Another set of popular vocabulary game based on Taboo. This time, Christmas vocabulary. You know the drill, download, print, cut, and let your students have some fun while learning.
ESL personality questions based on reading activity and 20 conversation questions with personality adjectives.
1 Warm up. Watch the video and do the personality test. Do you agree with the result?
2 Read the text and answer the questions below.
Personality is the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make a person unique. It is believed that personality arises from within the individual and remains consistent throughout life.
Examples of personality can be found in how we describe other people’s characteristics. For instance, “She is generous, caring, and a bit of a perfectionist,” or “They are loyal and protective of their friends.”
The word “personality” comes from the Latin word persona, which refers to a theatrical mask worn by performers in order to either take on different roles or disguise their identities.
Personality Types
One theory suggests there are four types of personality. They are:
Type A: Perfectionist, impatient, competitive, work-obsessed, achievement-oriented, aggressive, stressed
Type B: Low stress, even-tempered, flexible, creative, adaptable to change, patient, tendency to procrastinate
Type C: Highly conscientious, perfectionist, struggles to reveal emotions (positive and negative)
Type D: Worrying, sad, irritable, pessimistic, negative self-talk, avoidance of social situations, lack of self-confidence, fear of rejection, appears gloomy, hopeless
Research on personality can provide us with fascinating insights into how personality develops and changes over the course of a lifetime. This research can also have important practical applications in the real world.
For example, people can use a personality assessment (also called a personality test or personality quiz) to learn more about themselves and their unique strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. Some assessments might look at how people rank on specific traits, such as whether they are high in extroversion, conscientiousness, or openness.
Other assessments might measure how specific aspects of personality change over time. Some assessments give people insight into how their personality affects many areas of their lives, including career, relationships, personal growth, and more.
Personality type can also have an impact on your health, including how often you visit the doctor and how you cope with stress. Researchers have found that certain personality characteristics may be linked to illness and health behaviors.
If you’re an ESL teacher, you know that speaking is a difficult skill for students to master. Plus, speaking can be intimidating. It’s one thing to write and another thing entirely to perform in front of others. That’s why these 60 questions for ESL conversation based on Vogue’s 73 Question series, in which celebrities quickly answer random questions, is great for practicing speaking skills with your students.
You can start this activity by watching Adele’s take on 73 questions. After that, put your students in pairs so they can play out their version of the interview. To do that, download the worksheet60 Questions for ESL Conversation.
The worksheet contains 60 questions divided into 2 sets. This is a pairwork activity, so students can both ask and answer the questions.
Allow the students 5 minutes to read the questions and to make sure they understand and look up any unfamiliar vocabulary.
Explainthat they have to conduct the interview in the style of Vogue’s 73 questions, so they have to quicklyask and answer the questions.
Decide how long it should take and tell them, I would allow 5-10 minutes based on the level of the group.
As a variation of the activity, they can record each other’s responses to create a similar video to the one below.
60 Questions for ESL Conversation Activity
STUDENT A
What’s the best thing that happened to you this month?
2. What is something you’re tired of?
3. What is something that recently moved you?
4. If you could teach one subject in school what would it be?
5. What’s your favorite beverage?
7. What is your favorite cake?
6. What is your favorite movie?
7. What is something you can’t do?
8. What is one habit you wish you could break?
9. What makes you laugh no matter what?
10. What does creativity mean to you?
11. What are your favorite lyrics of all time?
12. What is something you’ve always wanted to try but you’ve been too scared to do?
13. What did you want to do with your life at age 12?
14. What is something you will not be doing in ten years?
15. What is an important life lesson for someone to learn?
16. What is one goal you are determined to achieve in your lifetime?
17. Would you ever live anywhere besides where you live now?
18. What is your favorite dessert?
19. Is there a dessert you don’t like?
20. It’s brunch! What do you eat?
21. Who is your favorite artist?
22. Favorite Disney animal?
23. What is a book you are planning on reading?
24. What did you read most recently?
25. Favorite solo artist?
26. What’s your favorite board game?
27. What’s a city you wish to visit?.
28. Where does one go on a perfect road trip?
29. What do you do on a rainy day?
30. What’s your favorite exercise?
STUDENT B
1. What is your worst subject in school?
2. What do you usually eat for breakfast?
3. What do you usually eat for dinner?
4. Favorite baked good?
5. What is something you wish you could be good at?
6. Skiing or Surfing?
7. Cooking or Baking?
8. Most recent celebrity crush?
9. What’s your favorite clothing brand or store?
10. How do you manage stress?
11. What do you do to relax?
12. Favorite fashion trend of all time?
13. Best fashion advice you’ve ever received?
14. Trend you would like to see disappear forever?
15. What is your spirit animal?
16. Television show you’ve binged on recently?
17. Who do you turn to when you’re sad?
18. Name one thing you’ve learned the hard way?
19. If you could make a documentary about anything, what would it be?
20. What is your Kryptonite?
21. What are you most enchanted by?
22. What is your biggest strength?
23. What is your biggest weakness?
24. What are 3 words to describe living where you live?
25. Cutest thing on planet earth?
26. Most important advice you’d give your future children?
27. Best first date idea?
28. What do you first notice about someone when you meet them?
These conversations topics and questions will help any learner practice and master speaking English. Age or level of English doesn’t matter, what matters is practice, practice, practice.
So here you go, find a speaking partner, choose a topic and have fun!
Starting a conversation
1. Current situation
How are you doing?
How’s the job?
How’s the family?
How was your weekend?
2. Job / Work
What do you do?
How long have you worked there?
Do you like it?
How are your coworkers?
What’s the best / worst thing about being a (their job)?
3. News
What do you think about (current news story)?
Did you hear about (news story)?
How much do you follow the news?
What do you think doesn’t get enough news coverage?
What gets too much attention in the news?
How do you get your news?
4. Sports
Do you like (sport you like)?
What teams do you follow?
What was the last game you went to?
What do you think about (popular player / team that is doing well)?
Do you play any sports?
Who do you think will win the (major sports event)?
5. Not too distant future
What are your plans for the weekend?
Where are you planning to go for your next vacation?
Do you have anything exciting going on this week?
Getting to know someone
1. Free time
What do you do in your free time?
How much free time do you have?
What do you wish you had more time for?
2. Music
What kind of music are you into?
What music did you like when you were younger?
What’s your favorite band / singer?
Have you been to any concerts recently?
What’s your favorite album?
3. Movies
What type of movies do you like?
What’s your favorite movie?
Who’s your favorite actor / actress / director?
What’s the last movie you saw?
4. Food
What’s your favorite food / ethnic food / restaurant / thing to cook / seasonal food?
Do you like cooking?
How do you usually find good restaurants?
What weird foods have you tried?
5. Books
Do you like reading books?
What types of books do you like?
What’s the last book you read?
What’s your favorite book?
What book is overrated?
Are there any books you would really recommend I read?
6. TV
What shows do you watch?
What do you think about (popular TV show)?
Have you seen (TV show you like)?
What are some shows that ended that you were really into?
What show do I really need to check out?
7. Travel
Where have you been on vacation?
What did you like / dislike about (place they traveled)?
Where do you wish you could go?
What place do I really need to see?
What’s your favorite place you’ve been?
8. Hobbies
Do you have any hobbies?
How long have you been doing them?
How did you get started?
What common misconceptions do people have about your hobby?
What hobbies did you have when you were younger?
9. Learning / Studies
What kinds of things do you pick up easily?
What subjects were hardest for you in school?
What kinds of things are you interested in learning more about?
Talking about personal stuff
1. Where they grew up
What was your hometown like?
Did you enjoy where you grew up?
How much did where you grew up shape you?
What were some of the best and worst things about where you grew up?
2. Things they were into
What games did you play as a child?
What kind of hobbies did you have when you were growing up?
What cartoons or shows did you watch when you were a kid?
What fads or interests were you really into when you were younger?
3. Friends
Do you stay in touch with your old childhood friends?
What do you usually do when you hang out with your friends?
Do you prefer having a lot of friends or just a few close ones?
How long have you known your best friend?
How did you and your best friend meet?
4. Accomplishments
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
What awards or trophies have you won?
What is the next big thing you want to accomplish?
5. The distant future
What do you think life will be like in 10 / 25 / 50 / 100 years?
Do you think humanity is headed in a good direction?
What discovery could be made that would completely change the course of humanity?
There are certain types of annoying coworkers that can be found almost everywhere. You might be one of them. Do you know which one you are? Take this quiz.
The most frequent types are:
The Gossiper
The Wannabe Boss
The Talker
The Energy Vampire
The Kitchen Slob
These business English roles-plays can help your adult students practice dealing with annoying coworkers and office problems.
A1: You have an annoying co-worker who puts all her/his calls on speaker, spends a lot of time discussing personal problems, invades your personal space, peeks on your computer screen over your shoulder; and jumps into your conversations without invitation. You have tolerated this behavior long enough and now you will talk to your co-worker and make an end to it. B1: You work in an open space office and share a cubicle with an older co-worker. You have a feeling that your co-worker does not like you but you have no idea why. You are friendly, laid back, and chill. You spend a lot of time on your mobile phone, talking to your family, checking your Instagram because you usually finish your work fast and are bored soon afterward. Your co-worker wants to chat.
A2: You are a project manager who has been assigned to a new project. One of the members of your new team is not co-operating with the other team members. He opposes every idea, causes conflict, and is generally difficult to work with. Talk to him and solve the problem. B2: You have worked for this company for 10 years and you feel unappreciated. You started to work on a new project with co-workers who are not so experienced as you are and you think your manager is incompetent. You complain a lot because things do not work as they should. Your manager wants to talk to you.
A3: You are a good employee, you have great results and everybody likes you. The problem is that you think your boss is stealing your ideas and presenting them as his/her own and you do not get the deserved credit. Talk to your boss. B3: You are the department manager of a large company. You have great employees and your department has the best results. You know you could get promoted soon if you keep coming up with great ideas. Your employee wants to talk to you.
A4: You maintain a healthy diet and prepare a fresh lunch for work every day. There is no restaurant near your workplace and you have no time to drive somewhere for lunch during your break. Last week somebody stole your lunch every day. You suspect a certain co-worker. Talk to him/her. B4: You started to work in a new company. There is no canteen and you have no time to drive somewhere for lunch during your break but luckily there are free snacks in the staff kitchen and you helped yourself to a free lunch a couple of times. Your co-worker wants to talk to you.
A5: Your co-worker is rude and thinks that she does not value your opinion. You think that she is irresponsible and unreliable. Talk to her and express your concern. B5: Recently, you have been overworked, your diary is full, and you have no time for personal life. You are about to have a breakdown when your co-worker stops you to have a chat.
Can we teach communicative competence without critical thinking? Is the topic of vaccination or chemtrails too controversial? Try this ESL role-play on science and let me know what you think.
Cristina’s blog offers a vast array of resources including listening tasks, discussion topics, grammar and vocabulary exercises, various lesson plans and many other activities.
I guess everyone knows this one. Most of the resources are available only through a paid subscription, but there are also many free lesson plans and activities.
Another well-known website with plenty of English teaching resources which include kids, teens, and adults. They also offer training courses and resources for teacher development.
ESL worksheets and lesson plans. This website also offers mainly paid resources and various types of subscriptions, but they have also plenty of free resources.
I have one more week of teaching ahead of me. Three more weeks of work. There is more paperwork now than actual teaching. The kids can smell the summer holidays in the air and it shows. The teachers can barely hide how exhausted they are.
And it’s hot. Scorching hot. No AC in the building and my brain is shutting off. All I can see is myself on the beach, sipping a gin&tonic. But the kids still need to be educated. Motivated. Engaged. Entertained.
The perfect time for some fun speaking activities. Group work. Games. Anything. It’s too hot to be creative. I am thankful for any useful activity I can find so I put together a couple of fun ESL activities that I’m using these days. The kids are happy. My head didn’t explode. Win-win.
This activity is based on a popular board game. It is a more fun variation of a dictionary game I sometimes play with my students. They get a couple of difficult words and have to invent fake definitions. This game is the most popular among my kids.
This one is still popular. Revising vocabulary is always a good idea. There are plenty of different topics you can choose from. You can try our free games on the topic of Media or Business. Other topics include Health and Food.
The best thing about these fun ESL activities is that the variations are endless. You can either find some or have your students create their own. It’s more fun and they also learn more. Just give them a topic, have them write 10 questions and after that, they circle the class and interview as many classmates as possible. Finally, they inform the class about the results. Topics may include Environment, Hobbies, Books, Travel, Science, History, Media, Celebrities.
You can also find some interesting ideas in this article from Lessons Plan Digger, which inspired me to write this list.
For even more communicative activities, click below.
I came across a funny article about ridiculous complaints by spoiled holidaymakers. That inspired me to create this little worksheet/activity. I used it as a warm-up activity for my students the next lesson in which we covered writing complaints – holiday edition 🙂
Teacher tip: If they can’t come up with any own ideas in the second task, let them use some ideas from the list.
In pairs read the ridiculous complaints holidaymakers made to their travel agent.
Which is the craziest one? How would you have answered if you were in the place of the travel agent?
Why do you think people complain about these things?
Astonishing holiday complaints
1. “I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts.”
2. “We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels.”
3. “The beach was too sandy.”
4. “On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don’t like spicy food at all.”
5. “It’s lazy of the local shopkeepers to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during ‘siesta’ time – this should be banned.”
6. A woman threatened to call police after claiming that she’d been locked in by staff. When in fact, she had mistaken the “do not disturb” sign on the back of the door as a warning to remain in the room.
7. “We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as yellow but it was white.”
8. A guest at a Novotel in Australia complained his soup was too thick and strong. He was inadvertently slurping the gravy at the time.
9. “We bought ‘Ray-Ban’ sunglasses for five Euros from a street trader, only to find out they were fake.”
10. “Topless sunbathing on the beach should be banned. The holiday was ruined, as my husband spent all day looking at other women.”
11. “No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled.”
12. “It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England. It only took the Americans three hours to get home.”
13. “I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment to our friends’ three-bedroom apartment and ours was significantly smaller.”
14. “I was bitten by a mosquito. No one said they could bite.”
15. “The brochure stated: ‘No hairdressers at the accommodation’. We’re trainee hairdressers – will we be OK staying there?”
16. “There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners now live abroad.”
17. “My fiancé and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked.”
18. “We had to queue outside with no air conditioning.”
These complaints are all taken from a survey from Thomas Cook and ABTA, revealing the most ridiculous complaints holidaymakers made to their travel agent.
Task 2
Think of two similar ridiculous complaints.
Role-play the dialogue with a classmate.
Student A You are an unsatisfied holiday maker and you are going to complain!
Student B You are a holiday representative and you try to be as polite as possible and explain the misunderstanding.
