Intermediate ESL Speaking 2 - Unusual Jobs

ESL Intermediate Speaking Unit: Jobs & Careers

Exciting, Engaging, and Thought-Provoking Job-Themed ESL Lessons for ELL Students!

About This ESL Unit

This dynamic Intermediate Speaking ESL unit from SuperEnglishESL.com is designed to help ELL students build confidence in discussing jobs and careers while improving fluency in real-world English conversations. Covering topics from unusual and dangerous jobs to disgusting and dream careers, this unit helps students practice descriptive language, opinions, and critical thinking skills.

With interactive discussions, engaging role-plays, and vocabulary-building activities, this unit is perfect for online ESL classes, group lessons, and traditional classrooms. It equips English learners with practical speaking skills while keeping lessons fun and engaging!


Lesson Overviews

Lesson 1: Unusual Jobs – The Strangest Ways to Make Money

Students explore some of the world’s most unusual jobs, from video game testers to professional cuddlers and snake milkers! This lesson encourages discussions about job preferences, ethics, and the skills needed for odd careers.

Lesson Features:

✔️ Warm-up: “Would You Rather?” job-related questions
✔️ Reading & Discussion: Unique jobs, their requirements, and why people choose them
✔️ Vocabulary Focus: professional, rate, cuddle, venom, odor, comfort
✔️ Grammar & Sentence Structures: Giving opinions and making comparisons
✔️ Interactive Elements: Role-play a conversation about convincing a friend to take a strange job
✔️ Real-Life Applications: Discussing unique side hustles and how jobs evolve


Lesson 2: Dangerous Jobs – Risky Careers & Brave Workers

This lesson highlights some of the world’s most dangerous jobs, such as crocodile trainers, high-rise window cleaners, and deep-sea welders. Students discuss why people choose risky jobs and debate if high-risk jobs should come with higher pay.

Lesson Features:

✔️ Warm-up: “What’s the most dangerous activity you’d try?” discussion
✔️ Reading & Discussion: The risks, rewards, and skills needed for extreme jobs
✔️ Vocabulary Focus: dare, current, reflex, risky, electrocute, weld
✔️ Grammar & Sentence Structures: Expressing opinions and debating pros & cons
✔️ Interactive Elements: Ranking the most dangerous jobs
✔️ Real-Life Applications: Talking about job safety and workplace hazards


Lesson 3: Gross Jobs – The Most Disgusting Careers

Students learn about the world’s most revolting jobs, from crime scene cleaners to sewer workers and maggot farmers. They explore why these jobs are important and whether they could handle doing them.

Lesson Features:

✔️ Warm-up: “What’s the grossest thing you’ve ever touched?” discussion
✔️ Reading & Discussion: Why people do disgusting jobs and how society benefits from them
✔️ Vocabulary Focus: breed, portable, sanitize, larvae, escape, scene
✔️ Grammar & Sentence Structures: Describing processes and discussing job difficulties
✔️ Interactive Elements: Role-play a conversation about choosing between two gross jobs
✔️ Real-Life Applications: Discussing sanitation, waste management, and public health


Lesson 4: Dream Jobs – Fantasy vs. Reality

This lesson encourages students to think critically about their dream jobs and explore whether these careers are as perfect as they seem. Topics include becoming an influencer, a pro athlete, a musician, or a travel blogger.

Lesson Features:

✔️ Warm-up: “If money didn’t exist, what would you do?” discussion
✔️ Reading & Discussion: The realities of glamorous careers—fame, hard work, and sacrifices
✔️ Vocabulary Focus: influencer, passion, patience, rejected, privacy, reality
✔️ Grammar & Sentence Structures: Using modal verbs to discuss possibilities (“might,” “could”)
✔️ Interactive Elements: Debating if influencers should be considered real workers
✔️ Real-Life Applications: Discussing career goals and making realistic job plans


Who Is This Unit For?

ELL students at Intermediate (B1-B2) levels
Teens and young adults in online ESL classes, group discussions, or classroom settings
ESL teachers looking for engaging, real-world speaking practice


Downloadable Materials

📄 Lesson previews & worksheets
🎲 Speaking games & role-playing activities
📚 Reading passages & discussion prompts
🔊 Vocabulary-building exercises


Teacher Tips

📌 Encourage students to share their own job ambitions and experiences
📌 Use videos or images of unusual jobs to spark discussion
📌 Set up mock job interviews to practice real-world conversation skills


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