Is hosting the Olympics worth it?
Lesson plan overview
This ESL lesson plan is about hosting the Olympic Games, and whether or not it pays off to host the Olympics. It can be taught as a Business English lesson, as well as a general English lesson. Students will learn useful vocabulary to talk about budgets and projects,as well as adjectives to describe buildings and neighborhoods, will discuss organizing major events, and will watch a video about hosting the Olympics. Other lessons you might find interesting are: “Gentrification”, “How are sports chosen for the Olympic games?“, “Financial tips for athletes”, “Using sports psychology to improve our everyday lives”, “Doping in sports”, “Phrasal verbs: project management”, and “Idioms: preparation and organisation”.
Speaking: The lesson starts with a discussion about major events (the Olympics, The World Cup, World Expo, etc.). Students discuss a few questions about organizing and hosting these events. Next, students discuss how different groups or businesses might be affected by a city hosting the Olympic Games (e.g. local residents, local government, hospitality industry construction companies).
Vocabulary: Students read sentences about hosting the Olympics and match expressions from the sentences to their definitions (legacy, repurposed, toursim boost, go over budget, stay on budget, underutilized, white elephant).
Speaking: Students look at different statements and say which ones they agree with and why. Then, they are asked to give examples of projects, events, or buildings, using the key vocabulary from this lesson.
Video: Students watch a video called Hosting the Olympics: are the economic benefits worth the spending?, and complete 2 listening comprehension activities.
Speaking: Students work in pairs or small groups and prepare a bid for their city to host the Olympics, using vocabulary from this lesson.
Vocabulary extension: Students learn adjectives to describe buildings and neighborhoods (e.g. fallen into despair, up-and-coming, bustling, decrepit, gentrified) and complete 2 practice activities: First, they look at 4 photos and use adjectives to describe them. Finally, they are asked to prepare an urban renewal plan, identifying buildings in their city that need to be renovated, preserved, or repurposed.
For more speaking practice, you can check out the conversation cards.
Unlock these resources with one of our subscription plans
Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
Pre-class activities
All video-based ESL lesson plans include online pre-class activities, which are FREE and can be completed without registration. Perfect for teachers who wish to embrace the blended learning approach. By providing students with resources and engagement opportunities before the actual class session, educators can foster active participation, enhance comprehension, and optimise in-class discussions.
The pre-class activities are optional: if you choose not to assign them, or your students don’t complete them, it will not disturb the flow of the class. You can find and review the pre-class activities for this lesson plan here:
To send the pre-class activities to your students, copy the link below.
In-class activities
To download the PDF files for this lesson, you need to have an active Premium or Premium + subscription.
Browse FREE lesson plans here.
Additional resources
Each video-based lesson plan includes links to additional resources (videos and articles), which are FREE can be found online (in the pre-class activities page. These links aim to extend the learning experience, enabling students to connect classroom knowledge with real-world applications.
Unlock these resources with one of our subscription plans
Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
Not sure yet?
Try one of our FREE lessons plans
Share this lesson plan with someone who will find it useful