Current projects: describing ongoing work

Summary

This 90-minute ESL lesson for B1 learners explores Current projects: describing ongoing work through a real article. Across 11 interactive exercises, you'll develop reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, practical communication, speaking skills — all built around authentic English content.

What you'll practise:

• 5 key vocabulary items with definitions and usage notes
• 5 extended vocabulary terms to broaden your range
• Grammar focus: Present continuous for ongoing projects with examples and practice
• Real-world phrases for giving a project update
• Gap-fill and cloze exercises to test vocabulary in context
• Matching exercise to connect terms with their meanings
• Error correction to sharpen grammar awareness

Lesson activities (11 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 article, 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 Present continuous for ongoing projects — explanation, examples, and key rules.
6. Error correction — Find and fix the mistake in each sentence — a great grammar workout.
7. Practical English — Learn phrases for giving a project update — ready to use in real conversations.
8. Matching — Connect words, phrases, or concepts to their correct counterparts.
9. Extended vocabulary — Go beyond the basics with additional expressions related to the topic.
10. 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 article:

• get a project off the ground — to start a project or plan successfully, especially after a lot of preparation.
• be on track — to be making good progress and likely to achieve something as planned.
• run into a problem — to experience an unexpected difficulty.
• meet a deadline — to finish a task by the agreed time or date.
• touch base with someone — to talk to someone for a short time to find out how they are or what they think about something.

The lesson also covers 5 extended vocabulary items beyond the article:

• be ahead of schedule — to progress more quickly than planned.
• delegate tasks — to give a particular piece of your work or responsibility to someone else.
• stay within budget — to not spend more money than the amount that was planned for a project.
• give the green light — to give permission for a project or plan to start.
• a bottleneck — a problem in one part of a process that slows down the whole process.

Grammar

This lesson focuses on Present continuous for ongoing projects.

We use the present continuous (am/is/are + verb-ing) to talk about actions that are happening now or around the present time. It's perfect for describing projects or temporary situations at work that have started but are not finished yet.

Examples from the lesson:

• This quarter, we are developing a new marketing campaign. — This shows the project is in progress and not yet finished.
• I usually work in the office, but I am working from home this week. — Use the present continuous for temporary situations, not for permanent routines (I work).
• He is preparing his presentation for the board meeting on Friday. — This action is happening around now, even if not at this exact second.

Key rules:

• Use for actions in progress now or around now.
• Use for temporary situations, not permanent routines.
• Avoid using state verbs (like know, want, believe) in the continuous form.

Practical English

giving a project update

When your manager asks for an update in a meeting, it's useful to have clear phrases to structure your response. These phrases will help you sound professional and confident when describing your work.

Phrases you'll learn:

• "'Right, so just to give you an update on the Q3 report...'" — a clear and professional way to start your update.
• "'So far, so good.'" — this means that everything is going well up to this point.
• "'We've hit a slight issue with the supplier.'" — a polite and professional way to introduce a problem.
• "'At the moment, I'm focusing on the data analysis.'" — to describe your main task right now.
• "'The next step for me is to draft the email.'" — to clearly state what you plan to do next.