What is this lesson about?

How much of anyone’s success is down to hard work, and how much is timing, family, connections and plain luck? This C1-C2 lesson invites advanced learners to look honestly at their own achievements, the head starts people rarely notice and the stories we tell about success. Students share out credit for something they’re proud of, bet on contested statements, work through dilemmas about who deserves the credit, and argue the side they disagree with.

What language will students learn?

Students use natural, high-level British English to talk about success, chance and fairness, including idioms and fixed expressions. The expressions come up through the speaking tasks rather than as a list to learn.

How do students practise?

• Sharing out credit for a personal achievement between effort, talent, timing and luck

• Owning up to small superstitions and the stories behind them

• Choosing which sayings about success to keep and which to bin

• Retelling success stories as tales of pure graft and pure luck

• Ranking the head starts that make the biggest difference in life

• Telling the story of a sliding doors moment

• Discussing who gave them a leg up and how they could pay it forward

  
  

Why is this lesson useful?

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to…

• use natural idioms about luck, effort and success accurately and in context

• shift between contrasting ways of telling the same story

• talk about sensitive topics such as privilege and fairness with nuance and tact

• tell an extended personal story

  
  

Who is it for?

C1-C2 adult learners in one-to-one or group classes, online or in person. The instructions work equally well one-to-one and in groups, and the lesson needs no preparation beyond printing the worksheet.