Guerna TS #8

Date/Time: August 10th, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST
Location: Madison Social
Topic/Skill: Speaking & Listening Lesson Plan: Ordering Drinks at a Coffee Shop or Bar
Student: Wei Wang


This lesson focused on “Ordering Drinks at a Coffee Shop or Bar” and was designed to strengthen Wei’s practical speaking and listening skills in real-world social settings. To make the interaction authentic and memorable, the session was held at Madison Social, a popular bar in College Town. This setting provided a natural and engaging atmosphere, exposing Wei to the real sounds, sights, and rhythms of a public dining environment while practicing her English.

The session began with a warm-up discussion where Wei compared coffee shops and bars, shared her favorite drink orders, and reflected on past challenges ordering in English. This not only activated prior knowledge but also helped her build personal connections to the target language.

Next, I introduced a vocabulary chart covering drink types (e.g., cold brew, flat white, IPA, mocktail), common modifiers (on the rocks, neat, splash of milk), polite ordering phrases (“Could I get…” “I’ll go with…”), clarification strategies (“What’s in that?” “Do you have…?”), and key bar/café terms (start a tab, house special, on draft). By practicing these expressions in context, Wei was able to gain the tools to confidently order both coffee shop and bar-style drinks, while also sounding polite and natural.

To reinforce vocabulary, Wei reviewed sample dialogues set in both café and bar scenarios. This gave her models of how interactions typically unfold, including variations such as customizing orders, asking about specials, and paying with or without a tab. Listening and repeating key parts of these dialogues helped her internalize natural intonation and polite phrasing.

The heart of the lesson was the interactive practice in the real bar setting. Wei role-played as both the customer and the server, using a sample menu and also drawing on the actual drink list at Madison Social. She practiced ordering confidently, asking clarifying questions, and responding spontaneously to follow-up questions from the “bartender.” The authentic environment with background noise, a menu board, and servers moving around added an extra challenge, requiring her to listen attentively and speak clearly.

Finally, we reflected on the experience, identifying which expressions were most useful, which felt more challenging in the noisy, fast-paced setting, and how she could transfer these skills to future real-life situations.

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