A set of 10 conversation prompts for use with your English language students, useful for warm-ups and encouraging students to use the language rather than simply study it.
Rebus puzzles are popular games played using either words or pictures that, with a little lateral thinking, can be seen to represent a whole different word or phrase. Here are 15 examples to use with your students.
After you have used these, why not make your own, or even better, have your students make their own?
Challenge your students with these common phrases to describe time. How was the day before yesterday? Were you busy two Saturdays ago? What are you doing the week after next?
Try these discussion cards for free with your students, and stimulate free discussion with a grammar focus in the classroom.
Find many more discussion cards with Foreign Language Teachers on this site!
A selection of discussion prompts for your ESL classroom, useful for a variety of levels.
This set is divided into two categories with brief grammatical explanations to help you pre-teach the language point.
The two categories are;
If: The first conditional
Have: The present perfect
Stimulate discussion in English with these conversation prompt cards designed to make students talk about themselves.
With this set of 30 free conversation prompts, help your students practise beginner language patterns commonly used to form and answer questions, while discussing their own preferences and abilities.
This set is colour-coded to demonstrate common patterns and collocations:
Key language:
Do you…?
Do you have…?
Can you…?
What is your favourite…
What … do you like?
Have you been to…?
These conversation prompts allow you students to identify and learn common English patterns in a natural, communicative way, while making the class personal to them and their lives.
These cards are suitable for beginner to pre-intermediate learners and above.
This small set is provided free. Check out more of our products on Foreign Language Teachers to find materials for all levels and ages of learner.
Enliven your language classroom with engaging discussions!
A common EFL activity that is very good for helping students practise their pronunciation and identify the differences between minimal pairs. The teacher should demonstrate the activity with the whole class first.
1. Each student receives a sound destination card
2. Students form into pairs
3. One student becomes the guide, and says either of the words on the first row.
4. The listening student must follow the line in the direction of the correct word.
5. The first student now chooses one of the next two minimal pairs, and the
listening student follows again.
6. Continue along the four sets of minimal pairs until the listener identifies the city
they have finished on.
Easy to use and easy to understand, these cards help students to identify pronunciation points and work on them with or without supervision.
This free version contains two cards: one sheet of minimal pairs students commonly need help with, and one specifically focusing on /l/ and /r/
A set of 40 conversation prompts for use with your English language students, useful for warm-ups and encouraging students to use the language rather than simply study it.
It is recommended that you do not only use these conversation prompts to teach, but also to learn about your students: discover their language needs and any points they need further practice on.
A collection of 224 conversation starters to stimulate discussion amongst students of the English language. Each colour-coded set is based around a single grammar point using a certain tense or conditional, with grammar explanations to aid a teacher in preparing for the activity.
Two 5x5 grids for the activity 'Find Someone Who.'
The first focuses on preferences (like), abilities (can), and possessions (have).
The second version focuses on past experiences (the present perfect 'have you...')
Feel free to message if you would like the publisher file for your own use.
There are a vast array of methodologies and theories swirling around the EFL industry these days, from CLIL to TBLT to PPP to a hundred other acronyms.
This is not a book about these.
Within this book you will find a collection of 44 activities that can be used within any classroom. While most often communicative in nature, this collection was not formed with only the communicative-based lesson in mind.
Instead, these are activities that can be used as warm-ups, reviews, or adapted to fit in with different stages of a lesson plan. Their aim is to provide EFL teachers with ways to make their classroom enjoyable, and to leave students with a positive impression of a class that makes them want to return.
The activities have not been divided into skills-based categories, and in fact depending on how the activity is carried out the skills focus may well change.
The activities have also not been divided into age-ranges or ability levels, and again, most can be adapted to suit any level and age.
Instead, the activities have been divided into where the focus of the activity is carried out in the classroom; whether the activity is based around groups at tables, at the board, moving around the classroom, standing in circles, or using a smart-board or projector.
This may be an unusual approach, but this collection was written with teachers who already have a good grasp of language-teaching in mind, and are looking for quick, easy-to-prepare activities to regulate the flow and energy levels of a class.
A set of 80 conversation prompts for use with your English language students, useful for warm-ups and encouraging students to use the language rather than simply study it.
It is recommended that you do not only use these conversation prompts to teach, but also to learn about your students: discover their language needs and any points they need further practice on.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a bundled, discount version of my previous two 40-prompt sets.
Another set of 40 conversation prompts for use with your English language students, useful for warm-ups and encouraging students to use the language rather than simply study it.
It is recommended that you do not only use these conversation prompts to teach, but also to learn about your students: discover their language needs and any points they need further practice on.
90 conversations prompts categorised for the teaching and elicitation of phrases to discuss personal experiences, including:
I have seen…
I have tried…
I have been…
I haven’t done…
What have you…? (Who/Where/How…)
These cards allow learners to practise talking about their experiences in a natural way, without direct feeding of language by the teacher. The prompts encourage free production and the noticing and acquisition of grammar patterns. They have been organised so that certain patterns and language points are noticed and developed before or after the activity, allowing their use for a variety of teaching methodologies.
These cards can be divided in several ways: by the main verb used (be, do, eat, try, see) and question forms, by common collocations, and by other patterns, and several ideas have been included for teachers.
Made for a variety of levels, it is encouraged that teachers of lower-level students first select from these cards the prompts they feel are most appropriate for the abilities and interests of their students.
A set 60 discussion prompt cards suitable forEnglish learners of any age, at pre-intermediate level and above. These cards allow learners to easily practise the question and answer forms of:
Which do you prefer, A or B?
e.g *Which do you prefer, chocolate or ice cream?*
Have you ever past participle?
e.g *Have you ever seen a ghost?*
What noun do you like?
e.g *What sports do you like?*
What noun do you find adjective?
e.g *What subject do you find difficult?*
There are multiple examples of each question form, designed to elicit language patterns from learners in a communicative way that stimulates their interest and motivation to use English.
60 conversations prompts designed to demonstrate and elicit the correct grammar patterns of make, let, and allow when used to express permission and obligation. Each question draws attention to the common English pattern of grammar for using these verbs:
*make + someone + verb
let + someone + verb
allow + someone + to + verb*
These cards allow learners to practise using these forms while talking about their experiences in a natural way, without direct feeding of language by the teacher. The prompts encourage free production and the noticing and acquisition of the grammar patterns.
Made for a variety of levels, it is encouraged that teachers of lower-level students first select from these cards the prompts they feel are most appropriate for the abilities and interests of their students.
A common EFL activity that is very good for helping students practise their pronunciation and identify the differences between minimal pairs. The teacher should demonstrate the activity with the whole class first.
1. Each student receives a sound destination card
2. Students form into pairs
3. One student becomes the guide, and says either of the words on the first row.
4. The listening student must follow the line in the direction of the correct word.
5. The first student now chooses one of the next two minimal pairs, and the
listening student follows again.
6. Continue along the four sets of minimal pairs until the listener identifies the city
they have finished on.
Easy to use and easy to understand, these cards help students to identify pronunciation points and work on them with or without supervision.
These 11 sheets cover minimal pairs that students commonly struggle with, including /l/ /r/, /th/ /s/, /v/ /b/, /i/ /ai/, and more.
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.
A set of 40 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 2 categories: animals, sports, and body.
Weather idioms: Breath of fresh air, Bright, Dawn on, Gloomy, Stormy, Storm out, Rain check, Windfall, Rain or shine, Right as rain
Disaster idioms: Erupt, On fire, Flood, Open the floodgates, Tremors, Drought, Wildfire, Landslide, Political earthquake, Eye of the hurricane
There are 2 questions given using each English idiom, designed to draw on learner’s own experiences and knowledge 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.
Talk about business with your English students! In this set you will find 70 conversation prompts designed to:
a) demonstrate the usage of common English business vocabulary, in their common collocations.
b) elicit the usage of these words and phrases.
The prompts cover a diverse range of topics, from types of industry to employment concerns, and from economic issues to business ethics.
Each question is carefully selected to demonstrate the vocabulary in an appropriate, natural way, eliciting open-ended responses to encourage evolving conversations among learners and teachers.
Vocabulary and phrases included in this set:
bankrupt
blue-collar worker
white-collar worker
pink-collar worker
foreign investment
industry
to invest in
service industry
manufacturing industry
entertainment industry
food industry
primary sector
secondary sector
tertiary sector
unemployment
mass-unemployment
employment rates
unemployment rate
to stem unemployment
free market economy
startup
workforce
overtime
overtime culture
inclusive
discrimination
maternity leave
paternity leave
ethics
ethical
unethical actions
to take vacation
work-life balance
These colour-coded prompts are suitable for all learners of English of above intermediate levels of proficiency, especially for adult learners of English with experience in the world of business.
Enliven your language classroom with engaging discussions!
Example questions:
What is a good idea for a startup company?
What industry do you work in?
What are some big companies in the service industry?
What do you understand by the term free market economy?
What actions can be taken to prevent discrimination in the workplace?
What will you do next week? Help your students understand and talk about future plans in Japanese with these flashcards.
These 31 clear, simple flashcards demonstrate simple Japanese sentences about future plans, using colour and images to make meaning clear. Each example uses common, important vocabulary that students will encounter many times when learning the language.
Example phrases include:
火曜日はかいものをします。
水曜日は料理をします。
土曜日はえいがを見ます。
Students will learn the days of the week, common vocabulary to describe daily routines, and the verb that conjugates with these activities.
Each phrase comes with two flashcards: a question and answer set for call and response drilling, and a visual example card to elicit and encourage student language retention.
Furthermore, there are two versions within this set – a set with furigana, and a set without. Help your students memorise these common Kanji readings while they study!
These cards provide an excellent launching point for teaching talking about future plans to learners of Japanese.
Help your students build their own sentences using the examples provided, and encourage your learners to develop the sentences further.
頑張ってね!