Weekend regrets: expressing past mistakes and advice

Summary

This 90-minute ESL lesson for B1 learners explores Weekend regrets: expressing past mistakes and advice through a real audio recording. Across 9 interactive exercises, you'll develop listening comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, speaking skills — all built around authentic English content.

What you'll practise:

• 5 key vocabulary items with definitions and usage notes
• Grammar focus: Using 'should have' for regrets and advice with examples and practice
• Gap-fill and cloze exercises to test vocabulary in context
• Error correction to sharpen grammar awareness
• A reading passage to practise newly learned language

Lesson activities (9 exercises)

Each exercise builds on the previous one. Work through them in order for the best learning experience.

1. Warm-up — Discussion questions to activate what you already know about the topic.
2. Comprehension — Answer questions to check your understanding of the main ideas and supporting details.
3. Vocabulary — Learn key words and expressions from the audio recording, with definitions and usage notes.
4. Fill the gaps — Complete sentences with the correct vocabulary. Drag and drop or type your answers.
5. Grammar — Study Using 'should have' for regrets and advice — explanation, examples, and key rules.
6. Error correction — Find and fix the mistake in each sentence — a great grammar workout.
7. Reading — Read a short passage on the topic and answer comprehension questions.
8. Discussion — Reflect on the topic and share your opinions using the language you've learned.

Vocabulary

This lesson introduces 5 key terms drawn directly from the audio recording:

• to kick oneself — to be very annoyed with yourself because you did something stupid or missed an opportunity.
• to get carried away — to become so excited or involved in something that you lose control of your actions.
• should have known better — a phrase used to admit that you made a mistake that you could have avoided.
• a blessing in disguise — something that seems bad or unlucky at first, but results in something good happening later.
• to make up for something — to do something good to correct a mistake or compensate for a bad situation.

Grammar

This lesson focuses on Using 'should have' for regrets and advice.

We use 'should have' and 'shouldn't have' followed by the past participle to talk about the past. It's perfect for expressing regrets about our actions or giving advice about something that has already happened, like a weekend you wish you had spent differently.

Examples from the lesson:

• I shouldn't have eaten so much cake at the party on Saturday. — Use 'shouldn't have' to express regret for something you did.
• I should have finished my homework on Friday instead of leaving it for Sunday night. — Use 'should have' to talk about a good action that you didn't do.
• You look exhausted. You should have gone to bed earlier last night. — We can also use this structure to give advice or criticize someone's past actions.

Key rules:

• The structure is always: subject + should/shouldn't + have + past participle (e.g. gone, seen, studied).
• This form is only for talking about the past.
• A common mistake is using the simple past instead of the past participle. Say 'I should have done it,' not 'I should have did it.'