. This familiar experience of checking delivery apps and chatting with tracking bots makes it a goldmine for ESL discussions. Students' personal stories about late deliveries, wrong addresses, or successful tracking create natural opportunities to practice vocabulary like "estimated arrival," "delivery status," and "notification updates." The worksheet gets students talking about how technology has changed the way we track packages, building their English skills through a daily experience they all understand and care about.
Expressing Opinions Listening Exercises
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence shapes how we interact with the world - from managing road rage to handling dentist visits. This listening activity taps into students' daily lives , helping them explore and discuss abilities, skills and feelings in English. Through relatable scenarios like public speaking jitters, late-night gaming habits, and food cravings, students build essential vocabulary while reflecting on their own emotional awareness. The accompanying images, dialogue prompts and audio encourage students to explore how emotional intelligence impacts their lives, all while practicing key language skills.
Expressing Opinions about the Future
Everyone dreams about their future - whether it's landing that first job, buying a dream house, or exploring new countries. This worksheet engages students' natural interest in their future plans to build essential English skills for expressing goals, aspirations, and uncertainties. Through relatable topics like career choices, marriage, travel, and technology, students practice modal verbs and future tenses while sharing personal hopes and concerns. The mix of viewpoints in the sample responses helps generate authentic discussions about life choices and future possibilities.
Artificial Intelligence in Business
As I promised last week The AI in Business set includes:
Brainstorm
Visual vocabulary
Dialogue (audio)
Grammar
Critical Thinking
Expressing Opinions (audio)
Grammar Role Play (audio)
Parts of Speech
Vocabulary Review Quiz
AI is reshaping how businesses operate, from customer service chatbots to automated manufacturing. This set of worksheets introduces essential AI vocabulary through real-world business applications, helping students connect technical terms with practical examples they encounter in daily life - from virtual assistants scheduling their meetings to predictive analytics shaping their shopping recommendations.