Public health and safety vocabulary and literacy exercises focusing on language used to talk about common public health situations and vocabulary for protective and safety equipment used to maintain health standards.
1 Elements of Public Health vocabulary worksheets (with answers)
This is an English language exercise introducing vocabulary commonly used in public health. Students try to match the vocabulary with the appropriate pictures.
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2 Safety in the lab (health and safety equipment) vocabulary worksheet (with answers)
This is an English language exercise introducing vocabulary commonly used to talk about health and safety equipment.
3 Poisons and toxins vocabulary worksheet (with answers)
This is an English language exercise to practice vocabulary commonly used to talk about poisons and toxins. Students try to match the vocabulary with the appropriate pictures.
6 Cracking Complaints and Annoyances Language and Speaking Activities
1 Calling to complain (gap fill and answers)
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.
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3 More everyday annoyances
This speaking activity for English language students aims to encourage them to freely express their feelings and opinions.
This is an ESL speaking exercise for discussing everyday complaints and annoyances . Students match vocabulary to the pictures. Then they can ask each other the the questions at the bottom of the page.
This is a second ESL speaking exercise for talking about everyday annoyances. Students match the phrases on the left to the appropriate pictures. Finally they can have a conversation using the questions at the bottom of the page as a guide.
7 Housing complaints, annoyances and problems (vocabulary and speaking with answers)
“Housing complaints’ is a slightly more advanced activity for talking about housing . Students match vocabulary to the pictures. Then they can ask each other the the questions at the bottom of the page.
ELICIT As a class elicit a few problems you can have with these companies and any others you can think of: Home improvement company Mobile phone service Mail order company Travel service Car dealer Bank STEP 1 On the board write “MAIL ORDER COMPLAINT MENU” then ask around the class for sample complaints. Write them on the board. The board might look like this: MAIL ORDER COMPLAINT MENU shipment never came got the wrong order goods were broken expensive delivery charges bad customer service not the same as in the ad no instruction manual etc….etc STEP 2 Put students in groups of 3 and have ready an A4 sheet of paper for each group. Each sheet of paper has a heading similar to the following: MAIL ORDER COMPLAINT MENU HOME IMPROVEMENT COMPLAINT MENU MOBILE PHONE SERVICE COMPLAINT MENU etc…etc Each group of students then chooses one of the complaints topics and begins to write complaints as you modeled on the board. STEP 3 Rotate the complaint menus every 3 or 4 minutes so each group gets to work on each menu. In this way they get a feel for the different kind of complaints. STEP 4 Once the menus have rotated right round the class or the sheets of paper are full of complaints tell the students to stop writing and model the final part of the activity – the roleplay. Pick up one menu (Travel Service Complaint Menu) and address a pair of students saying……… STUDENT A(CUSTOMER COMPLAINER): Good day, may I see the complaints menu….. STUDENT B(TRAVEL SERVICE): Certainly here you are………. STUDENT A (CUSTOMER COMPLAINER): Yes, well first I’d like to complain about your guide…..he was very impolite…… STUDENT B(TRAVEL SERVICE): Well,…..I’m sorry but he is new….. STUDENT A(CUSTOMER COMPLAINER): Secondly, I’d like to complain about the bus..it was too old……… STUDENT B(TRAVEL SERVICE): Yes..but you chose the cheap tour…etc. STEP 5 Finally, select one student out of each group to be the complainer. Give this student one of the complaint menus. The students then begin to role play. An excellent way to get students to rotate to other groups is to play the “Scissors, paper, rock” game. The loser moves to another group.
4 Tantalizing Telephone Dialogue Exercises for Business English
Telephoning and messaging communication skills in businesses and offices are perhaps more important than ever before. There are many common expressions that students can learn to help them gain telephoning skills fluency .
1 Elementary telephone expressions (with answers)
This is a fun introductory exercise for English language learners that helps them become familiar with telephoning expressions and vocabulary.
2 Making an appointment telephone conversation (with answers)
This is a dialogue or role play exercise for students s to practice creating complete telephone conversations . Students use the cues in the boxes to write appropriate conversations.
This is a telephoning exercise for English language learners to practice using elementary language necessary for simple telephone calls. Students complete the speech bubbles with appropriate language and expressions.
3 Business socializing, requests and talking on the phone (with answers)
Another telephoning exercise for English language learners to practice using elementary language necessary for business socializing and making phone calls. Students complete the speech bubbles with appropriate language and expressions.
Business English Collocations and Phrasal Verbs: Modern Workplace Exercises
13th February 2025
Take/Have Collocations for the 2020s
The shift to digital workspaces has transformed how we communicate in English, making precise language choices more crucial than ever. This activity explores the nuances of “take” and “have” through scenarios that mirror today’s professional world – from virtual team meetings to social media management. Students practice these essential collocations in contexts that reflect the blend of remote and office work, preparing them for effective communication across digital platforms and in-person interactions.
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Digital Self-Service Collocations
Ever stood in front of a self-checkout kiosk and wondered why we “scan” items but “enter” codes? Or why we “access” systems but “activate” screens? This activity gets to the heart of how we talk about digital self-service – the exact words that go together when we’re dealing with everything from QR codes to smart lockers. It’s not just about learning individual words; it’s about mastering the combinations that make you sound natural when using modern technology.
‘Fast fashion.’ ‘Textile waste.’ ‘Sustainable practices.’ These buzzwords are everywhere – from TikTok videos to corporate boardrooms. But have you noticed how certain words always partner up, like dance pairs at a fashion show? This activity breaks down those partnerships, giving you the authentic language tools to join conversations about fashion’s footprint on our world. Ready to decode the vocabulary that’s reshaping how we think about our clothes?
Have you ever noticed how tricky it can be to choose between “do” and “make” in English? These words trip up even confident English speakers, especially in business settings. This activity gets straight to the point with examples you’ll actually use – like talking about company decisions, profits, and working with international clients.
Product lifecycles are shorter than ever and customer expectations constantly evolve, making precise communication in product development crucial. This activity focuses on the key language patterns used in modern product development – from conducting market research to launching digital products. By mastering these essential collocations, students learn to discuss product innovation, customer needs, and market strategy with the clarity needed in today’s fast-paced business environment.
“Is my password strong enough?” “Should I click this link?” “Why does this website keep asking me to verify my identity?” Sound familiar? These are questions we all face in our digital lives, but explaining them in English can feel like solving a puzzle. This activity breaks down the natural way English speakers talk about online security, using real-life situations you probably deal with every day. Whether you’re helping your grandparents secure their new tablet or discussing data protection at work, you’ll learn to express these tech concepts as smoothly as a native speaker.
Phrasal verbs are essential building blocks of natural English conversation, appearing constantly in our daily routines and digital interactions. This activity explores common combinations through everyday scenarios – from handling mobile devices to managing household tasks. By practicing these verb patterns in relatable contexts, students develop the fluid language skills needed for comfortable communication in English.
2 Husband/wife phrasal verb role play and /or listening activity(with audio and answers)
“Could you please…” “Would you mind…” We use these phrases constantly at home, but getting them right in English can be tricky. This role-play puts you right in the middle of a typical evening at home – complete with noisy radios, burning food, and yes, those unexpected calls from the in-laws. You’ll learn how real people ask for help and use phrasal verbs naturally, whether they’re dealing with pets on tables or racing to save dinner from the oven. It’s the kind of English you’ll actually use when living with family, roommates, or partners – no textbook formality, just practical, everyday communication.
“I need to make some changes in my life.” “Let’s set new goals.” “We can make a difference.” Sound familiar? These phrases pop up whenever we talk about our plans and decisions – but why these exact word combinations? This activity dives into the natural way English speakers talk about change and decision-making, using everyday situations you’ll actually encounter. From personal makeovers to community projects, you’ll learn to express your ideas with the same fluid confidence as a native speaker.
Ever notice how English speakers rarely just “enter” a room – they “go in”? Or how they don’t “depart” – they “take off”? This activity gets straight to the heart of how English really works in everyday life. You’ll learn the exact phrases you need for common situations, from doing household chores to traveling.
I think the do/go/play collocations exercise is probably the most elementary collocation exercise given to students. It’s ok but usually focuses on sports, just for simplicity, I guess. Most of my students aren’t that interested in sports, so I like to change it a little. I also make it a little more difficult by teaching that “do” and “go” can often be used with the same nouns (eg. do/go shopping). Sometimes they are interchangeable and sometimes they are used for slightly different meanings. This makes it a bit more difficult but more accurately reflects the real world.
The do/make collocation exercise is probably the most useful and important elementary collocation exercise. These are verb-noun combinations that students really need in order to communicate in English.
Take or have or break ?? collocations exercise (with answers)
Students match the verbs “take” or “have” or “break” with the phrases scrambled at the top of the worksheet. Once they have done this they use the collocations and their own ideas to write sentences at the bottom of the page.
Brainstorming, outlining and exercises help students to order processes in a logical format and introduce students to process paragraph and essay writing.
1 Writing topic sentences for process essays (with possible answers)
This exercise helps students learn how to write topic sentences for process essays. Students look at the pictures and try to write appropriate topic sentences.
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2 Brainstorming processes for process essays
This is a brainstorming exercise for ideas for a process essay. It is a good icebreaker and a nice way to ease into the topic.
This exercise helps students understand how to write an outline for a process essay. Students match the scrambled sentences on the Page 2 to the appropriate part of the essay outline.
5 Process essay topic and support sentence exercises
This exercise helps students become familiarized with process essay topic and support sentences. Examples are given at the top of the worksheet and students complete the exercises lower down.
This is a worksheet describing the job application process. Students look at the pictures and write appropriate sentences for each step of the process.
Students match the vocabulary to the online order graphic. This exercise helps students become familiar with the language, vocabulary and expressions of online order processing.
Mastering Medical English: Language Skills for Healthcare Professionals
19th February 2025
This page offers a diverse range of downloadable PDF exercises, listening materials, video exercises, and speaking activities related to healthcare and the medical sciences.
AI in hospitals isn’t science fiction anymore – it’s helping doctors make better decisions right now. Through this conversation, you’ll pick up the words and phrases you need to talk about healthcare technology. Whether you’re describing symptoms to a virtual health assistant or discussing a relative’s AI-analyzed scan results, you’ll learn to navigate these conversations with confidence.
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Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Visual Vocabulary
By connecting words to real examples – looking at how AI analyzes brain scans to detect problems or how neural networks learn from patient records – you’ll understand what all these technical AI healthcare terms actually mean in daily medical practice, no computer science degree needed. It’s like having a visual guide that translates complex medical AI concepts into clear, practical applications.
Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Critical Thinking
The ethical and practical implications of AI in healthcare spark important debates in medical communities worldwide. This critical thinking exercise invites students to examine their perspectives on AI healthcare applications through three focused activities.
Picture yourself as a molecule, journeying from a scientist’s breakthrough moment to becoming a life-saving medicine. At each step of your transformation – from laboratory experiments to pharmacy shelves – you’ll discover the exact words that tell your story. This visual journey demystifies the language of drug development, revealing how a spark of scientific inspiration becomes the medicine that helps real people.
Step into a laboratory hallway conversation that captures a pivotal moment in medical research. Sarah and Omar’s exchange does more than just share news about a promising cancer treatment – it unveils the careful language scientists use to discuss hope, progress, and caution in drug development. Their dialogue weaves together three crucial perspectives: the researcher’s precision, the medical professional’s care, and the shared excitement of potential breakthrough treatments. As you explore their conversation, you’ll discover how these different viewpoints shape the way we talk about new medicines.
The journey from scientific breakthrough to approved medicine shapes the healthcare we receive today. This discussion guide explores the complex 10-15 year process that transforms promising compounds into life-saving drugs.
Why do medical researchers always say “side effects” but never “side results”? Why is it “Phase Three” and not “Third Phase”? In drug development, certain words naturally go together, creating a special language that everyone in the field understands. This set of exercises helps you learn these word partnerships through real examples from cancer research, clinical trials, and drug safety studies. You’ll discover how professionals talk about new medicines – from their first breakthrough to final approval.
What’s happening in that hospital room? How do you explain what doctors and nurses are doing? This activity helps you learn the exact words medical professionals use – from simple actions like “measure” and “inject” to more complex terms like “rehabilitate.”
The “Experiment Vocabulary” worksheet aims to enhance scientific vocabulary comprehension. The activity involves matching terms and expressions such as ‘adding’, ‘estimate’, ‘length and width’, ‘steady’, ‘tiny’, ‘measure’, ‘scales’, ‘lower’, ‘counting’, ‘ratio’, ‘less than 50 mls’ to corresponding images. Additionally, the worksheet offers multiple-choice questions that require students to choose the correct term corresponding to given options.
The “Describing Graphs for Medical Science” worksheet helps students expand their vocabulary pertaining to trends and changes typically described in medical and scientific graphs. It requires students to match certain words and phrases, like ‘peaked’, ‘decrease sharply’, ‘increase slightly’, and ‘fluctuate a lot’ with corresponding images.
The verbs addressed in this worksheet include ‘bring over,’ ‘take off,’ ‘pull up,’ ‘put up,’ ‘put in,’ ‘plug in,’ ‘tear out,’ ‘press down,’ ‘get on,’ ‘take out,’ ‘pull out,’ and ‘put away.’ From the context of a pharmacist posting new information, a patient removing their shirt for an X-ray, to storing a new shipment of medication, the activity delivers practical exposure to the use of these phrasal verbs in real-life healthcare communications.
Have you ever wondered what happens between your doctor writing a prescription and you getting your medicine? This activity breaks down the whole process – from ordering medications to picking them up at the pharmacy. You’ll learn the exact words pharmacists use when talking about deliveries, refills, and payment systems
This worksheet looks at the functions of the brain – fostering creativity, producing emotions, regulating appetite, and encoding memories. It encourages learners to examine their brain’s strengths and weaknesses and the effects of their habits on its functionality. It includes a matching task linking the brain’s functions to corresponding visuals and a fill-in-the-blank segment highlights functions such as language learning and neurotransmitter regulation.
This worksheet focuses on vocabulary associated with venipuncture and routine health checks. It includes a pictorial matching task, aligning words and phrases like “dizzy”, “gauze”, and “withdraw the needle” with their corresponding images. The worksheet then challenges them with a multiple-choice section that tests their understanding of contextually used terms like “bandage”, “insert”, and “release”. In the final activity, learners write a sequential guide on the process of drawing blood, using relevant terms including “syringe”, “vein”, “tourniquet”, and more.
“Basic measuring vocabulary” includes vocabulary commonly used for talking about amounts, sizes and quantities in medical science situations such as in a laboratory.
This is an elementary English language exercise introducing medical tools vocabulary. Students try to match the vocabulary with the appropriate pictures.
Story telling is a good teaching technique for ESL students because:
1) Storytelling can help students learn new vocabulary in a contextualized way.
2) Storytelling can provide a fun and engaging way for ESL students to practice their listening skills.
3) Storytelling can help students develop their ability to understand spoken English.
4) Storytelling can help students improve their fluency and confidence in speaking English.
1 “The Next Champion?”
This is a sports story about an up and coming tennis champion. The story tracks the female tennis player’s career from her childhood and speculates about her future success.
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2 Mona Lisa’s Sister
In this international news story writing exercise, students have to write a story about the the recent (fictional) discovery of a painting by Leonardo Da Vinci similar to the “Mona Lisa” but titled “Lisa’s Sister”.
“Telling stories” is a story telling exercise using pictures. Students try to match the vocabulary at the bottom of the page to the pictures. Then they can listen to the audio and try to tell stories in the pictures. Or, they can create their own stories.
This is a human interest story. It is a story telling exercise about a common everyday occurrence. A woman loses her keys at the department store and is worried about being late for work. But everything ends well after her keys are returned to her.
This is an English language exercise aimed at engaging students in a discussion about the story of the Titanic. Students try to match the vocabulary at the bottom of the page to the pictures. Then they try to answer the questions and recreate the story of the Titanic in their own words. Or they can listen to the audio and then answer the questions.
Excellent ESL Teaching Exercises for Houses and Neighborhoods
January 3rd 2024
One of the most elementary topics that can be used to get students talking and giving opinions in English is housing. It’s one of those universal topics that works really well in speaking classes. Everyone has opinions about the how they want to live. It can be taught at many levels as long as the vocabulary is adapted to the students’ abilities. Role plays, questionnaires, surveys and picture-vocabulary matching exercises are some of the activities that work well with this topic.
1 Write a conversation: talking about houses & neighborhoods
This is a conversation writing exercise which could be the basis of a speaking activity or role play. Students get to talk about and describe their houses and neighborhoods.
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2 Expressing opinions about houses
A vocabulary and critical thinking exercise for discussing houses and places to live. Students use the words at the bottom of the page to complete the sentences and then agree/disagree with the statements and give reasons for their choices.
This exercise includes vocabulary commonly used to talk about housing and give opinions about neighborhoods and lifestyles. It is also used to discuss the pros and cons of different types of accommodation. Students try to match the vocabulary with the appropriate pictures and answer the questions.
This is an elementary speaking activity and interview in which pairs of students choose their preferred living options from the choices given in each box. They then write a short report comparing their partners preferences with their own.
8 Brainstorming the house: an icebreaker for discussing where you live and describing your house
Some icebreakers are so simple you might feel a fool for not having thought of them before. I certainly have. Brainstorming things…furniture …items…adjectives ..etc that might be used for parts of the house. What a no-brainer! But I didn’t think of it for 30 years of teaching. Icebreakers like this are great for setting up question writing exercises. Once the board is full of vocabulary, you can give a couple example questions, “What kind of furniture do you have in your living room?/ Do you have a big bed?/ Do you have a microwave in your kitchen etc…..” and ask students to create their own questions around the vocabulary.
This is an English language brainstorming, outlining and planning exercise for a presentation about a dream house. Students consider the factors listed on the page and jot down their ideas. I had to add some example sentences to make this activity work effectively. And then it was seamless!
10 Housing complaints, annoyances and problems (vocabulary and speaking with answers)
“Housing complaints’ is a slightly more advanced activity for talking about housing . Students match vocabulary to the pictures. Then they can ask each other the the questions at the bottom of the page.
This is a matching activity helping to familiarize students with vocabulary for houses. Students try to match the vocabulary with the appropriate pictures.
An imaginative role play in which students any kind of house they like and perform a role play with a partner using the questions on the second page of the handout.
This is an ESL writing worksheet for students to describe a room in their house, apartment or dormitory. First, students brainstorm ideas at the top of the page. Then, they write a paragraph about their room.
Nouns are words that represent people, places, things, or ideas. There are several types of nouns, including proper nouns, common nouns, concrete nouns, and abstract nouns. Additionally, there are collective nouns, countable and uncountable nouns, compound nouns, and possessive nouns. The exercises below use pictures, matching exercises, sentence gap fills, as well as listening and speaking exercises to teach nouns. The aim is to use a variety of exercises and engage multiple intelligences.
1 Elementary countable and uncountable nouns (food)
Knowing countable and uncountable nouns is important for students because: it helps them understand the difference between singular and plural nouns; it helps them in everyday language; and it helps them understand when to use articles like ‘a’, ‘an’, and ‘the’.
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2 Countable/uncountable nouns for cities (upper elementary)
Talking about the advantages and disadvantages of cities is a popular way for teaching more advanced countable nouns and uncountable nouns.
3 Countable and uncountable nouns sorting (with answers)
One of the most confusing thing for ESL students is distinguishing between countable and uncountable nouns. In the handout below students try to identify countable and uncountable nouns in the pictures and and list them in the appropriate columns. Then they choose 5 nouns and write 5 sentences.
Another aspect of using nouns is being to use quantifiers which describe the degree or quantity of a specific noun.
Students look at each pictures and then write an appropriate sentence to describe how much or how little of each noun is being expressed by the picture.
5 Kinds of Free Online English Language Self Assessment Tests Reviewed
January, 31 2019
There are a number of freely available online English language self assessment tests for students. However, these tests are only useful if they meet the teacher’s criteria. These criteria might include:
convenience (in my case, this means really good mobile compatibility and ease of use)
creativity (humdrum grammar tests don’t impress)
the topic-focused nature of the tests (few tests are topic-focused as most are general and aimed at assessing student abilities) and
feedback ( the score and level of ability).
.
1 Elementary (and above) General English Tests
Pros: These are useful general tests for the placement and evaluation of students. They aren’t too long and sites such as Cambridge provide good feedback in the form of scores matched with ability levels. I like Englishtag quite a lot for its speed, ease of use and it has tests especially adapted to the mobile platform.
Cons: Most of these tests have good sections and bad sections. Some tests start off with good conversational skills sections then trail off into boring “fill in the blank” sections(Cambridge). Perhaps they just try to get you engaged and then figure you are hooked. The “Business English” test from Cambridge starts off with really interesting short reading comprehension exercises and then you hit off-putting longer readings. Some sites are not secure but probably ok if you don’t enter any personal information.
Pros: Reading comprehension exercises with multiple choice comprehension questions are really compatible with the mobile experience. Ereading has a good collection of nonfiction reading passages that work well on mobile. Freereadingtests offers nice short speed reading passages and provides feedback including number of words per minute and percentage of correct answers. The good thing about reading tests is you might be able to find one that matches are topic you are teaching.
Cons: There are quite a lot sites and some are not easy to navigate. Some sites are not secure. Some sites such as Free Esol and MyEnglishPages are actually reading comprehension sites and only give scores as feedback. But they are well worth including here.
Pros: It’s great to get an idea of a student’s vocabulary size.
Cons: The tests often are not suitable for elementary learners. They are too long and become too difficult. They seem more suitable for native speakers than second language learners.
Pros: Google has created a wonderful, innovative and addictive daily search skills game that aims to improve students’ or anyone’s search skills. It is also a critical thinking exercise as you have to figure out the best way to find the answer. The layout is great and the feedback is cool too as you lose points (fast) the longer you take to find the answer.
Cons: None except this site is “not secure”, probably because it’s still in the experimentation phase.
