What would Marcus Aurelius say about comparing yourself on Social? Would Eleanor Roosevelt’s advice about confidence still work for a teenager today? And does Socrates have anything useful to say about our obsession with buying the next new thing?

Advice From the Past is a ready-to-use B2–C1 speaking and critical-thinking lesson that brings historical voices into the modern classroom.

Students are presented with relatable contemporary dilemmas and invited to put famous advice on trial. Instead of simply interpreting quotations, they explore the person and thinking behind them, connect the ideas to modern life, challenge their limitations and finally decide:

KEEP IT. UPDATE IT. OR REJECT IT.

The lesson includes five thought-provoking cases featuring Marcus Aurelius, Eleanor Roosevelt, Oscar Wilde, Martin Luther King Jr. and Socrates, together with discussion language, historical context, an Advice Clinic final challenge and an extension activity.

Along the way, students also encounter an important media-literacy question: Can we even trust all those famous quotations we see online?

Ideal for older teenagers and adults who are ready to move beyond predictable speaking questions and have conversations that actually give them something to think about.

Level: B2–C1
Skills: Speaking • Critical Thinking • Interpretation • Argumentation • Media Literacy
Format: Ready-to-print PDF
Teacher notes included

🎁 This resource is FREE.