Hi everybody, this is Jackie Bolin from ESLspeaking.org
So today I'm going to talk about the top five ESL conversation activities for teenagers or adults
I know you probably want to avoid the same old boring things in your ESL conversation or speaking classes
I know that I do. I know that I get tired of talking about the weather or movies or hobbies or that kind of thing
And I'm pretty sure that students are the same. So here are some of my best ideas to make things a little bit more interesting and spice things up in your ESL classes
All right, so the first activity is role plays. So I love role plays because they're super practical and great for real life
So find out the needs of your students. Maybe it's for traveling
Maybe they're studying to be nurses or doctors. Or maybe they just are living in somewhere like Canada or the U.S
And they need some confidence to go to a restaurant, to go to a bank, etc
So whatever the needs are of your students, set up some role plays to help them build confidence
and give them the skills and vocabulary they need to accomplish these tasks in real life
All right, the next one is just a minute. So this is better for intermediate or advanced level students
So it's kind of like a Toastmaster style activity. So I write up a bunch of topics on the board
I kind of do this in a random fashion, like hobbies, family, vacation, I don't know, etc
Yeah, students can even help you throw out some topics that they might want to talk about
Then I put students into groups of four. And I sprinkle up a paper ball, and I have one of the students just throw it at the board
And then whatever topic it hits, the first student in that group has to talk for a minute about it without stopping
The other three students in the group have to listen carefully, and then they have to ask one follow-up question
or two follow-up questions, after that person is finished speaking. So this turns it from simply a speaking activity into a listening focused one as well
and helps students practice some follow-up questions, which is always useful. All right, so number three is dialogue substitution
So this is best for lower level students who want to have conversations
but maybe they lack the skills to be able to do so
So I will take a dialogue out of the textbook, or I'll write my own dialogue based on what my students' needs are
And then I'll take out some of the keywords and have a little word bank at the top
So this makes those reading dialogues in textbooks, students just blow through them without paying attention to what they're reading
Taking out some of the keywords that you want to focus on turns it into a meaning-focused activity as well
So again, just try it out, and I think you'll really like it
It's a nice way to just get more value out of the dialogue that you can find in all ESL textbooks
All right, number four is the expert. So this is good for more advanced level students
So I tell students to list three things that they know a lot about
It can be simple, like how to cook ramen noodles, or how to hit a baseball
how to optimize their cell phone storage space. I don't know, just whatever
It could be anything quite simple, how to play a certain video game or whatever
how to scuba dive, something like that. And then students write that on a little – I have students fold up a piece of paper into a triangle
and then they write their three things that they are experts at on the triangle
so they can just – their partner, who they're talking to, can see it quite easily
Then I put students into pairs, and they have to have maybe like a three- to four-minute conversation with that person
about each of their hobbies. It's just my goal is to have kind of a free-flowing conversation between those two people
about what they're interested in. And then I switch partners maybe two or three more times
It's a really nice icebreaker activity for higher-level students, and it really helps students get to know each other kind of on a bit more of a deeper level
All right, finally, find something in common. So this is a bit of a mixer activity
So it's ideal as an icebreaker at the beginning of the semester
So all the students stand up, and they need a pen and a piece of paper
and they have to mingle with their classmates, asking them some questions or just talking to them to find out something they have in common
So maybe both students, their hometown is Toronto or their hometown is Seoul
Or maybe they each have one brother, or they each like to play soccer, whatever it is
So the goal is – it depends on the class size, but if it's a small class
then I'll get students to talk to everybody. If it's a bigger class, let's say like 20 or 30 or 40 students
I'll say that maybe they have to find 10 people and talk to 10 people
So they write down their name and then the little fact that is in common
All right, so that's it for my top five ESL conversation activities
If you want more, I actually have an article on my website that has 27 of them
So I will leave the link down below, so please be sure to check that out
And then also hit like, subscribe, leave a review, and that would be really helpful for me
And of course, tell your friends if you like this video. You're in the future, friends
All right, until next time. Bye, everybody