Speaking Activities

1) Films

Almost anywhere you go these days people love to talk about what they have seen in the cinema.
Any class, will usually be well versed in both their own native country's films and the latest and
greatest from Hollywood and elsewhere. This subject is especially useful with younger students
who might be hesitant to speak about their own lives. Speaking about films provides an almost
endless font of possibilities for conversation. Here are a few ideas:

Aim: Promoting conversation - especially with younger students who might be hesitant to speak
about their own lives.
Activity: General introduction to films, dictation and short listening exercise, followed by
students' discussing their answers to dictated questions.
Level: Intermediate to advanced
Outline:
 Introduce the topic by asking students to name different types of film and a film they know
of that represents that genre.Example: Comedy - Manhattan by Woody Alan
 Dictate the following questions to the students - they need only write down their responses.
 What is your favorite Italian, German, French, etc. (you name the nationality) film?
 Who is your favorite actor or actress?
 What is the worst film you have ever seen?
 In your opinion, who is the worst actor or actress in film today?
 Have students put aside their answers to the above questions.
 Read the short description of the film provided with this lesson (or invent a short description
of a film you know that most students have seen). Ask the students to name the film.
 Have students divide up into small groups and discuss a film they have all seen. After they
discussed the film, ask them to write a short description of the film like the one you have
read to the class.
 Groups read their summaries aloud to the other groups which need to name the films
described. You can easily turn this into a little competitive game setting the number of times
the descriptions can be read aloud.
 Returning to the questions at the beginning of class, ask each student to choose one of the
questions and answer that question explaining to the other students their reasons for
choosing that film or actor/actress as the best/worst. During this part of the lesson students
should be encouraged to agree or disagree and add their own comments to the discussion at
hand.
 As a follow-up homework task, students can write a short review of a film they have seen to
be discussed during the next session.
Which Film?
This film takes place on an Italian island. An exiled, communist poet comes to the island and
slowly becomes friends with a simple, local man. The film seems to be about learning which can
take place between friends. During the film, the poet helps his friend persuade a beautiful young
woman to become his wife by helping the man write love letters. The film follows the maturing
of a young, simple man through his contact with a famous man who he admires greatly.

2) Good manners
This activity is all about manners and etiquette. This can be an interesting topic to discuss with
your students, especially if there are cultural differences regarding norms of behaviour between
the country you're working in and the UK.
This activity was first published on the British Council's Language Assistant website.
Preparation
Write up two columns with headings on the board:
Good MannersBad Manners
Procedure

 This is a simple introductory activity to get across the idea of manners, both good and bad.
 Draw the table on the board and give students a few ideas to get them going.
 Then they should fill their table with as many examples of good and bad manners as they can
think of.
 Ask students to read the statements about manners in the UK. There are three that are
FALSE. See if they can find them. ( The three false ones are: 3, 4 and 6.)

In the UK...
1. ... do stand in a queue when you wait for a bus or to pay for something in a shop.
2. ... don't spit on the street.
3. ... do burp loudly after a meal.
4. ... don't apologise if you bump into somebody on the street.
5. ... do say ‘please' and ‘thank you' at every opportunity.
6. ... don't cover your mouth when you yawn or sneeze.
7. ... don't greet people with two kisses.
8. ... don't pick your nose in public.
 Once the students have finished, ask them to decide on a list of do's and don'ts for good
manners in their country.

3)One word story

This activity is extremely simple. Each student adds a word to create a group story. Despite the
simplicity it can be really challenging and I would only use it with higher levels.
Preparation
Students should be in a circle (if this isn’t possible make it clear they know who they are going
to follow on from).
Procedure
 The teacher can begin by saying the first word and each student adds the next word, without
repeating what has come beforehand.
 The stories can develop in any number of ways. Some groups may need the teacher to
provide punctuation and decide that the sentence should end and a new one should begin. The
great thing about this activity is that all students have to concentrate and listen carefully to
their colleagues to be able to continue the story coherently.
 Good starting words are “Suddenly” or “Yesterday” to force the story into the past tense.
Example:
* Teacher – “Yesterday”
* Student 1 – “I”
* Student 2 – “saw”
* Student 3 – “a”
* Student 4 – “strange”
 * Student 5 – “man”
* Student 6 – “who”
* Student 7 – “was”
* Student 8 – “wearing”
* Student 9 – “a”
* Student 10 – “yellow”
* Student 11 – “hat”
* Teacher – “Full stop, new sentence”
* Student 12 – “He”
* Student 13 – “was”
* Etc. etc.
 It is great for highlighting word collocations and practising word order. It also highlights
problems students may have with tenses or prepositions for you to focus on in future classes.

4) Picture dictation

This is a low preparation fun activity that works well with large classes, especially with young
learners and teens. All your students need is a blank piece of paper and all the teacher needs is a
little bit of imagination.
Procedure
 First of all explain to the students that they are going to do a picture dictation, that you are
going to describe a picture to them and that all they have to do is simply listen and draw
what they hear you describe.
 You then describe a simple and easy-to-draw picture to them and they draw it. To help you
with your first picture dictation you can use the picture on the accompanying worksheet and
the description below it as a guide. It is a very simple picture for a low-level beginner's class
but this kind of activity can be adapted to any level of student. Simply change the content of
the picture accordingly.
Picture and description 69k pdf
 When you are describing the picture it is best to describe one object at a time slowly and to
repeat each description two or three times.
 Make sure you give students enough time to finish drawing one object before you move onto
the next object and it is a good idea to walk around and look at the students' drawings as
they are drawing them so that you can see how well they are understanding your descriptions
and then you can adjust them accordingly and give them any support they need.
Tips for making the activity work well
 Before starting the activity you may want to draw a square or rectangle to represent a piece
of paper on the board and elicit vocabulary from the students that they will need to know for
the activity, such as in the middle of the piece of paper, in the top/bottom/right-/left-hand
corner of the piece of paper, in front of, behind, on top of etc.
 For lower levels, you may even want to draw pictures of the things, the house, the hill,
clouds, birds and children skipping etc. that will appear in the picture on the board before
starting the activity to review vocabulary. How much pre-teaching of vocabulary and
language you do will depend on the level of your students.

Writing activities
1) A Perfect story
The present perfect is a tense that many students have problems with. Most course books
provide only controlled grammar sentences where students choose the correct tense.
This activity leads students into writing a short story using the past simple, present perfect
simple and continuous, but in a more creative way.
Procedure
 Tell the students they are going to write a short story.
 Get the students to read the following questions and decide, with a partner, what the missing
words are, but not answer the questions now.
 Monitor well to check they understand the activity. There are no 'correct' answers, they
should use their imagination.
 What is his / her name?
 What is __________ about them? (e.g. strange / unusual / nice...)
 What was their --problem last year?
 What happened?
 Why have they become so __________ ?
 How many __________ have they -__________ ?
 Who have they been __________ recently?
 What have they been __________ for the last five years?
Download sample questions 40k
 Now the students, working in pairs still, have to answer the questions. The answers should
link the questions together to form the basis of a story.
 Next ask students to draw their characters. This is fun and brings the character to life.
Students can laugh at each other's drawings.
 Using the notes above, students put the story together. They can add more information if
they wish but they should not make it complicated.
 Students then swap their story with another pair to edit. They read the story and underline
any errors they notice, or question any word or phrase they don't understand.

 The stories are returned to their owners who make changes as necessary depending on the
comments that were made by the editing pair.
By slowly guiding them through the stages the end result is their own and usually
grammatically correct. Don't forget to ask students to read each other’s stories, they are sure
to be amusing.
 2)Too many words
Read the following text and delete any word that is not necessary.
JOHN'S SUMMER HOLidAY
John lives in the London. He is and twelve years old and he is likes swimming and fishing. He
goes to France every a year with his family. They stay in a big hotel by the sea. John want goes
to the beach every day and plays he on the sand with his friends. When the weather is to hot he
swims in the sea. In the evenings he goes into town and does plays golf with his father. He likes
the France and wants to go to there again next year.

3)Correct a text
A. This text is strange. Can you correct the mistakes with a sensible word. Use CAPITAL
letters!
Example: Goodbye, my banana is John .... HELLO, my banana is John ....
Goodbye, my banana is John. I come from America and I am 11 eggs old. I have one test-tube -
her name is Julia and he is 13 years old. My ruler's name is Robert and he is 300 years older
than me. I have long black butter and big blue microscopes.I go to FIS by plane and my
favourite lesson is sleeping. I like music and I am learning to play the frog. I also like sports,
and after school on Motherday I always eat football.Hallo!
B. Can you write your own strange text?
4)Correct a text
A. Correct the mistakes in this text.
my Summer Hoiliday;in the sumerholidays i travellewd to spain with my familie =Weewent their
by plain and the jouurney took 4hours. we staid in abighotel by theSee. i went swiming
everyday and 3in the evenings I wached tV. i had a great time!
B. Write some sentences about your best summer holiday:
5)Word game
Can you make ten new words using letters from each of the following big words? Your words
must have four letters.
Example: CONSERVATION coat coin nest not soon nose vase near rice race
 CONGRATULATIONS
 TEMPERATURE
 BRIEFCASE

Reading activities
1) Read the text below. For each question, decide if it is "True" or "False".
My working day starts very early. From Monday to Friday I get up at half past three and I
have a shower and a cup of coffee. I usually leave the house at ten past four because the car
always arrives a few minutes early. I get to the studio at about five o'clock and start work.
My programme Good Morning Britain starts at seven o'clock and finishes at nine o'clock.
Then I leave the studio at a quarter past ten. After that, I go shopping and visit some
friends. I get home at three o'clock. A woman helps me with the housework and the ironing.
I read a newspaper and do some work.
Then my husband gets home at half past five in the evening and I cook dinner. We stay at
home in the evening. We don't go out because I go to bed very early. We usually watch
television and then I go to bed at half past eight, I'm usually asleep by nine o'clock.
I think my job is very interesting but I don't like getting up very early.
1. The person is a woman.
True
False
2. She is a television journalist.
True
False
3. She drives her car to work.
True
False
4. She goes home after the programme finishes.
True
False
5. She is in the house alone till her husband arrives home.
True
False
6. She goes to bed early during the week.
True
False
7. She works with her husband.
True
False
8. She likes everything about her job.
True
False

2) Read what the people with different jobs say and match what they say to the name of
their job. Write the correct letter (A-K) in each box.
Police Officer
 Waiter
 Teacher
 Nurse
 Sports Player
 Dentist
 Gardener
 Musician
 Pilot
 Author
 Architect
 Some people treat you so badly and think that's OK as long as they give you a few
dollars.
 Many people are suspicious of us but I believe those people are the ones with something
to hide.
 It's true that I have had to put my hands into and look into some nasty places, but the
money's great and everybody wants to know one of us!
 It's not all fancy performances and globetrotting I can tell you! Without hard work,
dedication and lots and lots of practice, you won't succeed.
 We have become a lot more aware in recent years about health dangers that exist while
working here and now we are even more careful. After all, I want to remain on this side
of the curtain!
 It's great seeing paper plans come to real stone and brick reality.
 Yeah, we get paid a lot but there's always the risk of injury and our careers are pretty
short.
 The first and last five minutes are the most stressful and that goes for the members of the
public as well.
 Some days, I get blocked really badly and can't string more than two words together.
 In this institution, a lot of it is control. When you consider their home life, that's
understandable!
 I consider myself an artist, I really do! What I create lasts a long time and can even
change throughout the year.

3)Read the text and look at the questions that follow it. In this reading comprehension, the
questions are true or false. Write true or false in the box provided.
A commuter plane had to take evasive action after a Suffolk-based US fighter jet came within
800m of colliding with it, a report revealed yesterday.
The pilots of the KLM UK Fokker 50, which was carrying 37 passengers, sent it into a dive and
then into a climb to avoid the US Air Force F15E Eagle from RAF Lakenheath. The incident
happened as the aircraft, from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, was coming in to land at Teesside
Airport on August 13, 2001.
The two US crewmen on the F15 had been on a training exercise and were heading south to
return to Lakenheath. An Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said an air traffic
controller warned the Fokker when it was approaching Teesside that a fast-moving aircraft was
five miles away and closing. The turboprop plane's collision warning system sounded, prompting
the 35-year-old captain to scan the horizon, where he spotted the oncoming jet. An alert saying
"Descend, descend, descend" then sounded, and the co-pilot sent it into a dive – but seconds
later, the warning system sounded again, telling the crew to climb immediately. As the F15
passed below, the captain's radar display showed it as being just 300ft below the Fokker. The
captain then saw the plane moving away to his left.
After the incident, which happened 35 nautical miles from Teesside, the captain asked a cabin
attendant to check that no one had been injured. The report said passengers had been subjected
to a force of 2G by the avoiding manoeuvre, but fortunately the 'Fasten seat belts' sign had been
on at the time.
The rear seat crewman of the F15, which recorded the incident with an on-board video camera,
said he had seen the Fokker and estimated it was about 400ft above and would pass behind their
aircraft. A report by the safety and quality section of the Manchester Air Traffic Control and
Airport found that the controller managing the situation had acted correctly by not giving the
Fokker any instructions, as they might have aggravated the situation.
The AAIB report found that at their closest point, the two aircraft were 800m apart horizontally
and 1500ft apart vertically. Had evasive action not been taken, it is believed the vertical
separation of the two aircraft tracks would have been less than 100ft and the lateral separation
less than 500m.
There had been a previous near-miss in the same area involving a RAF Tornado and a Shorts
SD-360 passenger plane in March 2000, the report added. As a result, a number of
recommendations were put into force by the Civil Aviation Authority.
1. A military plane was involved.
2. The two planes were going to the same airport?
3. The passenger plane's pilots saw the plane before the plane's systems sounded a warning.
4. The passenger plane's pilots actually saw the American jet.
5. The passenger plane's pilots took evasive action to try and avoid a collision.
6. The passengers were not aware of anything happening.
7. This area has seen other similar incidents in the past.

4)Read the text and look at the questions that follow it. In this reading comprehension, the
questions are true or false. Write true or false in the box provided.
A nagging wife paid off big-time for a New Jersey man, who won $100,000 a year for life in the
lottery thanks to his insistent spouse. Jeweler Rasen Patel was dead-set against going to work in
Manhattan on March 5 because of bad weather. But his wife, Hina, insisted he go - and he
picked up a New York State Lottery instant ticket on his way in. A few scratches of a coin later,
and Rasen Patel was screaming with joy. Forecasters had predicted a big blizzard for that day,
but the snowfall was light. And that prompted Hina Patel, an accountant, to push her husband to
make his usual commute from their home in Edison into the city. "I wasn't going to go," he
laughed, as he and his wife picked up their first $100,000 check at a New York Lottery office on
Long Island. "I made him go because he was supposed to collect money owed to him," she said.
Rasen Patel bought a "Set for Life" instant lottery ticket in Penn Station on a whim and ended
up never making it to work that day. Holding his winning ticket, he phoned home and told his
wife, "I'm a rich guy!" "I said, 'What are you talking about?' I didn't believe him until he got
home and showed me," Hina Patel said. "I am still in shock and can't believe we won. We can
now pay for our children's colleges, and we also plan to help people who aren't as fortunate."
The couple has two kids, ages 15 and 10. They'll keep collecting as long as they live - and the
lottery will pay up to $2 million to their estate in the case of their early deaths. Two other
lottery winners also accepted their prizes at the same press conference.
Victoria Ragone of Port Jefferson claimed a check for $4.5 million - her take-home pay, before
taxes, of a $9 million Lotto win. "I still can't believe it - I never win anything," beamed Ragone,
a single medical-billing worker.
She said she wasn't going to go wild with her new fortune at first, but then changed her mind. "I
am going to do something crazy but I don't know what it is . . . maybe a little nip and tuck
later," she laughed.
1. Rasen didn't want to go to work on March 5th.
2. He played a scratch card lottery.
3. The weather was cold but sunny.
4. Hina is a housewife.
5. They will collect the rest of their money next year.
6. Victoria will be very sensible with her money.

5)Read this letter from Milena to her pen-pal, Elena. There are six paragraphs. Match each
paragraph to a subject by writing the correct letter (A-F) for what it talks about.
Dear Elena,
Thank you for the letter you sent me last week. I'm very happy to hear that you and Francesco
are well and that your exam results were so good. Well done! I know you studied hard and you
deserve your success.
Mine are next week so at the moment I'm studying a lot. I'm really nervous about them because,
if you remember, I was ill for a couple of months at the end of the year and so I missed a lot of
lessons. When they finish I would like to come and visit you for a few days, if that's OK with
your mom and dad. Do you remember I told you about my friend Amanda from Scotland? She's
going to come here next month and is going to stay for two weeks. I'd like you to come too so
you can meet her and we can all go out together. What do you think? We can practice our
English! I remember last year we had such a good time. The beaches near your house are
wonderful and I really enjoyed meeting your friends (especially Roberto! Is he still single?) I
can't remember the name of the disco next to the train station but I'd like to go there again - it
was fun.
Oh, guess what! Jason broke his arm last weekend! He went to the skateboard park with his
friends from school and fell down some steps (he doesn't know how to skateboard!) He's got a
plaster cast and he's going to have it for at least six weeks. He's such an idiot!
My mom's calling me for lunch so I'll finish this letter now. Say hello to your family and don't
forget to congratulate Francesco for me.
lots of love
Milena
PS. Say Hi to Roberto too!
 Memories
 Well done!
 Plans
 Me
 News
 Bye!
Paragraph 1.
Paragraph 2.
Paragraph 3.
Paragraph 4.
Paragraph 5.
Paragraph 6.

Listening Activities
1) Diana tells her friend about how her new job is going.
Listen to the mp3 file and choose the best answer for each question. Then listen again to check.
1. How did Diana and the tourists travel to the canyon?
Car
Train
Bus
2. Why did some of the tourists stay at the hotel today?
They were tired.
They were ill.
They went to a different place.
3. Who is Mark?
A hotel manager.
Diana's colleague.
A worker at the canyon.
4. What did Diana do for lunch?
She didn't have time for lunch.
She ate something with the tourists.
She had lunch in the canyon café.
5. What does Diana think about her job?
The wages are good, but she hates the work.
They pay her poorly but at least she likes the job.
The wages are good and she likes the job too.
6. What did Diana do when she arrived back in the hotel?
She had a sandwich.
She spoke to the head of the tourist group about tomorrow.
She slept because she was exhausted.
7. What is the program for tomorrow?
Aquarium in the morning, museum in the afternoon.
Tour of the city in the morning, aquarium in the afternoon.
Museum in the morning, aquarium in the afternoon.

2) Sports news on the radio.

Listen to the mp3 file and answer either Yes or No for each question. Then listen again to check.
1. Did Diego Garcia play well last year?
2. Does Diego Garcia know who he is playing in the final?
3. Was the weather in France nice today?
4. Was the weather in Tennessee nice today?
5. Are foreign players playing in the golf tournament?
6. Will the Jaguar driver start in first position in the race tomorrow?
7. You bet $10 on a victory for Pittsburgh. Are you happy today?
8. Did Chicago win today?

3)Carolina talks about the great love story in her life.

Listen to the mp3 file and answer true/false for each question. Then listen again to check.
1. They first met four or five years ago.
True
False
2. They met for the second time about five years ago.
True
False
3. Enrico was sitting at a table chatting to some friends.
True
False
4. Enrico spoke first in the bar.
True
False
5. Carolina was surprised that Enrico recognised her after so many years.
True
False
6. They went for a pizza the following week.
True
False
7. Their daughter Sabelle is 6 months old.
True
False
8. Enrico chose their daughter's name.
True
False

4)Dialog
Henry: I am so tired of my commute to work. Driving all those hours is just killing me.
Lance: Yeah, I know what you mean. I used to drive two hours to work each way. But now I live
within walking distance of my work. It's great.
Henry: You're kidding. I didn't know that. Did you move?
Lance: No, I got a new job near my work.
Henry: Well, I don't think I can change my job, but I am thinking about changing my apartment.
The one I have just isn't working out.
Lance: What's wrong with it?
Henry: Well, besides being too far from work, I'm having some problems with my landlord. He
keeps raising the rent, but he never does any repairs. Everything is breaking down.
Lance: That's terrible. Listen, I think there is a vacancy in my apartment building. And my
landlord is excellent. And I'm sure it would be closer to your work than you are now.
Henry: Really? But is it expensive? My budget isn't that big.
Lance: No, it's not that expensive. And it's furnished and the utilities are included.
Henry: That sounds great. I'd love to see it. When can we go?
Lance: How about now?
Henry: Sure. I'll drive.
Read the questions and choose T (true) or F (false). Check your answers by clicking the
arrow below.
1. Henry loves driving to work everyday.
True
False
2. Lance can walk to work.
True
False
3. Henry doesn't like his apartment.
True
False
4. Henry's apartment has a lot of broken things.
True
False
5. Henry likes his landlord.
True
False
6. Henry has a lot of money.
True
False
7. Lance doesn't know of any apartment vacancies.
True
False
8. Lance has to pay for the utilities in his apartment.
True
False

5)Dialog
Hotel Clerk: Welcome to the Home Again Hotel, sir. How may I help you?
Mr. Edwin: Hello. I would like a non-smoking room with a double bed.
Hotel Clerk: Do you have a reservation?
Mr. Edwin: No, I'm afraid I don't.
Hotel Clerk: Hmmm. Let me see. We don't seem to have any rooms with double beds right now.
We are very full tonight. We've got a large conference going on.
Mr. Edwin: I see. So what do you have available?
Hotel Clerk: Well, not much. It seems we have a small corner room on the 5th floor. It has a
single bed and a bathroom with a shower.
Mr. Edwin: And is it a non-smoking room?
Hotel Clerk: No, the 5th floor is a smoking floor. But that is the only room we have at this
time. Would you be interested in it?
Mr. Edwin: Wow. That's terrible. I didn't realize... I knew I should have made a reservation
before I left home.
Hotel Clerk: Yes, you never know if we will have vacancies or not.
Mr. Edwin: I guess I'll have to take that room, then. I don't have time to look for another hotel.
Hotel Clerk: Great. First, let me just have your name...
Questions
Check True or False. Check your answers below by clicking on the arrow.
1. Mr. Edwin would like a single bed in a non-smoking room.
True False
2. There is a large conference at the hotel right now.
True False
3. It's easy to know if the hotel has vacancies without making a reservation.
True False
4. The hotel has only one room available.
True False
5. Mr. Edwin made a reservation before leaving home.
True False
6. Mr. Edwin is going to look for another hotel.
True False
7. The hotel clerk was polite to Mr. Edwin.
True False