banking lesson plan

urpose and Audience:

The purpose of these materials is to get the students speaking about all of the terms related to their personal finances in English. In particular, students will role-play being either bank clients or bankers. The bank clients will visit the bank and talk to the bankers about various financial products such as credit cards and mortgages. After the bankers explain the financial products, the client will select one product and apply. The bankers will then open up a bank profile and start a credit evaluation.

Having just moved back to Canada from Asia, I have undergone this exact process several times. The credit evaluation and bank profile are in reality not that difficult. For the most part, my bank representative just asked basic questions about income and debt. I think the hardest thing for students will be the amount of technical vocabulary involved. Though there is a lot, it is certainly worth learning for anybody who plans to work in banking, business, government, or finances. It is also very important for individuals moving to English countries as they probably will want to apply for credit cards, open accounts, and take out mortgages. It goes without saying that this lesson is intended for adults.

To smoothen the process of learning all of this technical vocabulary, I’ve created several pre-class vocabulary assignments. I recommend that students be made to finish these before the role-play begins. There will probably not be enough time to go over the sheets and do the role-play in a single class. In fact, the role-play itself could go for a full two hours if you have the time to do it.