1 Introductions conversation (with answers and audio)
This is model dialogue for practicing language useful for greetings and introductions. Students listen and complete the conversation with the vocabulary in the box.
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2 “Getting to know you” conversation/ listening exercise (with audio and possible answers)
This is another elementary and introductory speaking skills and listening exercise to encourage students to write their own “getting to know you” questions and answers.
This is an elementary ESL exercise for practicing language useful for greetings and introductions. Students try to match the greetings and introductions with appropriate pictures.
This is a nice and easy way to start a class and a good way to assess the abilities of new students. Also, the brainstorm generates vocabulary and questions which can become the basis of a “getting to know you” speaking activity.
A fun and reliable elementary present simple tense speaking activity for a large class. The great thing about it is that it works at really elementary levels. The teacher models the activity using the survey template drawn on the board. Students then move around the classroom talking to at least five other students. During the survey part of the activity the teacher is free to monitor the students and also participate, having an opportunity to speak to students individually. As the students are finishing their surveys, the teacher can write a model report on the board.
This another fun and reliable survey speaking activity for a large class. It’s a little bit more advanced than the activity above. The teacher models the activity using the example questions and a survey template drawn on the board. Students are then encouraged to write their own questions. During the survey part of the activity the teacher is free to monitor the students and also participate, having an opportunity to speak to students individually. As the students are finishing their surveys, the teacher can write a model report on the board.
Welcome to “Elementary to Pre-Intermediate Reading Comprehension Exercises”, now a multi-media collection of PDFs, videos, listening activities, and reading comprehension exercises designed to engage, inform, and challenge students with topical issues that shape our ever-evolving society. This unique multimedia journey will offer students a window into the fascinating worlds of cultural phenomena, technological advancements, urban development, careers, fashion, and emerging trends.
1 First Day at University (with answers)
I have found that another easy-to-teach topic is a student’s first day at university. This is a an experience that university students can identify with and works smoothly in the classroom.
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2 The Weekend Market (with answers)
This is an English language reading comprehension worksheet about a visit to a weekend market. It is an experience that almost every student in the world can relate to and so it’s extremely suitable for an English language class. Click on the link or the image to download the PDF file.
A short history of lipstick. This is a reading/listening exercise which is useful practice for teaching the past tense. It’s also pretty interesting as a history of popular culture.
An online shopping assistant takes online orders and walks around a supermarket or department store and collects items to packed and delivered. This exercise is about the daily activities of a supermarket employee in this line of work on the age of the coronavirus.
The fast fashion industry has become quite topical recently. I think it’s really interesting on many levels. I hope the vocabulary in this exercise is not too difficult but it’s unavoidable with a topic like this.
This is a reading exercise about a scientist or researcher conducting an experiment in a lab. It’s great for any kind of medical/science students learning English, but I think it’s good for English language learners generally.
The arrival of autonomous vehicles is a topical issue of our times. It’s a great way to to engage in a discussion about the impacts of new technologies.
18 The Huggy Wuggy Chronicles (pre-intermediate and up)
The exercises in the PDF below are based on the fascinating story of Huggy Wuggy, the bizarre and adorable monster that has taken the world by storm. This set of exercises explores the world of Huggy Wuggy, focusing on vocabulary, critical thinking, comprehension, and listening. Get ready to dive into a journey of terror, laughter, and cultural phenomena!
his is a reading/listening comprehension exercise about a bellwether city, San Francisco. It’s a more advanced reading exercise focusing on social issues related to the development of cities and technology in the 21st century.
20 What effect has technology had on our lives? (with answers)
This is an English language reading comprehension worksheet about the effects of technology. It is an excellent complement to any lesson focusing on technology and society. It also works well in a class when the teacher is trying to determine students’ knowledge of computing and internet vocabulary. I used it in a class with Thai ICT students and I could quickly asses the different English language abilities of the students.
Speaking Tech: Equipping ESL Students with Language Skills for the Digital Age
25th July 2024
This page consists of vocabulary, listening, reading and speaking exercises that encourage students to discuss the latest advances in technology. The following lessons have recently been added to eslflow’s Substack site:
This is an important issue for everyone these days. It’s also interesting and engaging and has everyone has their own experiences and opinions about aspects of cybersecurity. Find all the exercises on cybersecurity here. The exercises include brainstorming, visual vocabulary, listening and critical thinking.
Subscribe to get full access to complete (not just extracts) lessons with picture/vocabulary exercises and answers. Many lessons include and audio and video. There are no ads in the newsletter and you will receive high quality, and up-to-date teaching resources regularly. And, if you subscribe, you will get access to ideas for creating artificial intelligence prompts , that will enable you to create English language teaching materials quickly! In addition, you will get access to the complete sets of exercises, with a wider variety of exercises and activities. Also, if you take out a paid subscription, you can download large collections of PDF, audio and video materials in zip files.
2 Semiconductors
If you want to understand how the world of technology works, you need to understand semiconductors.
Artificial intelligence is now a part of everyday life. This is a vocabulary/listening/speaking exploring ideas about AI apps that people use everyday.
Students complete each opinion with the vocabulary at the bottom of the page and decide whether they agree or disagree with each opinion. Also, see the Virtual Reality post for more exercises.
5 Gerunds and infinitives for gadgets and devices ( with audio and answers)
This is a fairly elementary gerunds and infinitives listening/speaking activity. It’s also a pretty good fluency exercise or review as gerunds and infinitives are so commonly used in everyday speech.
This is a listening/speaking exercise introducing language and expressions for describing contemporary technological devices used in everyday life . Students match the vocabulary to the pictures. Then they can listen to the audio and match a use or several uses to each item. Finally, they can complete the questions at the bottom with their own ideas and ask and answer the questions with a partner.
This is a listening/speaking exercise for verbs and computers (or technology) . Students listen to the audio and match the verbs (or sentences) to the appropriate pictures.
10 Brainstorming the benefits of automation and robotics (with answers)
This is an English language discussion and brainstorming exercise for the benefits of robotics and automation. Students use the pictures to give them ideas .
11 More useful vocabulary for computing and technology (with answers)
This is an exercise for verbs and computers. Students match the verbs to the appropriate pictures and then write short sentences for the actions taking place in each picture.
12 Computers and the internet vocabulary and writing exercise (with possible answers)
This is an ESL writing exercise for for some common words used for discussing the internet. Students try to make sentences about the pictures using the words under the pictures.
This is an ESL speaking and writing lesson for talking about technology. First, students write five survey questions about technology . There are some examples of questions on the first page of the PDF. When they have written five questions , they can walk around the class asking classmates their questions and noting down their answers on the worksheet. Finally, they write a short report from their survey question answers. This is a fun communicative exercise that allows students to mix freely.
14 Rise of the robots and automation brainstorming and discussion worksheet (with answers)
This is an exercise to explore the vocabulary and language used to talk about new technology focusing on automation and robotics and encouraging discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of robots and automation.
15 Brainstorming benefits of mobile devices (with answers)
This is an English language speaking worksheet to help English language students brainstorm the benefits of smart phones, Ipads , tablets and other mobile devices .Students write down as many benefits as they can using the pictures and their own ideas.
16 Brainstorming disadvantages of mobile devices (with answers)
Another worksheet to help English language students brainstorm the disadvantages of mobile devices such as smart phones, Ipads and tablets. Students write down as many disadvantages as they can using the pictures and their own ideas.
18 Talking about machines, products and services with adjectives (with answers)
This is a business English ESL exercise exploring language used to describe technology and products. Students try to match the vocabulary with the appropriate pictures. Then they write sentences describing the products. The adjectives used to describe products are:
19 Writing opinions about automated and robotic technologies (with answers)
This is another worksheet that can be used to help students improve their writing skills and express their opinions about new technologies including driverless vehicles, smartphone payments and smart watches.
20 Personal opinions about the internet and social trends
An English language speaking worksheet for generating discussion about the internet and social trends. Students write the benefits/disadvantages of each issue on the worksheet.
21 Personal opinions: technology & modern lifestyle
This is another worksheet that can be used to get students talking about technology in contemporary society. Students need to think of a positive and negative for each issue.
Fabulous Food and Eating Listening, Speaking and Vocabulary Lessons
January 3rd, 2024
Below are a collection of food and eating related vocabulary, listening, speaking, brainstorming, and grammar activities designed to help students develop English language skills.
1 Restaurant complaints
What is going on in the pictures? What problems do the customers want to complain about?
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2 Shopping list for food role play (elementary)
This is a role play between 2 room mates talking about the food items they need for their house or apartment. It includes basic vocabulary for food, and also countable and uncountable nouns.
This is a fun way to start a class and introduce the vocabulary for ingredients to English language learners. Get students to watch the video or listen to the audio and write the vocabulary on the pictures on the PDF worksheet. Or you can just dictate the words randomly.
8 Restaurant dialogues speaking and listening worksheet (with audio answers)
This is an English language exercise to help students prepare to work in a restaurant or just learn about common restaurant exchanges so they are prepared to travel abroad or eat out with English language speakers. Students attempt to complete the dialogues. Then they can listen to the conversations and compare their answers.
10 Ordering in a restaurant listening activity and conversation worksheet (with audio answers)
This is a fun “Ordering in a Restaurant” gap fill speaking activity for an English language class. Students listening to audio and complete the conversation. Then the students can practice the conversation, perform role plays and/or write their own “Ordering in a Restaurant” dialogues.
11 Common expressions for talking about food (listening/speaking with answers and audio)
This is a vocabulary, listening and speaking activity for using common expressions to talk about food and eating. Students match the sentences the pictures and answer the questions. The listening activity could be done first or last. The students listen to the short conversational exchanges and match the letter of the item to the pictures.
13 Listening and speaking skills worksheet: restaurant troubles (with audio and answers)
For this exercise students listen to the conversations and match the items (A-I) to the pictures. Then they listen to the short exchanges again and try to complete the speech bubbles. This kind of exercise encourages students to expand their vocabulary and improve their listening skills.
Business English Speaking and Listening Skills Worksheets for the 2020s
The exercises below are designed for teaching ESL students in the 2020s, focusing on contemporary work trends such as the gig economy and hybrid work. The content addresses key aspects of modern work life, including freelancing, digital platforms, work-life balance, and the use of technology in remote work.
July 15th 2024
1 The Gig Economy
Brainstorming The Gig Economy introduction exercise.
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3 Hybrid Work visual vocabulary and classroom discussion listening
These exercises explore ideas and language used to discuss Hybrid Work.
This is a Business English vocabulary and listening/speaking exercise exploring some common Business English vocabulary. It also focuses on the use of quantifiers (all, most, some, a few, none etc.).
This is a “calling to complain”telephoning language exercise to help English language learners practice expressions and phrases used in everyday phone conversations. Students can try and complete the dialogues and then listen to the audio to check/compare their answers.
It’s easy for students to talk about business skills as it relates to their personal preferences and abilities. Students can listen to the audio or watch the video and complete the worksheet. The video adds more images illustrating the vocabulary related to this topic. The speaking section can also be expanded to include all the skills shown in the pictures.
This is an exercise that explores common company office topics and language through the first meeting with a new boss. The worksheet includes vocabulary and speaking exercises. An excerpt from the worksheet is below. The full worksheet can be downloaded by subscribers at Substack (see below).
9 Conversational practice – present perfect and basic future tense for business
These conversational practice exercises contain sets of conversational questions, along with multiple potential responses and a follow-up question for each. The questions aim to help ESL (English as a Second Language) students improve their understanding and usage of specific aspects of grammar in English. In my experience, these kinds of exercise are really useful teaching one-on-one online, but they also work really well as pair work activities in the classroom.
This is a reading/listening comprehension exercise about a day in the life of an intern and contrasts it with university life. Students need to watch the video and then complete the sentences with the the vocabulary they hear. The pictures match the chronological order of the video.
This is a listening/speaking lesson about starting a business. This is a surefire topic for classroom discussion and dialogues. Use the worksheet below to brainstorm ideas about starting a business. Then get students to listen to the dialogues and try to complete the gap fill worksheet. Finally, students write a conversation using their own ideas.
This is a good topic for business English students. And millennials in general are really sharp on the nuances of strategies for starting a business. Good fun!
14 Asking for information : business English dialogues gap fill (with audio and answers)
Students need to be versatile and flexible when they speak English. This gap fill exercise provides a number of everyday conversations and situations . It challenges students to complete the short dialogues with the appropriate vocabulary. Or students can listen to the audio and complete the conversations.
15 Making requests exercise (with audio and answers)
This is a Business English ESL exercise to help students learn how to make polite requests in English. Students can try to complete the speech bubbles. Then they can listen to the audio and compare their answers. Or it can be used as a stand alone listening exercise.
16 Business problems and solutions (with audio and answers)
Problems and solutions exercises make for good speaking and discussion classes. Here, students match the problems to the pictures and give solutions in answer to the questions. as above, the solutions exercise could be expanded to include all the problems shown in the pictures.
Business problems and solutions vocabulary audioBusiness problems and solutions questions and answers
17 Telephone conversation speaking and listening about a delivery (with audio and answers)
This is a telephoning exercise for English language learners to practice using the language necessary for making business phone calls. Students listen to the audio and complete the conversation. There are 2 worksheets One is easy and one is more difficult.
This is a business English ESL exercise to help students practice common office conversations. First, brainstorm ideas for the conversations. Then students can listen to to the audio and complete the speech bubbles.
15 Elementary business socializing (listening with answers)
This is an elementary business English ESL listening exercise exploring the language and vocabulary used to make short conversations in various business and social situations. Student listen and complete the short conversations for each situation. Then they can compare answers.
The words create, produce, develop, design, invent, build, sell, provide and manufacture are often used interchangeably to describe company activities. This activity focuses on these and related words and the subtle differences between their usage.
This is an elementary ESL speaking exercise for talking about problems in the office. First, students try to match the vocabulary at the bottom of the page to the pictures. They can then use that vocabulary to answer questions about the pictures.
This is an ESL speaking and writing lesson for talking about common business activities and tasks.. First, students match the expressions to the pictures. Then, they can have short conversations discussing the business activities they like and dislike.
his is a business English ESL exercise exploring the language and vocabulary of team building. First, students match the vocabulary to the pictures. When it is clear they understand the words, they can write questions about team building. Finally, students can ask each other questions.
23 Business woman: what is she saying ? (with answers)
This is a business English ESL exercise introducing some common expressions and sentences. Students need to interpret the meanings of the woman’s gestures and match the vocabulary to the pictures.
2 Classroom language: rules & commands (with audio and answers)
The exercises below are for introducing, reviewing or reinforcing commonly used classroom language. Depending on the level and ability of the students, a teacher may ask students to listen and write down the rules and commands (imperatives) they hear. I have also used these exercises for teaching teachers who use two languages in the classroom and who generally use their native language for technical subjects such as science and medical technology but like to occasionally communicate in English. This helps familiarize the students with classroom communication in English.
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3 Classroom instructions – imperatives (with audio and answers)
Below is another exercise for expanding the range of ESL students’ or teachers’ vocabulary. These are a collection of common imperatives used in the classroom.
Students match the classroom classroom objects to the appropriate pictures. If they are good enough, they can try to make sentences using the words. Then they complete the gap fill exercise with the appropriate words.
This worksheet is a brainstorming exercise challenging students to explore and expand their knowledge of classroom language. The teacher encourages students to think of any words, expressions or collocations that might be used with the encircled words.
The exercise below is for helping students to understand and explore classroom language and expressions. Classroom language can often be confusing due to the various ways of using phrasal and two-part verbs. It is often surprising how far students advance without fully understanding classroom language. I have also used this exercise for teaching teachers who use two languages in the classroom and who generally use their native language for technical subjects such as science and medical technology but like to give instructions and directions in English.
7 Present ContinuousListening/Speaking Exercises and Worksheets
At a basic level the present continuous or progressive tense is fairly easy to teach. It lends itself to miming activities and exercises using pictures. At a more advanced level it becomes more difficult and students have to understand that some verbs may be used differently depending on the context (ie.stative vs progressive).
1 What are they doing ? for routines (present continuous with audio and answers)
A worksheet for practicing the present continuous tense for routines. One of the easiest ways to teach the present continuous is with the aid of pictures. Students have to describe the action in the pictures with phrases or sentences. They should feel free to use their imaginations and be creative. This now includes audio so it can also be used as a listening activity)
2 What are they doing ? for general situations (with audio and answers)
This is an elementary ESL listening/speaking exercise practicing the present continuous tense for general situations. Students make sentences about each picture in the present continuous. This can be done as a listening/speaking or writing activity. As a listening activity, the students have to match the items to the pictures.
This is a sentence writing exercise to help students understand collocations with “have” and also the stative and progressive uses of “have”. Students are often confused about whether to use the verb “have” in the present simple or present continuous/progressive tense. This exercise aims to clarify that a little bit.
This is an elementary writing and speaking exercise to help students understand the differences between the present simple and present continuous tenses.
5 What is he doing ? with answers (present continuous tense)
This is an elementary ESL speaking exercise practicing the present continuous tense. Students make sentences about each picture in the present continuous. This can be done as a speaking or writing activity.
7 What is happening ? with answers (present continuous tense)
This is a more advanced and challenging ESL exercise practicing the present continuous tense for actions and events happening now. Students need to have a broader knowledge of nouns and verbs to be able to complete this exercise. Students have to describe what is happening in the events and situations depicted in the pictures.
Transitions and linking words are essential for giving clarity and structure to paragraph and essay writing. Moreover, transitions help students to demonstrate their understanding of logic, knowledge, thoughtfulness and ability to organize their ideas.
1 Writing sentences with transitions 1 (with answers)
Understanding and knowing how to use transitions is essential for anyone who aims to be a good writer. In this transitions worksheet students use the pictures and their own ideas to write appropriate sentences using transitions. For me, this is the most enjoyable activity as the pictures give the students more freedom to use their own ideas.
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2 Transitions vocabulary sorting 1
A vocabulary sorting exercise is a great way to slowly introduce students to transitions. This is the smoothest and easiest way to start a class on transitions or essay linking words. It can start out as a class activity and then transition (!) into an individual activity. Students sort the essay transitions or linking words into appropriate categories.
A transitions sorting exercise for conclusions, time sequencing and comparisons to help students improve their understanding of language and writing techniques. Students sort the essay transitions or linking words into appropriate categories.
This is an exercise to help students understand how to write counter arguments in their argumentative essays. Audio and video versions of the exercise offer a choice of studying or teaching techniques.
Giving students sentences to rewrite helps to make transitions more accessible. This takes the students deeper into the uses and meanings of transitional vocabulary.
Understanding the parts of speech is fundamental to learning the English language. Sorting exercises help students become familiar with different types of word formation. The exercises below can be used to introduce, review or reinforce students’ knowledge of the parts of speech.
The two most common exercises for basic parts of speech:
1. Have students identify parts of speech.
2. Have students create a sentence using a certain part of speech.
1 Understanding elementary parts of speech
This is an elementary ESL sorting exercise for practicing the parts of speech . First, the students sort the words into the appropriate columns. Then they try to write sentences using the words.
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2 Parts of speech for neighborhoods (with answers)
This is a fairly elementary parts of speech exercise for elementary language that students need to know when talking about their homes, local communities and neighborhoods.
When you look at the grammar of personality, it is quite interesting that most of the words are adjectives. But it is worth helping students get to know the noun forms of these adjectives too.
Another specific topic that is great as a parts of speech sorting exercise is health. The language of health has such a wide variety of word formations that it becomes quite obvious why it is very difficult for second language learners.
Parts of speech for relationships is a worksheet and sorting activity to help deepen students’ knowledge of the vocabulary of love, romance and relationships.
I had to teach a group of words and I thought I’d just do a sorting exercise to reinforce the vocabulary a bit. But I gradually realized that this set of words was a pretty good demonstration of a variety of noun endings. Students were pretty curious about the endings and so this exercise worked really well.
This is an elementary ESL exercise for practicing the parts of speech by writing sentences. It is a good way to guage the students’ knowledge of basic grammar. First, the students match the words to the pictures. Then they try to write sentences using the words.
The exercise below is for introducing, reviewing or reinforcing commonly used parts of speech. Depending on the level and ability of the students, a teacher may ask students to work in groups or work independently. This activity works really well as simultaneously an individual, group and class activity. While students work independently the teacher can walk around and choose some of the best ideas and write them on the the brainstorming diagram (which they have already drawn) on the board.
Speaking activities are essential for English language speaking classes (obviously!). However, designing the right speaking activity for a topic is not always an easy task. Teachers need to be aware of the students’ abilities and personalities as well as the language and grammar they will be presenting. It’s good to be able to run through or think through a list of teaching possibilities before preparing a class. Below I offer some essential speaking activities that have helped make seemingly difficult teaching challenges a lot of fun.
Also, see my my post explaining how to use artificial intelligence to create speaking activities:
1 Conversation and dialogue exercises: routines and daily activities example
Write-a- conversation exercises work really well for many topics including routines and daily activities. I always get the students to perform just for me …not in front of the class..as they are more relaxed and I get a close up and personal look at their performance. Also, I can ask them to repeat the conversation easily if it is not fluent enough.
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2 Conversation and dialogue exercises : food conversation example
Dialogues are a great way to get students talking. Students just need to be presented with an easy example or model that they can practice Once they have mastered the model they can alter it with their own ideas.
3 Questionnaires: Present Perfect Questionnaire example
This is a present perfect exercise and worksheet for English language learners. Students answer the questions with their own ideas and using appropriate tenses. For the last two items, they write both questions and answers.
4 Vocabulary and discussion questions: artificial intelligence apps
Artificial intelligence is now a part of everyday life. This is a vocabulary/listening/speaking exploring ideas about AI apps that people use everyday.
5 Questionnaires with pictures: talking about shopping example
This is an elementary ESL speaking activity for practicing language useful for talking about shopping. Shopping is a great topic for English language students as it is universally accessible. Using pictures with the questions gives context. The vocabulary at the bottom of the page can be matched to the pictures as an icebreaker. Students can discuss and answer the questions in groups or in pairs.
7 Role plays : celebrity interview role play example
Role plays can be really good speaking activities. However, students really need to be able to identify with and be interested in the characters they are playing. The easiest and most successful role play I have encountered is the celebrity role play. It is also the most popular role play idea on my website by miles. This is a fun communicative exercise that allows students to to be creative and to improvise.
This is an ESL speaking and writing lesson for talking about clothes, accessories and fashion choices. Fashion is a great classroom topic as it easily engages students. In this exercise, students have to write their own questions, survey their classmates and write a short report about their findings. This is a fun communicative exercise that allows students to mix freely.
This is an ESL or English language exercise for practicing conversational English. Brainstorm collocations for the verbs and then create short conversations using the model on the hand out as an example.
10 Socializing speaking activities : eternal mingle example
In socializing activities, students write one of more questions on a piece of paper and then walk around the classroom speaking to as many people as possible. This is an excellent all-purpose communicative activity for big ESL classes. It’s effective because it just about ensures a high level of student participation. It also lowers inhibition levels, encourages student centered correction and frees the teacher to observe and field questions from students. The possible variations are endless. It can be used as an icebreaker, for drills, or as an initiator of free conversation.
One-on-one interviews also work well in ESL classes. Several good options are the job interview, the personality interview and the “getting to know you” interview.
Discussion activities on topics which students encounter in their everyday lives are also generally successful. Getting students to provide both sides of an argument helps them to develop their critical thinking and speaking skills. Discussion topics like this example can be done in pairs, groups or as a class.
