English Idioms: 60 conversation cards for EFL and ESL classrooms

A set of 60 conversation prompts based on common idioms, for use with your English students to encourage spoken language use. In this set, the idioms are drawn from 3 categories: animals, sports, and body.

Animal idioms: Workhorse, Horse around, Early bird, Night owl, Bullheaded, Cats and dogs, Chicken, Dinosaur, Black sheep, Fish out of water, Get your goat, Hurt a fly

Sports idioms: Big hit, Kick off, Own goal, Slam dunk, Throw in the towel, Hurdle, Rookie, Curveball, Team player, No sweat

Body idioms: Big head, Cool head, Big mouth, Broken heart, Heartbreaker,
Cold feet, Golden tongue, Heart of gold, Hairy, Hot head

There are 2 questions given using the English idiom, designed to draw on learner’s own experiences and feelings and to elicit usage of the idiom. Each card provides a definition of the idiom besides the question, so that once folded the card can be turned over for easy reference.

These prompts are designed to draw language from learners communicatively that stimulates their interest and motivation to use English, and can be used in a variety of ways. Encourage your students to elaborate and build on from the question prompts.