Quick answer: A general English online lesson runs beautifully on a 5-stage structure: a two-minute warm-up chat, a lead-in to the theme (a picture works wonders), the ‘meat’ – a short listening, reading or video with a simple task – then personalisation questions so your student uses the new language about their own life, and finally a review of vocabulary and corrections from the chat box. It works for almost any theme, at pre-intermediate level and above, and Louisa walks through the whole thing in the video below.
So, you've given a trial online English lesson with a prospective student and they want to continue classes with you. Yay!
They tell you they want general English and are happy for you to choose the theme.
Great. But what then?
- Which kind of themes work well?
- How might you structure a general English class?
Well, for a tried and tested framework for a general English online class, look no further. We’ve got a super online English lesson outline you can use. It's good for a lesson with a new or existing pre-intermediate plus student.
Watch below as online teaching expert Louisa Walsh takes you through each step in her video walkthrough.
A 5-stage structure for any general English lesson
Here is the outline at a glance – each stage is unpacked below:
- Warm up (the first two minutes). A simple, general chat with open questions to ease your student into speaking English and make them feel comfortable.
- Lead in to the theme. Warm your student into the topic and generate ideas and useful vocabulary – a picture is often a great intro.
- Study and practice. The ‘meat’ of the lesson: a short listening, reading or video with new vocabulary pre-taught and a simple task to do while they watch or listen.
- Personalise. Ask questions that let your student talk about their own experience of the theme, encouraging them to use the new vocabulary.
- Review and give feedback. Go back through the vocabulary, phrases and corrections you’ve put in the chat box, and tell your student what they did well.
Stage 1. First two minutes
Have a simple, general chat to ease your student into speaking English and make them feel comfortable.
Top tip: use open questions that encourage your student to speak.
Stage 2: Lead-in to the theme
You want to warm your student into the theme, generate ideas and useful vocabulary. A picture is often a great intro.
Ask:
- What is happening?
- What can you see?
- What is going on?
Louisa has chosen holiday destinations as her theme, which is a great choice as it is universal – everyone has something to say about it.
Stage 3: The study and practice (or the "meat" of the lesson)
This is often based around a listening, reading, or very short video. In her recording below, Louisa has found YouTube footage of three people talking about their favourite holiday destination and why they like it. Before pressing play, she reminds you to do two things:
- teach any new vocabulary you think they need to know from the listening
- instruct them to do something simple while listening.
In the recording, Louisa asks her student to make notes on the holiday destinations they hear.
You can play all the way through or play and pause, stopping at key points. Check understanding by asking questions about what they have seen and heard.
Tip: If you are using Zoom, remember to check the share sound box when sharing a video or listening online, as well as the share screen box.
Stuck for material? The free lesson resources on American English and the teacher resources from Cambridge English are reliable sources of short, level-graded texts and audio.
Stage 4: Extend by personalising
Ask questions like: What is your favourite holiday destination? Tell me about your last holiday? If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? This is important so students can practise expressing their experiences. If you can encourage them to use new vocabulary from the lesson, this is a bonus.
Stage 5: Review and feedback
It’s a good idea to put new vocabulary, phrases, and corrections in the chat box throughout the lesson. The end of the lesson is a good time to review all of this – just keep it moving.
Finally, be sure to tell your students what they’ve done well. Everyone loves feedback and your student will leave enthused, on a high, and looking forward to the next class.
How long should each stage take?
The structure flexes to whatever lesson length you sell. As a guide:
| Stage | 30-minute lesson | 60-minute lesson |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Warm-up chat | 2 min | 3–5 min |
| 2. Lead-in to the theme | 4 min | 8–10 min |
| 3. Study and practice | 12 min | 25 min |
| 4. Personalise | 8 min | 15 min |
| 5. Review and feedback | 4 min | 5–7 min |
Don’t treat the minutes as sacred – if the personalisation stage catches fire and your student is talking fluently about their own life, that is the lesson. Steal time from the study stage, never from the review.
How do you adapt the structure by level?
For pre-intermediate students, pre-teach more vocabulary at stage 2, choose shorter clips (under two minutes), and play-and-pause rather than playing straight through. For upper-intermediate and advanced students, flip the weight towards stages 3 and 4: longer authentic material, less pre-teaching, and personalisation questions that push opinion and speculation (‘Would tourism improve or spoil your hometown?’) rather than description. For true beginners, this framework needs more scaffolding than a video-based lesson can give – build around a picture and a tightly-controlled dialogue instead.
Frequently asked questions
How do I plan a 1-hour online English lesson?
Use the five stages with the 60-minute timings above: five minutes of warm-up chat, ten on a lead-in that surfaces vocabulary, twenty-five on a listening/reading/video with a task, fifteen of personalised speaking, and five to review the chat-box corrections. One theme, one skill focus, one clear takeaway beats cramming.
What is the PPP lesson structure and is this the same?
PPP is Presentation–Practice–Production: present new language, practise it in a controlled way, then have students produce it freely. The five-stage outline here is a conversational cousin: stages 2–3 present and practise the language, and stage 4 is the free production. PPP suits grammar-led lessons; this structure suits theme-led general English.
How much should the student talk versus the teacher?
Aim for the student doing 70% of the talking. Your job is to set up the task, feed language through the chat box, and ask the next good question. If you catch yourself explaining at length, hand the turn back with an open question – the student’s speaking time is what they are paying for.
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