Master all four perfect tenses – present perfect simple and continuous, past perfect simple and continuous – through the natural, everyday context of catching up with an old friend in English.
Main objectives of this material
- Develop advanced workplace vocabulary related to email etiquette and professional conflict, including expressions such as put someone on the defensive, incivility, belittle, get something off your plate, frazzled, hostile in tone, elevate an issue and carefully considered.
- Improve listening and speaking skills by analysing a BBC 6 Minute English discussion on rude emails and debating statements about emojis, CC’ing managers and whether busy modern workplaces make us less polite.
- Learn and practise the functional language of professional emails using a structured phrase bank of greetings, openings, acknowledgements, delay explanations, requests and sign-offs, such as I’m writing to follow up on..., I have a lot on my plate right now, but I will get back to you shortly, and I’d like to discuss this with you directly before we elevate the issue, in order to write replies that stay polite even under time pressure.
What students are going to cover
In this lesson, students will explore why work emails so often feel rude and what makes a message land as hostile in tone. They will build vocabulary related to workplace incivility, conflict and workload, then analyse a 6 Minute English discussion that explains the fight-or-flight responses behind uncivil emails, the “justify your job or resign” message, and the Pause Rule. Students work through a matching task, a gap-fill and a B2 master email phrase bank, and write three short emails: a polite holding reply when frazzled, a conflict-resolution message that avoids elevating the issue, and a delegation request. By the end of the lesson, learners will be able to recognise the language that puts a reader on the defensive, structure a professional email from greeting to sign-off, and rewrite a rude message in civil, diplomatic English.
🔒 Part of Complete · B2
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