What is this lesson about?

Everyone’s an expert now. Health tips from influencers, money advice from strangers, confident claims from the uncle at dinner: this lesson gets C1-C2 learners talking about who they trust, why bold voices so often drown out careful ones, and how to question a claim without sounding like a know-it-all. Students own up to their own armchair moments, rank sources of advice, practise sounding like a genuinely careful expert and work through real-life dilemmas.

What language will students learn?

Students use natural, high-level British English for questioning claims, hedging, conceding a point and disagreeing tactfully, including idioms and fixed expressions native speakers use without thinking. The expressions come up through the speaking tasks rather than as a list to learn.

How do students practise?

●       Reacting to classic lines from armchair experts

●       Owning up to their own overconfident moments

●       Ranking sources of advice and explaining their choices

●       Weighing up two views on experts and ordinary voices

●       Discussing how to tell real expertise from confidence

●       Predicting another person’s answers and checking their guesses

●       Deciding how to handle misinformation from family, colleagues and friends

●       Telling a story about advice they took or ignored

●       Agreeing, disagreeing and partly agreeing with opinions

Why is this lesson useful?

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

●       use natural idioms about trust, evidence and advice accurately and in context

●       question or correct someone tactfully in a social situation

●       concede a point and push back politely

●       tell an engaging story using a range of past forms and reflective language

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.