Pet Peeves

Pet Peeves

This ESL lesson plan invites adults and teens to explore pet peeves in a 60-minute group setting, promoting advanced speaking skills at a C1 level. Students will share their experiences with pet peeves, learn expressions for conveying annoyance, and match common pet peeves with reasons they might be bothersome. The lesson includes vocabulary building, guided discussion, and a presentation activity where students describe their top pet peeve using expressive language.

Skills

  • Can easily follow and contribute to complex interactions between third parties in group discussion even on abstract, complex unfamiliar topics.
  • Can use language flexibly and effectively for social purposes, including emotional, allusive and joking usage.
Online Interactive
Based on CEFR
Fully Customizable
1

Read the dialogue between two roommates, Shanti and Sarah.

00:41
S
Shanti
Hi Sarah, can I talk to you about something that's been bothering me lately?
S
Sarah
Sure, what is up?
S
Shanti
You know how we've been roommates for a few months now? Well, I have a bit of a pet peeve and I wanted to bring it up before it turns into a big issue.
S
Sarah
Oh no, did I do something wrong?
S
Shanti
No, it's not a big deal, it's just that sometimes when we're talking, you tend to speak really loudly and interrupt me and I feel like I can't finish my thoughts because you jump in so quickly.
S
Sarah
I'm so sorry! I don't mean to do that. Sometimes I get too excited and carried away in the conversation. Thank you for bringing this up. I promise to work on it.
S
Shanti
Thanks, Sarah. And if there are any pet peeves you have, don't hesitate to let me know.
2

Answer the question.

3

Discuss these questions.

4

Match the pet peeves with the reasons why people find them annoying. Then, rank them from most to least annoying and explain your reasoning.

5

Glossary

6

Fill in the blanks to discover ways to express annoyance.

7

Create a mini presentation about your biggest pet peeve. Use some of the expressions from the previous exercise.

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