offer and respond to congratulations

1 | Offer and respond to congratulations • Unit 19 ©2018 Berlitz Languages, Inc.

In this lesson you will ...

Offer and respond to congratulations

Vocabulary & Expressions Language Focus

to congratulateto deserveto end upto toasthouse brand (own brand UK)

in orderto honor (honour UK) a commitmentto stink (up)at the helm

Offering and accepting congratulationsPrepositions (review): for, in, of, on, through, up, with, within (extension activity)

Greet students, review previous lesson and homework.

Review key points from previous lesson, check any assigned homework, and check for questions.

Set customized Speaking Goal. Ask questions to find out about students’ needs and experiences.

Did you say "Congratulations!" to someone recently? What was the

occasion? How would you offer a friend congratulations on his or her

birthday? What would you say to an acquaintance who has been

promoted? On what other occasions do people offer congratulations?

Set a customized speaking goal. For example: Our goal is to offer a colleague (or acquaintance) congratulations. Write the goal on the board.

Warm up. Have students read the conversation in the SG. Present and practice, as needed: to congratulate / to deserve / congratulations (rev.)

tell someone you are happy because of their success or good luck →

congratulate

to have earned something, be worthy of it → deserve

What is the person in the dialog being congratulated on? When is the last

time you were congratulated for something? etc.

On what occasions do you offer someone congratulations? List on the board and keep for later activity.

Warm-up

GOAL-SETTING01

UNIT 19

©2018 Berlitz Languages, Inc.

Present and practice, as needed: to assume responsibility (rev.) / to end up / to toast / house brand (own brand UK)

Rev: take on a leadership position → assume a leadership position

With a new position, do you also assume new responsibilities?

finally get to a particular place or position, sometimes by chance → end up

custom of drinking in honor of someone or to someone’s health (gesture:) → toast

Do manufacturers sometimes sell large retailers products that they can put

their own label and name on? → house brand

Who in your company has recently assumed a (leadership) position? When

was the last time you drank a toast? Can you think of any house brands?

1

Pre-listening. Have students look over the questions in the SG.

Say: Peter Crawford is the president of AP, a company owned by UEI. Peter was hired a year ago to turn AP around. He is meeting Allison Ward, the CEO of UEI, for lunch.

Can you guess what the answers might be? Encourage students to be creative.

Listening. As you listen, note the answers to the questions.

Play the audio one time without pausing. Then call on students to give their answers; insist on full-sentence responses. Encourage other students to fill in missing information. If any questions were not answered, play the audio again.

[ANSWERS: 1. the Shop Way deal 2. the possibility of a cheaper line to be

marketed as a house brand 3. the fine job he had done over the past year

4. making it one of UEI’s most successful profit centers 5. a period of

growth and expansion 6. for a person of Peter’s caliber 7. positions for

vice president / at the divisional level 8. several operating companies 9.

the future]

Post-listening. Why was Peter offered the job?

How long has he been at AP? What’s his position there?

Has he been a good leader at AP?

What position is he being offered at UEI?

If you were Peter, would you take the new position? Why (not)?

To the future!

Track:LISTENING

PRESENTATION

03

02

Offer and respond to congratulations • Unit 19 | 2


Present and practice: Offer and respond to congratulations

Brainstorm: What are some different ways to offer congratulations? Write students’ responses on the board.

Students compare their responses with those in the activity and, if relevant, with those in the Tip! box in the SG.

Present and practice vocabulary, as needed: tough (rev.) / in order

difficult, hard → tough

congratulations are due / appropriate / deserved → in order

Do you and your colleagues work in a tough business environment? Have

you finished the project yet? Are congratulations in order?

Congratulations

Skits

Refer back to the list (on the board) of situations where one would normally offer congratulations. Set roles, scenario, and purpose.

Pairs: Choose one or two situations. Practice offering and responding to congratulations using some of the different ways shown in the activity (and Useful Expressions).

Congratulations Useful Expressions

Present and practice, as needed: to honor (honour UK) a commitment / to stink (up) / to take over (rev.) /at the helm

Review: keep a commitment → honor a commitment

something smells very bad → it stinks

gain / assume control of (a company) → take over

in charge / responsible → at the helm

Why is it important for leaders to honor commitments? Do cigars / dirty

socks / rotten vegetables stink? Who is at the helm of your company?

PRESENTATION

PRACTICE

PRESENTATION

06

05

04


Pre-reading. In which part of a letter do you congratulate someone?

In which part do you wish him or her well?

What do you put in the middle of the letter?

Reading 1. Scrambled letter

Students put the letter in the correct order. If there are any variations, have students explain their reasoning. Go over clues in the letter that indicate the order.

[ANSWER: from top to bottom: 3 – 4 – 2 – 1]

Reading 2. A question with …

Read the following expressions aloud, one at a time. Call on a student to make a question based on the letter using the expression. Have another student answer.

a matter of time know about

at the helm took over

honor treat

stink up wish

Post-reading. What are some other ways to wish someone success? [Best of luck, Good luck]

What are some other ways to close an email or a letter? [Sincerely, Best wishes, Best regards]

Which are more formal? more friendly?

Offering congratulations to a new leader

Elicit what the lesson goal was from students or point to it on the board. Set or adapt purpose / scenario according to the customized student goal.

Pre-task. Go over the task card.

Brainstorm: What advice could you give to someone who has been promoted to a leadership position?

Encourage students to be creative and to add qualities they feel are essential to being a good leader.

Task. Using the letter in the previous activity as a model, draft a short email to your friend. Feel free to make up the name of the company and to add any other details you would like.

Post-task. Call on students to share their drafts. For a weak performance, set up a second enactment (topic: new job, offer congratulations and

Good luck!

PERFORMANCE

READING

08

07



advice) and focus on increasing speed, fluency, and confidence. For a strong performance, ask other students to listen and to provide suggestions for editing the draft.

Give feedback, correction, and praise. Ask students to say how they can use the language from this unit in their work. Confirm with students that they have achieved their goal. Assign homework.

Extension 1. Congratulations on …

Point out: Congratulations on is always followed by a noun or a gerund.Present the following situations and elicit the noun or gerund form of the underlined word.Your best friend has just gotten / got (UK) engaged.

Your colleague has won an award.

Your uncle has just retired.

Your supervisor has just been promoted.

A coworker has been appointed head of security. etc.Using the congratulations on … form for the above situations, students congratulate each other.

Extension 2. Preposition review

Have students complete the statements in the Word Power frame with one of the prepositions listed in the subheading. Check answers.

[ANSWERS: 1. on 2. in 3. for 4. with]

Time permitting: Write the prepositions in the middle column on the board. Tell students to create a table with three columns.Dictate the words or phrases in column one and then in column three. Check that students are writing the words in the correct columns. Students decide which preposition connects the phrases.Have students create questions using the completed phrases.a person / for / your caliber

a position / for / someone

assume responsibility / in / something

congratulate someone / of / something

end / on / doing something

go / through / a (difficult) period

impressed / up / something

interested / with / something

opportunity / within / an organization

For, in, of, on, through, up, with, or within?

CONSOLIDATE & APPLY09


[ANSWERS: a person of your caliber, a position for someone, assume

responsibility for something, congratulate someone on something, end up

doing something, go through a (difficult) period, impressed with something,

interested in something, opportunity within an organization]

Remind students to complete their homework activities online.ONLINE PRACTICE10


offer and respond to congratulations

Documents