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17 Engaging ESL Listening Activities for Your Next Class

Ben Bartee

  • November 19, 2020
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If you ask any ESL teacher who has worked in the field, they will probably tell you that a huge portion of their classroom time is spent on developing the listening skills of their students.

Because of the unique phonics of the English language (especially compared to Asian and African languages), listening is often a particularly difficult skill for non-native English learners to acquire – one that requires extra attention from the instructor.

As an ESL teacher, you will often find that a student may have a remarkable writing and reading ability but poor listening and speaking skills due to the relative difficulty of the latter.

As such, your employer will likely expect you to include a large variety and volume of ESL listening activities regularly in your lesson plans. Let this article be your guide for mastering lesson plans that have an emphasis on listening!  

How to Use ESL Listening Activities

Any comprehensive ESL lesson, regardless of the age or level of students, should include at least some listening.

ESL listening activities are useful for:

  • Instilling fluency and confidence in conversation skills.
  • Building social bonds between the teacher and students and between learners and their peers.
  • Preparing for standardized English exams, many of which contain sections that specifically test listening skills.
  • Breaking the monotony of long lessons with interactive listening activities.

When to Use ESL Listening Activities

Listening activities can have a place at any point in the lesson – as a warm-up to generate excitement for the upcoming lesson, in the middle of a lesson, or at the conclusion of a lesson to wrap things up.

Most ESL textbooks and course materials include plenty of focus on listening and speaking, so you’ll have lots of opportunities to include listening work in your lesson plans.

Setup for ESL Listening Activities

Some activities require more setup than others. In classic, simple examples such as “Simon Says,” no setup or extra materials are required.

For others, a microphone, sound system, multimedia player, or other technological implements are needed.

You will need ESL flashcards and a “sticky ball” for one of the listening activities with younger learners discussed here.

Also, to play the Bingo activity here, you will need access to the internet and a printer .

ESL Listening Activities For Young Learners

As a time-tested staple of ESL classrooms around the world, young learners go crazy for Simon Says. Even better for teachers in a pinch for time, Simon Says requires virtually no preparation and the rules are extremely easy to understand, even for the youngest learners.

To play, first explain to your students (with the help of a translator, if need be) the rules:  the students must follow your commands to perform basic physical actions like “touch your nose” or “stand on one foot” – provided that you preface your command with “Simon says.”

Students who either fail to perform a command preceded by “Simon says” or who perform a command not preceded by “Simon says” are out. The last student standing wins.

In addition to promoting active listening skills, Simon Says is a blast for young students as they struggle to keep up in their minds with the appropriate action.

Ramp up the intensity as needed by speeding up the activity or devising more difficult tasks for the students.

Telephone is another classic listening activity that carries the added benefit of requiring no prior preparation.

To play, select a vocabulary term or phrase either from the lesson at hand or from a previous lesson. Whisper the term into the ear of the first student. He or she, in turn, whispers the term into the ear of a nearby student and so on until the term has been passed through the whole class.

It’s downright amazing – and often entertaining for the students — how thoroughly even single-syllable words can be butchered in the course of the telephone game.

Increase the enthusiasm by breaking the class up into teams to compete in a telephone relay race.

Bonus : After playing the telephone game, — if you believe such a lesson is necessary/appropriate — take the time for a quick social mini-lesson. Explain in simple terms the dangers of spreading unsubstantiated gossip as fact, which is perfectly illustrated in an easy-to-understand example here.

Sticky Ball With Flashcards

Combining visual cues with listening is a great way to keep young students’ attention and to accommodate your students who learn better visually than aurally. Some studies indicate that visual aids increase the effectiveness of a lesson by up to 400% for students who have a visual learning style!

There are several options to work with flashcards in listening activities, but the most effective may be the “sticky ball” game.

For setup, you need a set of flashcards with relevant vocabulary and a “sticky ball” that is capable of sticking to surfaces (many language schools and primary schools have these materials already).

Place the flashcards against the whiteboard at the front of the class. Divide the students into teams. A pair of students at a time (one from each team) steps up to the “throwing line” a couple of meters from the whiteboard.

When you say a vocabulary term, the listening students throw their balls at the correct image. If they hit the appropriate flashcard, they are awarded a point for their team.

Bingo is an eternal winner with young learners. This activity is a great way to practice listening for vocabulary and phrases while keeping up the focus and enthusiasm of your students.

Preparation is minimal but does require that you visit the link above and print out an appropriate number of bingo cards to distribute to the class.

ESL Listening Activities For Adults

Your adult students are never too old for classic role-play. To prompt the activity, select a scenario that your students will act out in front of the class as a pair, a trio, or a quartet.

You can seamlessly work a role-playing activity into your lesson plan by choosing a scenario related to the current lesson – for example, if the lesson is about the workplace, you might consider an interaction between a boss and an employee.

For added engagement from students, depending on their personalities, you can create ludicrous scenarios that are sure to entertain and educate at the same time.

Podcast Listening

Podcasting is a hip new medium for English-language programming that spans nearly every conceivable topic – if there is a subject of interest to your students, chances are a podcast in English is already up and available for free on the web.

The major advantage to this type of activity is that you can tailor it to suit your students’ interests – for example, if they are a group of software engineers or students of the hard sciences, you might want to find a podcast about artificial intelligence .

The only drawback to this activity is that some of your students are liable to “space out” at points due to the lengthy format. In addition to choosing your topic wisely to avoid this issue, further incentivize active listening by devising a worksheet that asks either general questions about the significance of the material covered or specific questions about what was said when. This will keep your students on their toes.

Following Directions

Learning how to take and follow directions is a critical skill that your students may need if/when they make it to a foreign English-speaking land.

Hone this skill by incorporating a direction-following activity into your lesson plan.

As the teacher, you have a plethora of options for how to conduct this listening activity. You can create a worksheet for handout with landmarks and various roads and offer directions to reach a certain destination.

Alternatively, you can create a more interactive (and elaborate) environment in the classroom by creating a physical roadmap – perhaps by arranging the desks to form “roads” with specific items in the classroom as “landmarks.”

ESL Listening Activities for Beginners

Personal descriptions.

Humans are social creatures; we are wired to look for distinguishing features in our peers whom we interact with. Beginners and younger students will enjoy the opportunity offered in this activity to describe their fellow classmates.

To play this game, call a student volunteer to the front of the class. Ask them to privately communicate the name of a classmate of their choice to be the subject of the activity.

Then, ask the student questions about their subject. What are they wearing? Do they have glasses? What color is their hair?

The rest of the class must then guess who the student is.

You can modify this activity by allowing your students to freely describe their subject without being prompted by your questions as the teacher – however, in this iteration of the activity, you risk losing control and potentially causing embarrassment for one or more participants.

Pick the Word

Understanding – much less participating in — a full-fledged English conversation might be a tall task for beginners, but you can prime their listening skills by having them listen for specific sounds and simple words.

To conduct this activity, read a passage of basic text. Ask them to mark down the number of times they hear a particular word or phrase. Start off with easy targets like “you” or “and,” moving on to more complex/less common words to increase the difficulty as appropriate.

The Counting Game

Numbers are essential for beginners to master. The counting game is a fun way to help your students along in both their understanding of English numbers and their listening skills.

To play, Gather your students in a circle if the physical layout of the classroom allows. Start off with the easiest iteration, requiring your students to say a “buzzword” at every multiple of third. For example, if the word is apple, the students should count off one-by-one: 1, 2, apple, 4, 5, apple, etc. If a student does not say the buzzword at the right time or says it at the wrong time, they are out.

Ratchet up the difficulty as necessary by switching to multiples of 4, 5, 6, etc. This game requires strong focus and attentive listening, especially at more advanced levels.

Unmusical Chairs

In this version of musical chairs with a twist, students listen to a simple conversation while looking for a specific piece of information.

For example, begin by asking them “Where is Sheena going?” In the course of the conversation, Sheena will reveal where she is headed. This is the cue for the students who hear the answer to sit down.

If the seated students can correctly answer the question based on the information provided, they are allowed to continue and the party goes on until a winner is found.

ESL Listening Activities for Intermediate Students

Songs with lyrics worksheet.

Western pop music is popular throughout the world (think Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, One Direction, etc.) You can use this interest to your advantage in the classroom by incorporating some of the best-known English-language pop songs into listening activities.

The web is full of pre-made lyrics worksheets like the one linked above from Maroon 5. Or, if you have the time, you can make your own.

You can encourage active participation by allowing your students to select the songs for upcoming lessons.

Guess the Accent

The ability to differentiate between different English accents is a sign of an advanced understanding of the nuances of the language. Early on in their English education, many students are unable to distinguish between American, British, or Australian accents. It’s even harder for them to tell apart accents that are closely linked, such as Australian vs. New Zealand or American vs. Canadian.

The accent guessing game is engaging, fun, and useful for building a greater appreciation for the many varieties of English spoken throughout the world.

Make it a competition by dividing students up into teams and assigning time limits for each guess, with points awarded for correct answers.

Distinguishing Between Commonly Confused Words

As students move from the beginner to the intermediate level, this is a good stage to develop their “ear” for English by instilling in their minds the distinctions between commonly confused words – for example, affect vs. effect, desert vs. dessert, etc.

For maximum benefit to your students, teach them how to look for meaning in context by listening to sentences or paragraphs with incorrect uses of these words. Ask students to catch your errors and correct them.

ESL Listening Activities for Advanced Students

Mock interview.

For advanced students who are serious about taking their English education to the next level in higher education or hope to land a job related to English-speaking, chances are that they are interested in how to prepare for an interview with a potential school or employer.

Let your students prepare briefly by explaining what kinds of information they will be expected to share in an interview – but not giving them the verbatim questions beforehand.

You can interview students individually or allow students to interview each other. Facilitate the involvement of the whole class by asking the observing students questions about what the candidate said in his or her answers.

There are many variations of this activity, but to recreate the pressure felt in a real-life interview, it’s best to have the students perform theirs in front of the entire class.

In addition to gaining nimble listening skills, this activity will instill confidence leading up to the day that your students have an actual interview.

Although dictations should be used sparingly because they can be less-than-stimulating even for devoted learners, they are a powerful tool for increasing the speed and accuracy of listening skills.

This practice is particularly beneficial for learning to differentiate between commonly used homophones, such as “write” and right” and “read” and “red.”

Listen for the Mistake

Because of the complexity of English grammar, even non-native-English-speaking students who are advanced in their development often have difficulty catching more nuanced mistakes that are commonly (and understandably) made in everyday speech.

To correct these issues, prepare a spoken essay (about a page long or so) that is riddled with subtle mistakes such as subject-verb agreement flaws or tense mistakes. Ask your students to correct you as you move along, highlighting any that they missed and explaining them at the end of the essay.

Through this activity, you can help your students understand what small but important errors they might routinely make in everyday speech that often go uncorrected. 

Where to Start as an ESL Teacher

In terms of devising effective listening activities and skillfully incorporating them into a broader lesson plan, knowing where to start as an ESL teacher — especially a new one — can be hard.

Fortunately, the web is full of great resources to help you maximize your classroom time to deliver high-quality listening instruction to your students.Check our list of free lesson plans . The instruction strategies and tools found here are time-tested to deliver practical and worthwhile ESL listening instruction to your students.

Ben Bartee

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  • The Best ESL Listening Games and Activities.

Are you searching for effective and enjoyable ESL listening games to enhance your language classroom? L ook no further! In this comprehensive guide, we explore 17 engaging listening activities tailored for ESL learners.

From the classic ‘Telephone Game’ to the innovative ‘Find the Mistake’, these games are designed to improve listening skills, boost comprehension, and make language learning an adventure.

Ideal for teachers and language enthusiasts alike, our selection covers a range of skills and group sizes , ensuring that every student gets the most out of their ESL journey.

Just before we jump into these 17 ESL Listening Games and Activities we have the four skills covered on the site. Speaking, Reading, Writing and Listening.

You can access the pages from the links below or click on the image to download them all in one PDF file for $2.99 or the price of a coffee ( a good one we admit! )

The Best ESL Games and Activities – 4 Booklets in 1
  • The Best ESL Speaking Games and Activities.
  • The Best ESL Writing Games and Activities.
  • The Best ESL Reading Games and Activities.

So, let’s dive into these exciting games and transform the way your students engage with language learning!

The Best ESL Listening Games and Activities.

17 of the Best ESL Listening Games.

We have given full breakdown for these games in the table provided, and its in the download above as well, to help you speed up and make sure if these games suit your class and students.

1. Telephone Game

Overview : The Telephone Game is a classic and engaging activity that tests students’ listening and memory skills. It’s particularly effective in highlighting how easily information can be misunderstood or changed in communication.

  • Setup : Arrange students in a circle, either sitting or standing.
  • Time to Play : Typically 10-15 minutes, but can vary depending on group size.
  • Number of Players : Ideal for 5 or more players. Larger groups increase the fun and the challenge.
  • Resources Needed : No physical resources are needed, making this an easy game to set up in any setting.
  • Enhances listening accuracy and memory.
  • Encourages focus and attention to detail.
  • Illustrates the nature of verbal communication and how easily messages can be altered or misinterpreted.

Description of the Telephone ESL Listening game:

The game begins with one student thinking of a sentence and whispering it to the student next to them. This sentence is then passed along through whispers from one student to another around the circle.

The key is for each student to whisper what they heard to the next person, without repeating or clarifying.

Once the sentence reaches the last student in the circle, they say it out loud.

The fun and educational part comes in comparing the final sentence to the original. It’s often humorous and surprising how much the message can change, demonstrating the importance of clear communication and attentive listening.

Telephone Game Table

2. lyrics gap fill.

Overview : Lyrics Gap Fill is an engaging activity that combines music with language learning. It challenges students to listen closely to the lyrics of a song and fill in missing words, enhancing their listening comprehension and vocabulary skills.

  • Setup : Choose a popular song that’s suitable for the classroom and prepare a handout with the lyrics, leaving some words blank.
  • T ime to Play : 15-20 minutes.
  • Number of Players : Can be done individually or in small groups , accommodating any class size.
  • Resources Needed : An audio player (like a smartphone, computer, or CD player) and printed lyrics with gaps.
  • Improves listening comprehension and attention to detail.
  • Expands vocabulary and idiomatic language understanding.
  • Engages students in a fun and culturally relevant activity.

Description of the Lyrics Gap Fill ESL Listening Game :

Distribute the gap-filled lyrics to the students.

Play the song, and students listen and fill in the missing words.

This can be done as a collective activity with pauses for discussion, or as a more competitive game where the first to fill in all the gaps correctly wins.

It’s an excellent way to introduce new vocabulary and idiomatic expressions found in songs, making learning more memorable and enjoyable.

Lyrics Gap Fill Table

3. movie clip challenge.

Overview : The Movie Clip Challenge is a dynamic activity that utilizes engaging movie or TV show clips to hone students’ listening skills. It’s especially effective in teaching listening for specific details, intonation, and colloquial language.

  • Setup : Select a short, appropriate clip from a movie or TV show.
  • Time to Play : 10-20 minutes, depending on the clip length and discussion time.
  • Number of Players : Flexible; can be done individually, in pairs, or in groups.
  • Resources Needed : A device for playing the clip (like a computer or TV) and a set of questions related to the clip.
  • Enhances the ability to listen for specific information.
  • Improves understanding of different accents and speaking styles.
  • Engages students with real-world language usage.

Description of the Movie Clip Challenge ESL Listening Game :

Before playing the clip, provide students with a list of questions or key points to listen for.

Play the clip, then have students discuss or write answers to the questions.

This activity can also involve predicting what happens next in the clip or discussing characters’ actions and motivations, further enhancing listening comprehension and critical thinking.

Movie Clip Challenge Table

The Best ESL Listening Games and Activities.

4. Sound Effects Guessing Game

Overview : The Sound Effects Guessing Game is an entertaining and imaginative activity. It involves playing various sound effects and having students guess what they represent, enhancing their listening skills and creativity.

  • Setup : Prepare a playlist of different sound effects.
  • Time to Play : 10-15 minutes.
  • Number of Players : Flexible; suitable for individuals, small groups, or the entire class.
  • Resources Needed : An audio player and a collection of sound effects.
  • Enhances auditory discrimination and attention to detail.
  • Encourages imaginative thinking and vocabulary development.
  • Provides a fun break from more traditional language lessons.

Description of the Sound Effects Guessing Game ESL Listening Game :

Play a sound effect and ask students to write down or shout out what they think it is.

The game can be made more challenging by using less common or more abstract sounds.

Discuss the sounds afterward, perhaps linking them to vocabulary or themes you are studying in class.

Sound Effects Guessing Game Table

5. dictation relay.

Overview : Dictation Relay is an active and collaborative game that combines listening, writing, and physical activity. It involves students relaying a sentence from the teacher to their team and dictating it accurately.

  • Setup : Divide the class into teams and designate a space for the relay.
  • Time to Play : 15-20 minutes.
  • Number of Players : Best played with groups of 4-6 students.
  • Resources Needed : Paper and pens for each team.
  • Improves listening for specific details and memory recall.
  • Encourages teamwork and effective communication.
  • Adds a physical element to the listening task, catering to kinesthetic learners.

Description of the Dictation Relay ESL Listening Game :

One student from each team listens to a sentence from the teacher.

They then run back to their team and dictate the sentence for a teammate to write down.

The next team member runs to the teacher for the next sentence, and so on.

The game can be tailored to different levels by adjusting the complexity of the sentences.

Dictation Relay Table

6. story sequencing.

Overview : Story Sequencing is an interactive game that enhances students’ listening comprehension and their ability to organize information logically. Students listen to a story and then work to sequence the events correctly.

  • Setup : Prepare a short story with distinct events or use a well-known tale.
  • Number of Players : Suitable for individual students or small groups.
  • Resources Needed : A written story and, optionally, printed cards or pictures representing different events from the story.
  • Enhances comprehension and recall of spoken information.
  • Encourages logical thinking and sequencing skills.
  • Engages students in narrative structure and storytelling.

Description of the Story Sequencing ESL Listening Game :

Read a story aloud to the class or play a recorded version.

After listening, students work to put the events of the story in the correct order. This can be done verbally, in writing, or by arranging picture cards.

Discuss the correct sequence with the class afterward and explore different interpretations of the story.

Story Sequencing Table

International News Script Samples

7. News Report Analysis

Overview : News Report Analysis is a practical game that helps students develop their ability to comprehend and analyze spoken information. It involves listening to a short news report and then discussing or answering questions about it.

  • Setup : Select a short, age-appropriate news report – audio or video.
  • Time to Play : 20-25 minutes.
  • Number of Players : Works well with individual students, pairs, or small groups.
  • Resources Needed : A device to play the news report and a set of questions related to the report.
  • Improves comprehension of formal, real-world spoken language.
  • Enhances critical thinking and analytical skills.
  • Encourages discussion and opinion formation based on listening.

Description of the News Report Analysis ESL Listening Game :

Play the news report for the class.

Students listen and then answer questions about the report, which can include facts, opinions, and inferences.

This activity can be expanded into a discussion, allowing students to express their views on the topic, practicing their speaking skills alongside listening .

News Report Analysis Table

8. directions game.

Overview : The Directions Game is an interactive and practical activity where one student gives directions to a specific location, and the others draw the route on a map as they listen. This game enhances listening comprehension, particularly for understanding instructions and spatial language.

  • Setup : Prepare a simple map of the classroom, school, or a fictional place.
  • Number of Players : Can be played individually or in small groups.
  • Resources Needed : Maps for each student or group and writing utensils.
  • Enhances understanding of directional and spatial language.
  • Encourages careful listening and interpretation of instructions.
  • Develops skills useful for real-life situations, like navigating a new place.

Description of the Directions Game ESL Listening Game :

  • One student gives directions from one point on the map to another. These directions should include specific spatial terms and landmarks.
  • The other students listen and draw the route on their maps based on the instructions given.
  • After the activity, compare the drawn routes to see how well the instructions were understood and followed.

Directions Game Table

9. Mystery Sound Story

Overview : Mystery Sound Story is a creative and imaginative listening game. It involves playing a series of sounds that collectively tell a story, with students listening and then narrating the story based on what they heard.

  • Setup : Prepare a sequence of sound effects that, when put together, suggest a narrative.
  • Number of Players : Suitable for individuals or small groups.
  • Resources Needed : A playlist of sound effects that form a narrative.
  • Encourages creative thinking and storytelling based on auditory cues.
  • Enhances listening skills and the ability to connect sounds to a coherent narrative.
  • Engages students in a unique and imaginative listening experience.

Description of the Mystery Sound Story ESL Listening Game :

Play the series of sounds for the students without giving them any context.

Students listen to the sounds and then work individually or in groups to create a story that connects all the sounds.

Afterward, have students share their stories and discuss the different interpretations and narratives they created.

Mystery Sound Story Table

The Best ESL Listening Games and Activities.

10. Simon Says’ with a Twist

Overview : ‘Simon Says’ with a Twist is a classic game with an added layer to enhance listening skills. It involves following instructions only when a specific phrase is used, sharpening students’ attention to verbal cues and directives.

  • Setup : No special setup required, just enough space for students to move around safely.
  • Number of Players : Any number, works well with both small and large groups.
  • Resources Needed : None.
  • Improves listening for specific instructions and details.
  • Enhances concentration and focus.
  • Provides a fun, physical way to practice language comprehension.

Description of the ‘Simon Says’ with a Twist ESL Listening Game :

The teacher (or a student) gives various instructions to the class, like “touch your nose” or “jump in place.”

Students should only follow the instruction if it starts with the phrase “Simon says.”

Introduce more complex instructions or faster pacing to increase the challenge.

The game can be made more educational by using vocabulary or grammar structures you are currently teaching.

‘Simon Says’ with a Twist Table

11. audio book club.

Overview : The Audio Book Club is a listening activity that combines literature with auditory learning. It involves listening to a section of an audiobook and then discussing it, enhancing comprehension and critical thinking skills.

  • Setup : Choose an audiobook that is suitable for your students’ language level.
  • Time to Play : 20-30 minutes, including discussion.
  • Number of Players : Can be done individually or in small discussion groups.
  • Resources Needed : An audio player and access to an audiobook.
  • Improves listening comprehension and retention of detailed information.
  • Encourages analytical thinking and discussion skills.
  • Exposes students to different accents and styles of spoken language.

Description of the Audio Book Club ESL Listening Game :

Play a section of the audiobook for the class.

After listening, facilitate a discussion about the content. This can include character analysis, plot predictions, and vocabulary review.

The discussion can be guided by specific questions or be more open-ended, depending on the students’ level and the learning objectives.

Audio Book Club Table

12. guess the speaker.

Overview : Guess the Speaker is an intriguing listening game that sharpens students’ ability to identify different voices or accents. It’s a fun way to improve listening discrimination and to introduce students to a variety of speaking styles.

  • Setup : Prepare recordings of different people speaking. These can include various accents, ages, and speaking speeds.
  • Number of Players : Flexible, suitable for individuals, pairs, or groups.
  • Resources Needed : An audio player and a collection of voice recordings.
  • Enhances the ability to distinguish between different accents and tones.
  • Improves attentive listening and auditory processing.
  • Introduces students to a range of vocal characteristics and speech patterns.

Description of the Guess the Speaker ESL Listening Game :

Play a series of voice recordings for the students.

After each recording, students try to guess who the speaker might be, focusing on their accent, age, gender, or any other characteristic.

Discuss the guesses as a class and reveal the correct answers, providing insights into the different characteristics of each voice.

Guess the Speaker Table

The Best ESL Listening Games and Activities.

13. Weather Forecast Fun

Overview : Weather Forecast Fun is an educational listening game that combines language learning with real-world knowledge. Students listen to a weather forecast and then create a visual representation of it, such as a mini weather chart.

  • Setup : Find a recording of a weather forecast or use an online video.
  • Resources Needed : A device to play the weather forecast, paper, and art supplies for creating the weather chart.
  • Enhances listening for specific information and details.
  • Encourages understanding and use of weather-related vocabulary.
  • Promotes creativity in visually representing information.

Description of the Weather Forecast Fun ESL Listening Game :

Play the weather forecast for the students.

As they listen, students create a weather chart or drawing that represents the forecasted weather.

Afterward, have students present their charts and discuss the accuracy of their representations based on the forecast they heard.

Weather Forecast Fun Table

14. classroom instructions challenge.

Overview : Classroom Instructions Challenge is an interactive game where students follow a series of spoken instructions. It’s designed to improve their ability to listen and respond to directives, a key skill in language learning.

  • Setup : No special setup required. The teacher prepares a list of instructions beforehand.
  • Number of Players : Flexible; can be played with the entire class.
  • Resources Needed : None, just a list of instructions.
  • Enhances the ability to follow spoken instructions.
  • Improves listening comprehension and immediate response.
  • Encourages attentiveness and quick thinking.

Description of the Classroom Instructions Challenge ESL Listening Game :

The teacher gives a series of instructions to the class, such as “Stand up,” “Find something blue,” or “Draw a circle on your paper.”

Students must listen carefully and follow the instructions as quickly and accurately as possible.

Mix simple instructions with more complex ones to cater to different language levels and to keep students engaged.

Classroom Instructions Challenge Table

The Best ESL Listening Games and Activities.

15. Listening Bingo

Overview : Listening Bingo combines the fun of the traditional bingo game with listening comprehension. Students listen to words or phrases and mark them on their bingo cards.

  • Setup : Create bingo cards with a selection of words or phrases you want the students to learn.
  • Number of Players : Suitable for any class size.
  • Resources Needed : Bingo cards for each student and markers or pens.
  • Enhances listening for specific words or phrases.
  • Encourages focus and concentration.
  • Provides a fun, game-based approach to vocabulary learning.

Description of the Listening Bingo ESL Listening Game :

Distribute bingo cards to the students.

Read out words or phrases from your list , and students mark them on their cards as they hear them.

The first student to complete a row (or pattern, depending on your rules) and shout “Bingo!” wins.

This game can be tailored to different themes or vocabulary sets, making it a versatile tool for language learning.

Listening Bingo Table

16. guess the object.

Overview : Guess the Object is a listening and imagination game. Students listen to a description of an object and try to guess what it is. This game sharpens listening comprehension and encourages creative thinking.

  • Setup : Prepare descriptions of various objects, focusing on their features, uses, or context.
  • Number of Players : Can be played with any number of students.
  • Resources Needed : List of object descriptions.
  • Enhances listening comprehension and attention to detail.
  • Encourages imagination and inference-making.
  • Useful for vocabulary expansion and context understanding.

Description of the Guess the Object ESL Listening Game :

The teacher reads out a description of an object without naming it.

Students listen to the clues and try to guess the object being described.

This can be turned into a competitive game by awarding points for correct guesses or having students race to be the first to guess.

Guess the Object Table

17. find the mistake.

Overview : Find the Mistake is a listening game that challenges students to identify errors in spoken sentences. It’s great for developing attention to grammatical details and listening comprehension.

  • Setup : Prepare a list of sentences that contain deliberate grammatical or vocabulary mistakes.
  • Resources Needed : List of sentences with mistakes.
  • Improves focus and attention to linguistic details.
  • Enhances grammatical and vocabulary knowledge.
  • Encourages active and critical listening.

Description of the Find the Mistake ESL Listening Game :

Read sentences aloud to the students, one at a time.

Students listen and try to identify and correct the mistakes in each sentence.

This game can be adapted to suit various language levels by varying the complexity of the mistakes.

Find the Mistake Table

20 Questions Game: Examples Questions and Printables

These 17 ESL listening games offer a dynamic and effective way to enhance listening skills in the language classroom.

Whether it’s through the playful challenge of ‘Simon Says’ with a Twist or the imaginative exploration of ‘Mystery Sound Story’, each game brings a unique blend of fun and learning.

By incorporating these activities into your teaching repertoire, you’ll not only improve your students’ listening abilities but also foster a more engaging and interactive learning environment.

Remember, mastering a new language is not just about memorizing grammar and vocabulary; it’s about immersing oneself in a world of exciting sounds and meanings.

So, embrace these listening games and watch your students’ language skills flourish!

Further Games and Activities for ESL Listening

  • https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-listening-activities/
  • https://www.latinhire.com/7-fun-activities-to-improve-your-esl-students-listening-skills/
  • https://www.teachingexpertise.com/classroom-ideas/esl-listening-activity/

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Making English Fun!

esl activities listening

I have been a teacher of English for over 15 years, in that time i made hundreds and thousands of resources and learnt so much i think its worth sharing. Hopefully to help teachers and parents around the world.

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  • B.1   Rob Checks In
  • B.2   Jenny Makes a Reservation
  • B.3   Rob Buys Lunch
  • B.4   Jenny Buys Lunch
  • B.5   Rob is Late
  • B.6   Jenny's Night Out
  • B.7   Rob's Dad's Birthday
  • B.8   Rob calls Jenny
  • B.9   At the Football Match
  • B.10   Meeting an old friend
  • B.11   Looking for an ATM
  • B.12   Confirming Travel Details
  • B.xx   Studying English in Brighton
  • B.xx   Hollywood
  • B.xx   Edinburgh Castle
  • B.xx   The Sandwich
  • 1.1   Rob and Jenny
  • 1.2   Jenny Arrives in London
  • 1.3   At a Cafe
  • 1.4   First Time at the Office
  • 1.5   Spilled Coffee
  • 1.6   A New Shirt
  • 1.7   A Free Morning
  • 1.8   The Tate Modern
  • 1.9   Happy Birthday Jenny
  • 1.10   Dinner with Daniel
  • 1.11   Jenny offers Rob a Job
  • 1.12   At the Airport
  • 2.1   Rob comes to New York
  • 2.2   Rob and Jenny meet again
  • 2.3   In the New York Office
  • 2.4   Lunch with Holly
  • 2.5   Rob has a problem
  • 2.6   The Wrong Shoes
  • 2.7   Running in Central Park
  • 2.8   Relationship Talk
  • 2.9   In Brooklyn with Holly
  • 2.10   Angry Jenny
  • 2.11   Talking about the Future
  • 2.12   Rob's Big Decision
  • 3.1   Jenny's and Rob's Story
  • 3.2   Meeting Jenny's Parents
  • 3.3   Harry Questions Rob
  • 3.4   Rob's Interview
  • 3.5   Lunch with Kerri
  • 3.6   Friendly New Yorkers
  • 3.7   Coffee with Monica
  • 3.8   Old Friends
  • 3.9   Jenny meets Paul
  • 3.10   Playing Pool with Paul
  • 3.11   A Boys' Night Out
  • 3.12   The Morning After
  • 3.13   Jenny gets a surprise
  • 3.14   Jenny questions Rob
  • 3.15   Rob gets serious
  • 4.1   Jenny Arrives in London
  • 4.2   Reporting Lost Luggage
  • 4.3   A Zoom Call with Rob
  • 4.4   Trouble with the Car
  • 4.5   Renting a Car
  • 4.6   Where is Henry?
  • 4.7   Jenny calls Rob
  • 4.8   Talking to the Police
  • 4.9   A Threatening Message
  • 4.10   Advice from Rob
  • 4.11   Roommate Rules
  • 4.12   Making a Plan
  • 4.13   Looking for Clues
  • 4.14   Luke gives directions
  • 4.15   Henry Rescued
  • F.1   Nice to Meet You
  • F.2   Who's that?
  • F.3   How do I get there?
  • F.4   Who's this?
  • F.5   You're late!
  • F.6   Do you like this blouse?
  • F.7   Welcome to my new apartment
  • F.8   What do you do in the morning
  • F.9   Making a weekend plan
  • F.10   Tonight I'm cooking
  • F.11   How was yout trip?
  • F.12   She has a fever
  • F.13   Do me a favor?
  • F.14   I'd like to get married
  • 1.1   Giorgio Moretti
  • 1.2   Interviewing Giorgio
  • 1.3   Making a weekend plan
  • 1.4   Paul gives directions
  • 1.5   Cheryl's family
  • 1.6   Bob's memory trick
  • 1.7   What's in the salad
  • 1.8   Eating healthy
  • 1.9   Where are the tickets?
  • 1.10   Paul and Machines
  • 1.11   Bob's Exercise
  • 1.12   Bob's Exercise advice
  • 1.13   Mr. Rashid's vacation
  • 1.14   What a vacation!
  • 1.15   Which do you prefer?
  • 1.16   Fashion for Bob
  • 1.17   A trip to South Africa
  • 1.18   Paul's African Adventure
  • 1.19   Bargaining
  • 1.20   I'll leave the tip
  • 2.1   Have we met before?
  • 2.2   The Museum of Cheese
  • 2.3   Choosing a movie
  • 2.4   The movie star
  • 2.5   Can I take a message
  • 2.6   Hotel complaints
  • 2.7   Paul's accident
  • 2.8   A luxury van
  • 2.9   How about a manicure?
  • 2.10   Bob's haircut
  • 2.11   A sit-down meal
  • 2.12   What's for dessert?
  • 2.13   What is that color?
  • 2.14   Feeling blue?
  • 2.15   Art for the office
  • 2.16   Paul the artist
  • 2.17   The computer expert
  • 2.18   New office tech
  • 2.19   Marie flirting
  • 2.20   Bob the romantic
  • 3.01   A little early
  • 3.02   Etiquette in India
  • 3.03   Are you ok?
  • 3.04   Too much medicine
  • 3.05   Rush job
  • 3.06   Planning the party
  • 3.07   Bob the dancer
  • 3.08   The etiquette teacher
  • 3.09   Planning the wedding
  • 3.10   A new holiday
  • 3.11   Somewhere safe
  • 3.12   An epidemic in Finland
  • 3.13   Bob's history book
  • 3.14   Newspapers
  • 3.15   New technology
  • 3.16   Paul's phone buzzer
  • 3.17   Discussing politics
  • 3.18   I'm not a radical
  • 3.19   Planning a honeymoon
  • 3.20   A trip to Tahiti
  • 1.1   A Cool Korean Boy
  • 1.2   Boyfriend Job Interview
  • 1.3   Janet's Date
  • 1.4   Janet's Photography
  • 1.5   Jung's Job
  • 1.6   Umma's Rival
  • 1.7   Jung's Job Interview
  • 1.8   Umma Visits Jung
  • 1.9   Umma Speaks for Jung
  • Annoying Habits
  • Ross's Monkey
  • The Egg Pickup Line
  • Joey's Thanksgiving Meal (1)
  • Joey's Thanksgiving Meal (2)
  • Decorating the Christmas Tree
  • Trip to London (1)
  • Trip to London (2)
  • Trip to London (3)
  • Trip to London (4)
  • Trip to London (5)
  • Trip to London (6)
  • Trip to London (7)
  • Trip to London (8)
  • The Halloween Party (1)
  • The Halloween Party (2)
  • Christmas Trees
  • New Year's Kiss
  • New Year's Resolutions
  • Three Years Earlier (1)
  • Three Years Earlier (2)
  • Three Years Earlier (3)
  • Three Years Earlier (4)
  • Three Years Earlier (5)
  • Three Years Earlier (6)
  • Three Years Earlier (7)
  • Phoebe the Secretary (1)
  • Phoebe the Secretary (2)
  • Phoebe the Secretary (3)
  • Joey Hates Janice (1)
  • Joey Hates Janice (2)
  • Joey Hates Janice (3)
  • The Book Swap (1)
  • The Book Swap (2)
  • #1. Ms. Teagues
  • #2. The Rug
  • #3. The Vegetable Garden
  • #1. New Neighbor
  • #2. A Perfect Place to Sit
  • #3. Penny's Halloween Party
  • #4. Roommate Agreements
  • #5. Sheldon Needs a Ride
  • #6. Game Addict (1)
  • #7. Game Addict (2)
  • #8. Sick at home
  • #9. Penny's Christmas Gift
  • #10. Money in Relationships
  • #11. Friends and Betrayal
  • #12. Bullying
  • #13. Valentine's Gifts
  • #14. Texting Date
  • #15. The Fortune Teller
  • #16. Taking Care of your Parents
  • #1. Emily's Opportunity
  • #2. Emily's First Day
  • #3. Problems in Paris
  • #4. Lunch with Mindy
  • #5. Luc Apologises
  • #6. Emily Breaks Up
  • #7. Dinner with Mindy
  • #8. Corporate Commandments
  • #9. Sexy or Sexist
  • #10. Emily and De L'Heure
  • #11. Buying Flowers with Camille
  • #12. The Elevator Pitch
  • #13. Perfume for the Hotel
  • #14. Dinner by Gabriel
  • #15. Angry Julien
  • #16. The Bad Collab
  • #17. The Champagne Campaign
  • #18. Emily's Birthday
  • #19. Magic Leek Soup
  • #20. Gabriel's Restaurant
  • #21. Restaurant Opening
  • #22. Heat Wave
  • #23. Drinking in Class
  • #1. Rachel Runs Away
  • #2. Rachel Gets a Job
  • #3. Ross's Ex-Wife
  • #4. Ross Has a Son (1)   [PDF]
  • #5. Ross Has a Son (2)   [PDF]
  • #6. Phoebe and Evolution
  • #7. Lost baby on a bus (1)
  • #8. Lost baby on a bus (2)
  • #9. Chandler vs. Bullies (1)
  • #10. Chandler vs. Bullies (2)
  • #11. Rachel Quits
  • #12. Chandler + Joey's sister (1)
  • #13. Chandler + Joey's sister (2)
  • #14. Ross's Skin Issue   [PDF]
  • #15. The Dirty Apartment
  • #16. Rachel's Job Interview
  • #17. The Ride Along (1)
  • #18. The Ride Along (2)
  • #19. Searching for presents
  • #20. Joey works at Central Perk
  • #21. Late Valentine
  • #22. The Best Nap Ever
  • #23. Chandler Hates Dogs   [PDF]
  • #24. Phoebe mugged Ross
  • #25. Joey doesn't share food
  • #26. Valentine's Ritual
  • #1. The New Manager
  • #2. Jen the Computer Expert
  • #3. The IT Team
  • #4. The Stress Test
  • #5. The Bad Date
  • #6. The Death of Jen
  • #7. Employee of the Month
  • #8. The Speech
  • #9. Introducing the Internet
  • #10. Jen presents the Internet
  • #11. The Nude Calendar
  • #1. The Cordyceps Fungus
  • #2. Joel's Birthday Breakfast
  • #3. The Pandemic Breaks Out
  • #4. Joel Takes Ellie
  • #5. Escape from Boston
  • #6. Luck Runs Out
  • #7. Story of the Pandemic
  • #8. Joel's Rules
  • #1. Modern Family Fighting (1)
  • #2. Modern Family Fighting (2)
  • #3. The Hot Neighbor
  • #4. Jay's Night
  • #5. Manny's Online Date
  • #6. The Ex-Girlfriend
  • #7. The Noisy Dog
  • #8. No Internet Contest (1)
  • #9. No Internet Contest (2)
  • #10. Self-diagnosis
  • #11. Boundaries (1)
  • #12. Boundaries (2)
  • #13. Lily on a Leash
  • #14. Moving in Together
  • #15. Common Courtesy
  • #16. Mitch Takes Care of Cam
  • #17. Man Date (1)
  • #18. Man Date (2)
  • #19. Halloween at Work
  • #20. The Christmas Tree
  • #21. Valentine's Gifts
  • #1. Dating Age Gap
  • #2. Lie for a Date
  • #3. Man vs. Boy
  • #4. The Little Guy
  • #5. The Ex-Girlfriend
  • #6. Halloween with Oscar
  • #7. Lost on Halloween
  • #8. The Perfect Couple
  • #9. Felix Loves Charlotte
  • #10. Zen Felix
  • #1. Introducing the Office
  • #2. Downsizing
  • #3. Someone to Fire
  • #4. Job Application
  • #5. Complaints Against Jim
  • #6. Pam and Jim
  • #7. Jim Loves Pam
  • #8. Jim Leaves the Office
  • #9. Branch Closure
  • #10. Branch Saved
  • #11. Selling Paper
  • #12. The Injury
  • #13. Dwight's Side Job
  • #14. Michael's Sensitivity Training
  • #15. Nepotism
  • #1. The IQ test
  • #2. Plastic Surgery
  • #3. The Fix Up
  • #4. Buying Fruit
  • #5. A Bad Haircut
  • #6. The Dinner Party Gifts
  • #7. The Close Talker
  • #8. The Opposite
  • #9. Eating Trash
  • #10. Hair Hat
  • #1. Introducing Ted Lasso
  • #2. The Press Conference
  • #3. Ted Meets the Team
  • #4. The Suggestion Box
  • #5. The First Match
  • #6. Nate's New Play
  • #7. Roy vs. Jamie
  • #8. Roy the Leader
  • #9. Trent's Article
  • #10. Rupert Crashes the Auction
  • #11. Roy and Jamie
  • #12. The Darts Game
  • #1. Nevermore   [PDF]
  • #2. The New Roomie
  • #3. Outcast Cliques
  • #4. Dividing the Room
  • #6. Cheering Up Enid
  • #7. The Poe Cup
  • #8. Poe Cup Champions
  • #9. The Nightshades
  • #10. A Date for the Dance
  • #11. Finding a Dress
  • #12. Invitation from Thing
  • #13. Parents' Day
  • #14. Uncle Fester
  • #15. Birthday
  • #16. Annoying Roommate Habits
  • #1. The Family Secret
  • #2. The Rules
  • #3. Last Day at Home
  • #4. The Move to London   [PDF]
  • #5. A True Blind Date
  • #6. The Worst Play Ever
  • #7. The Museum
  • #8. At the Party
  • #1. The Pig Rescue
  • #2. A New Home
  • #3. Let's Play
  • #4. Templeton the Rat
  • #5. Wilbur's New Friend
  • #6. A Spider's Meal
  • #7. Gussy's New Family
  • #8. Spider Rescue
  • #9. Some Pig
  • #10. Wilbur's Fame
  • #11. Terrific
  • #12. Radiant
  • #13. Fern's Plan
  • #14. To the Fair
  • #15. Big Uncle
  • #16. Bird Battle
  • #17. The Humble Pig
  • #18. Charlotte's Egg Sac
  • #19. Templeton's Rescue
  • #20. Charlotte's Children
  • #1. No such thing as magic   [PDF]
  • #3. Platform 9¾
  • #4. Hogwarts Express
  • #5. The Sorting Ceremony
  • #6. Magic Classes   [PDF]
  • #7. Flight Class
  • #8. The Magic Cloak
  • #9. The Mirror
  • #10. The Dragon
  • #11. Fluffy's Secret
  • #12. Into the Dungeon
  • #13. Harry faces Voldemort
  • #1. An Unexpected Visitor
  • #2. Company for Dinner
  • #3. The Quest
  • #4. Bilbo vs. Trolls
  • #5. Escape from the Trolls
  • #6. The Troll Cave
  • #7. In Rivendell with Elrond
  • #8. Goblins!
  • #9. Gollum and the Ring
  • #9. Into the Fire
  • #11. Mirkwood
  • #12. The Wood Elves
  • #13. Lake Town
  • #14. The Key to Erebor
  • #15. Bilbo Enters Erebor
  • #16. Smaug the Dragon
  • #17. The Arkenstone
  • #18. An Army of Elves
  • #19. Bard Speaks to Thorin
  • #20. A Thief in the Night
  • #21. Bilbo vs. Thorin
  • #1. The Video Cover Letter   [PDF]
  • #2. Job Interviews   [PDF]
  • #3. The New Interns   [PDF]
  • #4. Ben meets Jules   [PDF]
  • #5. A New CEO   [PDF]
  • #6. Ben Gives Jules a Ride   [PDF]
  • #7. Chicken Soup   [PDF]
  • #8. Ben Meets the Family   [PDF]
  • #9. Ben joins Facebook   [PDF]
  • #10. Jules Apologizes
  • #11. Becky Breaks Down
  • #12. Jules Hires a CEO
  • #13. Jules Visits Ben
  • #1. Two False Meetings
  • #2. Seb and his Sister
  • #3. The Pool Party Meeting
  • #4. Meeting at the Cafe
  • #5. The Beauty of Jazz
  • #6. Future Dreams
  • #7. The Future of Jazz
  • #8. Surprise Dinner Discussion
  • #9. Mia's One-Woman Show
  • #10. Seb Finds Mia
  • #11. The Successful Audition
  • #1. The Chase
  • #2. The Gun Shop
  • #3. The Test
  • #4. Kay Explains MiB
  • #5. Edwards Joins MiB
  • #6. Jay Delivers a Baby
  • #7. Visit to the Morgue
  • #8. Orion's Belt
  • #1. Anna Buys a Book
  • #2. The Spilled Coffee
  • #3. First Kiss
  • #4. Anna Meets the Family
  • #5. The Saddest Act Here
  • #6. Anna's Boyfriend
  • #7. William's Blind Dates
  • #8. Anna Breaks Down
  • #9. The Press Finds Out
  • #10. Anna's Proposal
  • #11. The Press Conference
  • #1. Jim Wakes Up
  • #2. Jim and Arthur
  • #3. An Impossible Decision
  • #4. Aurora Wakes Up
  • #5. Aurora and Jim
  • #6. Aurora Finds Out
  • #7. Two Passengers Alone
  • #8. Judgement
  • #9. The End of a Life
  • #10. A Hell of a Life
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  •   Super Size Me (1)
  •   Super Size Me (2)
  •   Blade Runner - Recruitment
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  •   Minions
  •   The Lego Movie
  •   Immigration Tango
  • Geometric Shapes #1
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  • Geometric Shapes #3
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  • Geometric Shapes #6
  • Geometric Shapes #7
  • Geometric Shapes #8
  • Geometric Shapes #9
  • Geometric Shapes #10
  • A Two-Storey House
  • The Countryside
  • Flowers and Trees
  • #1. Planning a Picnic
  • #2. Going to a Movie
  • #3. What should I study?
  • #4. At the Dentist
  • #5. Looking for an Apartment
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  • Pig Heart Transplant   [PDF]
  • Starbucks in Italy
  • Is the MBTI meaningless?   [PDF]
  • The Benefit of Napping
  • The Dark Side of Avocados
  • Language Learning in England
  • Korean Comfort Women
  • Air Pollution and Intelligence
  • Building robots in school
  • Oldest message in a bottle
  • Growing in space
  • Tattoo Danger
  • School for Tired Teens
  • Low Korean Birth Rate
  • Seven New Planets
  • Coffee-Powered Buses
  • Bangkok Street Food
  • Life in North Korea
  • Annoying Sounds
  • Driverless Cars
  • Love and Friendship
  • Love is a Drug
  • Why do we drink?
  • The Origins of Language
  • Nuclear Energy
  • The Periodic Table
  • Sleep & Loneliness
  • Tribalism among Children
  • The Asteroid Crater
  • Electric Plants
  • Passenger Pigeon Extiction
  • An Unusual Supernova
  • The Benefits of English
  • Brain Training Apps
  • The Genetics of Intelligence
  • The Science of Pain
  • Dog Intelligence
  • The Lost City
  • The Mongol Empire
  • Bees Play with Balls
  • Crow Funerals
  • Porcupine Quills
  • The Axolotl Salamander
  • Peregrine Falcons as Parents
  • Your Dog's Nose Knows
  • Mosquito Bites
  • Sea Otter Fur
  • Portuguese Man O' War
  • Octopus the Thief
  • Wolves chasing Caribou
  • Drongo Bird vs. Meerkats
  • British Dating Words
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  • World Christmas Food
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  • Teaching in the US
  • The Nuclear Energy Debate
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  • A Vegetarian World
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Daily Routines ESL Activities, Games, Lesson Plans & Worksheets

Daily Routines ESL Activities, Games, Lesson Plans & Worksheets

If you’re looking for some of the best daily routines activities and games for ESL, then you’re in the right… Read More

ESL Grammar Activities, Games, Worksheets and Online Practice

ESL Grammar Activities, Games, Worksheets and Online Practice

Do you want to incorporate some fun ESL grammar activities or games into your classes? Then you’re most certainly in… Read More

List of Daily Routine Activities in English with Pictures

List of Daily Routine Activities in English with Pictures

Building your vocabulary is one of the most impactful ways to improve your English language skills. Our list of daily… Read More

List of Classroom Objects in English with Pictures | English Vocabulary

List of Classroom Objects in English with Pictures | English Vocabulary

What can you see inside a classroom? You’ll probably see a lot of things that students have brought or stuff… Read More

ESL St. Patrick’s Day Activities, Games, Lesson Plans & Worksheets

ESL St. Patrick’s Day Activities, Games, Lesson Plans & Worksheets

If you’re looking for some of the best Saint Patrick’s Day ESL games and activities, then you’re certainly in the… Read More

Juneteenth Lesson Plans, Activities, Worksheets & More

Juneteenth Lesson Plans, Activities, Worksheets & More

Juneteenth is an important holiday in the USA that celebrates the emancipation of enslaved people. It was first celebrated on… Read More

Small Talk Ideas for ESL Lessons and Conversation Classes

Small Talk Ideas for ESL Lessons and Conversation Classes

If you’re looking for some small talk ideas for teaching English language learners, here are some of the best topics,… Read More

List of Words that Describe Winter in English with Pictures

List of Words that Describe Winter in English with Pictures

Winter is such a wonderful season! Although it is so cold and requires us to wear warm winter clothes, this… Read More

Animals that Start with T | Names, Pictures, Fun Facts

Animals that Start with T | Names, Pictures, Fun Facts

How many animals can you think of that start with T? If you are an animal lover, this is a… Read More

Types of Shoes (List with Pictures) | Different Kinds of Shoes

Types of Shoes (List with Pictures) | Different Kinds of Shoes

If you want to learn the different types of shoes, you’re in the right place. Have a look at this… Read More

Math Vocabulary Words in English | Mathematical Words List

Math Vocabulary Words in English | Mathematical Words List

If you’re looking for the English names of some of the most common math vocabulary words, you’re in the right… Read More

Stationery Items List in English | Office Supply Names

Stationery Items List in English | Office Supply Names

If you want to learn the names of stationery items, you’re in the right place. We have this office stationery… Read More

Biggest Animals in the World List | Large Animal Names in English

Biggest Animals in the World List | Large Animal Names in English

If you want to learn the names of the biggest animals in the world, you’re in the right place. Keep… Read More

Tips for Teaching English Language Learners

Tips for Teaching English Language Learners

Are you an ELL (English Language Learner) teacher searching for ESL teaching strategies? If you’re looking to level up your… Read More

Reported Speech Games, Activities, Worksheets and Lesson Plans

Reported Speech Games, Activities, Worksheets and Lesson Plans

If you’re looking for some of the best reported speech games and activities, then you’re certainly in the right place…. Read More

Negative Character Traits (List in English, with Pictures)

Negative Character Traits (List in English, with Pictures)

If you’re looking for a list of negative character traits, you’re in the right place! Keep on reading for some… Read More

ESL Valentine’s Day Activities, Games, Lesson Plans & More

ESL Valentine’s Day Activities, Games, Lesson Plans & More

If you’re looking for some fun ESL Valentine’s day games, activities, lesson plans, vocabulary, worksheets, and more, then you’re definitely… Read More

Irregular Verb Activities for ESL | Lesson Plans & Worksheets

Irregular Verb Activities for ESL | Lesson Plans & Worksheets

Are you looking for some interesting, engaging irregular verb activities and games for your ESL/EFL classes? Then you’re most certainly… Read More

Verb List in English | A to Z Most Common English Verbs

Verb List in English | A to Z Most Common English Verbs

If you’re looking for a verb list in English, you’re in the right place. Keep on reading for the A… Read More

Gardening Tool Names in English with Pictures

Gardening Tool Names in English with Pictures

Gardening is taking care of plants, like flowers, vegetables, or herbs, in a garden or outdoor space. It involves planting… Read More

Thanksgiving ESL Activities, Games, Worksheets, Lesson Plans

Thanksgiving ESL Activities, Games, Worksheets, Lesson Plans

Are you looking for some of the best Thanksgiving ESL activities and games, along with lesson plans, worksheets, vocabulary lists… Read More

Thanksgiving Related Words, Phrases, Idioms & Expressions

Thanksgiving Related Words, Phrases, Idioms & Expressions

If you’re looking for a list of Thanksgiving related words, then you’re in the right place! Keep on reading for… Read More

Teaching Months of the Year ESL (Games, Activities, Lesson Plans)

Teaching Months of the Year ESL (Games, Activities, Lesson Plans)

Teaching the months of the year doesn’t have to be boring! There are lots of fun ESL games and activities… Read More

Christmas Expressions & Idioms | Phrases for the Holidays

Christmas Expressions & Idioms | Phrases for the Holidays

If you want to learn some of the most popular Christmas expressions, sayings, idioms, and phrases, you’re in the right… Read More

Buy Nothing Day ESL Activities, Games, Lessons & Worksheets

Buy Nothing Day ESL Activities, Games, Lessons & Worksheets

Buy Nothing Day is an alternative to Black Friday and in the USA, Canada, and many parts of Europe, it’s… Read More

ESL Shopping Activities, Games, Worksheets, Lesson Plans and More

ESL Shopping Activities, Games, Worksheets, Lesson Plans and More

Ah, the ESL shopping unit. It’s a classic on in many beginner and intermediate ESL/EFL textbooks but it can be… Read More

Animals that Start with the Letter N (List with Pictures)

Animals that Start with the Letter N (List with Pictures)

If you’re looking for a list of animals that start with the letter N, you’re in the right place. Keep… Read More

ESL Drill Activities and Games | Ideas for English Drilling Exercises

ESL Drill Activities and Games | Ideas for English Drilling Exercises

If you’re looking for some fun and interactive ESL drill activities and games, you’re in the right place. Keep on… Read More

There Is There Are Games, Activities, Lesson Plans & Worksheets

There Is There Are Games, Activities, Lesson Plans & Worksheets

If you’re looking for some of the best there is there are games and activities, along with lesson plans, worksheets… Read More

Teaching Language Methods and Approaches: TPR, CLT, TBL

Teaching Language Methods and Approaches: TPR, CLT, TBL

There are various teaching language methods and approaches that have been used throughout history. And there are certainly some, including… Read More

Sequence Words List: More than 50 Examples in English

Sequence Words List: More than 50 Examples in English

Sequence words or linking words help us understand what’s happening in a story of a piece of text. They tell… Read More

Singular and Plural Noun Activities, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

Singular and Plural Noun Activities, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

Do you want some fresh, new ideas for singular and plural nouns? Then you’ll definitely want to check out these… Read More

Word Categories Games & Activities for English Learners

Word Categories Games & Activities for English Learners

If you’re looking for some ESL games and activities for word categories, then you’re certainly in the right place. Keep… Read More

Thanksgiving Trivia for Kids (with Answers)

Thanksgiving Trivia for Kids (with Answers)

If you’re looking for some fun and easy Thanksgiving trivia for kids, you’re in the right place! Keep on reading… Read More

Modal Verbs Games and Activities, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

Modal Verbs Games and Activities, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

If you’re looking for some modal verb activities, games, worksheets or lesson plans, then you’re certainly in the right place…. Read More

Linking Verb Games & Activities | Helping and Auxiliary Verbs ESL

Linking Verb Games & Activities | Helping and Auxiliary Verbs ESL

If you’re looking for some of the top games and activities to teach helping verbs, linking verbs or auxiliary verbs,… Read More

Advanced English Conversation Activities and Lesson Plan Ideas

Advanced English Conversation Activities and Lesson Plan Ideas

If you’re looking for some lesson ideas for advanced English conversation classes, then you’re certainly in the right place. Keep… Read More

Computer Parts Names in English (List with Pictures)

Computer Parts Names in English (List with Pictures)

If you want to learn the names of computer parts in English, you’re in the right place. Keep on reading… Read More

What is an ICQ (Instruction Checking Question): Definition & Meaning

What is an ICQ (Instruction Checking Question): Definition & Meaning

Instruction checking questions (ICQ’s) are necessary for a smoothly running language classroom. Keep on reading for all the details you… Read More

ESL Activities for Kindergarten: Fun ESL Kindergarten Activities

ESL Activities for Kindergarten: Fun ESL Kindergarten Activities

If you teach English to kindergarten kids, you don’t need me to tell you that it can a little bit… Read More

ESL Food Games and Activities | Fun Food and Drink Games for ESL

ESL Food Games and Activities | Fun Food and Drink Games for ESL

The food unit is a classic in most ESL textbooks, especially for beginners and intermediates. However, it can get a… Read More

Body Parts ESL: Activities, Games, Vocabulary, Lesson Plans + More

Body Parts ESL: Activities, Games, Vocabulary, Lesson Plans + More

Are you looking for some of the best body parts ESL activities and games? Then you’re most certainly in the… Read More

First Conditional Games, Activities, Lesson Plans & Worksheets

First Conditional Games, Activities, Lesson Plans & Worksheets

If you’re looking for some of the best first conditional games and activities, then you’re definitely in the right place!… Read More

Travel & Holidays ESL Games, Worksheets | ESL Travel Activities

Travel & Holidays ESL Games, Worksheets | ESL Travel Activities

If you need some fresh, new ideas for the ESL travel and holiday unit that you can find in most… Read More

Quantifiers ESL Activities, Games, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

Quantifiers ESL Activities, Games, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

Are you looking for some activities, games, worksheets and exercises to help your students practice some, any, much, many and… Read More

Adjectives that Start With L | Descriptive L Words

Adjectives that Start With L | Descriptive L Words

If you want to learn the adjectives that start with L, you’re in the right place. Keep on reading to… Read More

Road Trip Activities | 25+ Fun Things to Do in the Car with Kids

Road Trip Activities | 25+ Fun Things to Do in the Car with Kids

If you’re looking for some of the best road trip activities and game ideas for children, you’re in the right… Read More

Drinks Vocabulary in English | Names of Beverages With Pictures

Drinks Vocabulary in English | Names of Beverages With Pictures

If you want to learn the drinks vocabulary, you’re in the right place. Keep on reading to find out the… Read More

Abbreviations in English List | Common Word Abbreviations

Abbreviations in English List | Common Word Abbreviations

If you’re looking for the most common English abbreviations, including BA, S/E/N/W, i.e., brb, and a whole bunch more, you’re… Read More

ESL Activities for Big Classes | Fun ESL Games for Large Groups

ESL Activities for Big Classes | Fun ESL Games for Large Groups

Do you have a big class filled with lots of students who want to learn English? It can be a… Read More

List of Hobbies in English | Hobby Names for English Learners

List of Hobbies in English | Hobby Names for English Learners

If you want to learn the names of the hobbies in English, you’re in the right place. Keep on reading… Read More

Musical Instruments Names with Pictures: Top 25

Musical Instruments Names with Pictures: Top 25

If you’re looking for the names of musical instruments, along with pictures, you’re in the right place. We have instrument… Read More

Animal Sounds List in English | Animal Noises Onomatopoeia

Animal Sounds List in English | Animal Noises Onomatopoeia

If you want to know the animal sounds in English, you’re in the right place. We have the most popular… Read More

List of Zoo Animals | Most Common Zoo Animals in English

List of Zoo Animals | Most Common Zoo Animals in English

If you want to learn the names of zoo animals, you’re in the right place! Check out this list of… Read More

Plant Names in English | Most Common Types of Plants

Plant Names in English | Most Common Types of Plants

If you want to learn the plant names in English, you’re in the right place. We have some most common… Read More

Names of Colors in English | List of Most Common Colors

Names of Colors in English | List of Most Common Colors

If you’re looking for the names of colors in English, you’re in the right place. Have a look at this… Read More

Teaching Colors in English: Games, Activities & Lesson Plans

Teaching Colors in English: Games, Activities & Lesson Plans

If you teach English to pre-school, kindergarten or elementary school children, then it’s likely you’ll run across plenty of units… Read More

Water Animals Names in English | Sea & Aquatic Animals List

Water Animals Names in English | Sea & Aquatic Animals List

Check out this list of water animals in English! There are so many things living in the oceans all around… Read More

Shape Names with Pictures | Shapes in English for ESL/EFL

Shape Names with Pictures | Shapes in English for ESL/EFL

If you want to learn the shape names in English, you’re in the right place. We have all the shape… Read More

Directions ESL Games, Activities, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

Directions ESL Games, Activities, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

If you’re looking for some fun ESL directions games and activities, along with worksheets, lesson plans and other teaching goodness,… Read More

Present Continuous Games, Activities, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

Present Continuous Games, Activities, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

If you’re looking for some of the best present continuous activities, games, lesson plans, and worksheets, then you’re in the… Read More

Imperatives ESL Activities, Worksheets, Lesson Plans & More

Imperatives ESL Activities, Worksheets, Lesson Plans & More

If you’re looking for the best imperatives activities, games, exercises and all sorts of other good things, then you’re certainly… Read More

Reflexive Pronoun Activities, Games, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

Reflexive Pronoun Activities, Games, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

A reflexive pronoun is a word that ends in “self” or “selves” and are used when the subject and object… Read More

ESL Weather Activities: Make your ESL Weather Lesson Fun!

ESL Weather Activities: Make your ESL Weather Lesson Fun!

So, it seems like almost every single ESL textbook has a unit about the weather and of course, you need… Read More

Possessive Adjectives & Pronouns: ESL Games and Activities

Possessive Adjectives & Pronouns: ESL Games and Activities

If you’re looking for some of the best possessive adjective (my, our, your, his, their, her, and its) and possessive… Read More

Second Conditional Activities, Games, Worksheets & Questions

Second Conditional Activities, Games, Worksheets & Questions

If you’re looking for everything teaching the second conditional, you’re in the right place. We have 2nd conditional games, activities,… Read More

ESL Flashcard Games & Activities For Kindergarten, Children & Adults

ESL Flashcard Games & Activities For Kindergarten, Children & Adults

Check out the top picks for ESL flashcard games, activities and lesson plan ideas. Have some fun with flash cards… Read More

Zero Conditional Activities, Games, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

Zero Conditional Activities, Games, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

If you’re looking for some of the best zero conditional games and activities, along with lesson plans, and worksheets, then… Read More

Preposition of Place Games for ESL Students | TEFL Preposition Activities

Preposition of Place Games for ESL Students | TEFL Preposition Activities

Preposition of place has always been one of my favourite units to teach. The grammar and vocabulary are pretty simple… Read More

Days of the Week Activities, Games, Worksheets and Lesson Plans

Days of the Week Activities, Games, Worksheets and Lesson Plans

Day of the week is a common unit found in many beginner ESL textbooks. If you’re looking for some fresh,… Read More

ESL Surveys for Students | TEFL Questionnaires Activity

ESL Surveys for Students | TEFL Questionnaires Activity

Are you looking for a fun, interesting activity to do in your English classes? You’ve come to the right place!… Read More

Information Gap Activities for ESL/EFL Classes

Information Gap Activities for ESL/EFL Classes

I’m ALL about information gap activities in my classes. They’re ideal for teaching in South Korea, and in other places… Read More

ESL Listening Activities, Games, Worksheets, and Lesson Plans

ESL Listening Activities, Games, Worksheets, and Lesson Plans

EasIf you’re looking for some of the best ESL listening activities and games, then you’re certainly in the right place…. Read More

Frequency Adverbs Games, Activities, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

Frequency Adverbs Games, Activities, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

If you’re looking for some games and activities to teach frequency adverbs, then you’re certainly in the right place. Keep… Read More

Past Continuous Activities, Games, Worksheets & Lesson Plans ESL

Past Continuous Activities, Games, Worksheets & Lesson Plans ESL

If you’re looking for some Past Continuous games, activities, worksheets and lesson plans, then you’re certainly in the right place…. Read More

Future Forms: ESL Activities, Games, Worksheets + More

Future Forms: ESL Activities, Games, Worksheets + More

Are you looking for some future forms games, worksheets, activities, lesson plans and online practice? Then you’re in the right… Read More

Winter Clothes Names with Pictures | List of Winter Clothing

Winter Clothes Names with Pictures | List of Winter Clothing

When the weather gets cold, you’re going to need some sweaters, gloves, boots, and earmuffs to stay warm. Or, maybe… Read More

ESL Activities for Kids: Games and Fun Ideas for the TEFL Classroom

ESL Activities for Kids: Games and Fun Ideas for the TEFL Classroom

If you’re looking for some fun ESL activities and games for kids, then you’re certainly in the right place. Keep… Read More

Third Conditional Games, Activities, Lesson Plans & Worksheets

Third Conditional Games, Activities, Lesson Plans & Worksheets

If you’re looking for some third conditional ESL games or activities, along with lesson plans, worksheets, and online practice opportunities,… Read More

Concept Checking Questions (CCQs): Check Form, Meaning, Function

Concept Checking Questions (CCQs): Check Form, Meaning, Function

If you’re looking for details about concept checking questions (CCQs), then you’re certainly in the right place. We’ll give you… Read More

English Conversation Activities for Adults | Fun ESL Conversation Ideas

English Conversation Activities for Adults | Fun ESL Conversation Ideas

Many of our students say they want to practice their conversation skills. You can use these English conversation activities to… Read More

WH Questions Activities and Games, Lesson Plans & Worksheets

WH Questions Activities and Games, Lesson Plans & Worksheets

Are you looking for some of the best WH questions activities and games, along with worksheets, lesson plans and a… Read More

ESL Clothing Activities and Games | Fun ESL Clothes Games to Try Out

ESL Clothing Activities and Games | Fun ESL Clothes Games to Try Out

Are you looking to spice up the ESL clothing unit a little bit with some fresh, new games and activities?… Read More

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Best-selling author and English teacher Jackie Bolen has been talking ESL activities and games since 2015. The goal is to bring you the best ideas, lesson plans, and activity recommendations for your TEFL classes.

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Free ESL Listening Worksheets for Your Lessons

Always on the quest for listening worksheets and listening comprehension excercises for your ESL lessons?

Here, we put together a collection of ESL listening worksheets, free to use for teachers.

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ESL Listening Worksheets for Intermediate Students

Esl listening worksheets for advanced students, other resources.

Check our big list of 12 ESL listening activities and exercises.

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Learning english, we found 54 activities for you.

esl activities listening

I love sports

This activity helps you practice using words to do with time and place

esl activities listening

Bank accounts

Practice listening with this activity about bank accounts

esl activities listening

Can you understand?

Can you identify what is really being said in this listening activity?

esl activities listening

Listening to dialogues

Listen to people talking and answer questions about their conversation

esl activities listening

Can you understand the general idea in these voicemail messages?

esl activities listening

Word stress

Identify the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables

esl activities listening

US or UK pronunciation

Can you tell the difference between UK and US English?

esl activities listening

Travel programme

Listen to an interview and answer some questions

esl activities listening

How do you feel?

Answer some questions about how people are feeling

esl activities listening

Try out a number of activities that will teach you words related to how food tastes

esl activities listening

Amir's adventure

Listen to Amir talking about his trip and answer some questions

esl activities listening

What do they look like?

Listen to descriptions of people and choose the right picture

esl activities listening

ESL Speaking

Games + Activities to Try Out Today!

in Activities for Adults · Activities for Kids

ESL Activities for Listening & Speaking | ELL Listening Activities & Games

Do you want to help your students get more practice with listening and speaking English in your classes? If yes, then you’re certainly in the right place. Keep reading for the top listening and speaking activities for ESL to help them do that!

ESL-listening-and-speaking-activities

ESL Listening and Speaking

Let’s get into the best ELL listening activities and games to consider trying out in your classes. Have some fun with these ESL listening games today.

If you want to learn about how to become an ESL teacher, give this article a read!

ESL Activities for Listening and Speaking

If you’re looking for some ESL activities for listening and speaking, you’ve come to the right place! We’re going to give a brief description of our favourite ESL activities that focus on two very important skills-listening and speaking. We’ll also include a link to more details about how to set up the ESL activity and use it in your classes.

#1: ESL Surveys, ELL Listening Activity

ESL surveys are one of my all-time favourite ESL Activities for listening and speaking. I love them for the following reasons:

  • They get students up and out of their seats
  • ESL surveys encourage interaction with a wide variety of students
  • Surveys help students practice follow-up questions
  • They’re fun!
  • They can be used for kids, teenagers or adults and are ideal for a variety of levels (except total beginner)
  • They cover all 4 skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking)

For more details about ESL Surveys and how I use them in my own classroom, you’ll need to check out this article:

ESL Surveys and Why I Love Them

#2: Agony Aunt Problem and Advice Activity

Try out Agony Aunt to mix things up a bit. Even lower-level ESL or EFL students can understand basic problems and then give some simple advice using the following structures:

“You/He/She should (n’t)….”

For more details about ELL listening activities, see this article:

Agony Aunt: An ESL Speaking and Listening Activity

#3: Board Games for ESL Students

Another one of my favourite speaking activities for ESL students is board games. They’re an excellent way to review for a test or to round out a unit. I like to bring the real world into the classroom and this is one way I do it (I personally love playing board games!). Plus, they work for any grade or level of students.

It’s a speaking activity because students have to say the correct answer in response to the question in order to remain in the square. And, the other students have to listen carefully to make sure the answer is correct.

You can learn more about how I board games in my classes here:

#4: Dictogloss — A Classic ESL Activity

Dictogloss is a challenging, yet easily adaptable ESL Speaking and Listening Activity that will quickly become one of your favourites. It can be used with just about any level, individually or in groups of up to four students.

Listening is necessary, but then you can choose to focus on either writing or speaking. It really is an extremely flexible ESL activity that your students will enjoy. The key is to adapt the text and your speaking speed to suit the level of your students.

For more details about one of my favourite ESL listening activities for adults, be sure to check out:

Dictogloss ESL Speaking and Listening Activity

#5: Conversation Starters

Conversation starters for ESL students are a fun way to get the class started off on the right foot. They’re a great warm-up activity because they’ll get your students thinking, talking and enjoying using English.

If you have a smaller class, then you may want to consider doing it all together as a group. But, remember that your students should be doing most of the talking. After all, you’ve probably already quite good at English and it’s your students who actually need the practice.

Here are some of my favourite conversation starters that are perfect for getting your students speaking in English:

Top 10 ESL Conversation Starters for Adults

Top 10 ESL Discussion Starters for Kids

#6: ESL Trivia

501 Riddles and Trivia Questions: For Teachers of Kids (7-13) (Teaching English to Young Learners)

  • Bolen, Jackie (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 60 Pages - 01/09/2016 (Publication Date) - CreateSpace Independent...

If you want to level up your ESL teaching game, then you’ll need to get some ESL trivia in your life! You can use them to focus on listening by reading the questions, instead of posting them on the PowerPoint. Then, have your students tell you the answers to focus on speaking.

If you teach kids, you’ll need to check out this book on Amazon. It’s ideal for ESL classes because the language of the questions are very simple and even beginners can understand it. Plus, the questions are general in nature and not focused on the USA or the UK like many of the other questions you’ll find online. This makes trivia one of the best listening activities for ESL.

listening-and-speaking-activities-for-esl

ESL Speaking and Listening Activities

#7: Listening

If you want to focus on ESL speaking and listening, a great way to do this is through a dedicated lesson. Once you get the basics of it down with something like this ESL listening lesson plan template , then you can add in a bunch of other listening and speaking activities.

Check out how I expand this basic plan into a full class that includes speaking activities as well:

ESL Listening: How to Teach It

101 ESL Activities: Games, Activities, Practical ideas, & Teaching Tips For English Teachers of...

#8: English Central Videos

English-Central

That’s why I like using English Central. There are so many good ones and not all of the junk. Plus, they’re organized by level and topic so it’ll be easy for you to find what you’re looking for.

Saving time when lesson planning? Love it! And I’m sure that you do too, right?

I generally start the class by getting students talking with a partner about the topic of the video. For example, if it’s about habits, I’ll get students to talk with a partner about this question, “What are your healthy and unhealthy habits?” More ideas here: ESL Health Activities .

Then, we’ll watch the video and students will have to answer questions about it. Finally, I’ll have students do a longer speaking activity related to the topic.

Find out why this is one of my favourite ELL listening activities: How I Use English Central Videos in my Classroom

#9: Running Dictation

Running dictation is another classic ESL Activity. This one is particularly good because it uses all 4 skills-speaking, listening, reading and writing. It’s challenging, easily adaptable to just about any age or level. It also gets students up and out of their seats and helps you get some energy back into your classroom.

Try it out for yourself and I’m confident that it’ll soon become one of your favourite ESL listening and speaking games. However, be sure that you use quite common words that the majority of the class will know quite easily or this game will be a bit of a struggle.

Check out: Running Dictation- A Classic ESL 4-Skills Activity

#10: Role-Plays for ESL Students

One of my favourite ways to finish off a unit for lower-level students is with a role-play. They’re fun, encourage a bit of creativity and can be easily adapted by adding, or removing the amount of mandatory text that students must use.

You can also use them for just about any topic you can imagine! Think beyond school and about what kinds of situations students may encounter in real life. Let this be your guide for topics.

If you ask your students, they’ll probably list “conversation” at what they want to work on most in your class. However, beginners often struggle with this. That’s why I like using ESL role-plays so much. They’re a kind of bridge between free-talking and not talking at all!

Check out: How I Use ESL Role-Plays in my Classroom

ESL Listening Activities for Teenagers and Adults: Practical Ideas for English Listening for the...

  • Amazon Kindle Edition
  • 85 Pages - 02/02/2020 (Publication Date)

#11: Infographic Presentations or Speech

If you have higher-level students and want to challenge them, try out this task-based learning activity. Students have to make an infographic presentation and then present it to the class. It involves all 4 skills and the results are always very interesting!

I thoroughly enjoy the class where students present their findings. The best part? The students are doing the hard work and the teacher can sit back and just enjoy watching what the students have done!

esl-listening-and-speaking-activity

Speaking and listening activities

#12: Just a Minute ESL Warm-Up

If you’re looking for a quick warm-up activity that’ll help your students speak English fluently, then you’ll want to consider Just a Minute. Basically, students have to speak about a certain topic for one entire minute without stopping. One fun topic is future plans if you have vacation time coming up.

To make this into a listening activity, you can require the partner who is listening to ask 2-3 follow-up questions when the minute is up. You can help your students work on their fluency skills in a big way with this activity.

Learn more about Just a Minute, a top speaking and listening activity for ESL here:

#13: Social Issues English Conversation Lesson Plan

One of the best activities for speaking and listening is of course conversation. If you can get the students talking to each other, then they’ll be doing one of these important skills for the entire class! That’s some serious ESL teaching gold right there.

A nice way to do that is to use a lesson plan like this one. Social issues are relevant, engaging and everyone usually has an opinion about them. Have a look at the lesson here:

ESL Social Issues Lesson Plan.

#14: Directions ESL Activities and Games

If you think about it, directions are ALL about listening and speaking and questions and answers. There are some excellent activities that you can do with directions including information gap games as well as bumbling blindfold. You can see some of our top picks right here:

ESL Directions Speaking and Listening Activities .

#15: Small Group Discussions

If you want to get your listening and speaking on, then you should seriously consider having some small group discussion. But, if you don’t want them to flop and be met with dead silence around your classroom (it’s happened to me a number of times!), then take these tips seriously to do it the better way.

Check out all the details right here: ESL Discussion Tips and Tricks.

Did you enjoy our Top 15 ESL Listening and Speaking Activities? We hope so! Please leave a comment below and tell us your favourite listening and speaking activity for ESL or EFL students.

#16: Chain Spelling

A quick but fun game that covers listening and speaking as well as spelling and vocabulary is chain spelling. Basically, students have to spell out key words letter by letter and the last person remaining is the winner. It’s particularly good as a time filler because it requires absolutely nothing in way of preparation or materials.

Find out more here: Chain ESL Spelling Game .

#17: Hot Potato Speaking and Listening ESL Activity

A fun activity that works on both speaking and listening at the same time is Hot Potato. You may have played it as a kid but this one comes with a twist. When the music stops, the person holding the potato has to do something. The student may have to answer a question from the teacher or ask another student a question of their choosing.

Check it out: Hot Potato .

#18: English Listening and Speaking Practice

#19: Small Talk Activities

Small talk is all about listening and speaking. It’s also quite important in the English language but it’s not something that’s often practiced. Not in my classes though! I like to use some fun activities and games to get my students mastering small talk like pros. Here’s what I do:

ESL Small Talk Activities.

#20: ESL Speaking and Listening Bingo

Normally, Bingo doesn’t have a lot of educational value. However, by adding a speaking and listening element to it, it’s quite a useful activity. Learn how to do Bingo the better way:

ESL Speaking/Listening Bingo.

#21: Jigsaw Activities

#22: Technology English Conversation Lesson Plan

Conversation, by its very nature, involves both speaking and listening. Students have to talk as well as listen to what their partner is saying to fully engage in the conversation.

One of my favourite topics is technology because it’s relevant to almost all students. Here is a ready-made lesson plan on that topic that’s suitable for intermediate or advanced teens or adults. Have a look at it right here:

Technology English Conversation Lesson.

67 ESL Conversation Topics with Questions, Vocabulary, Writing Prompts & More: For English Teachers...

  • 279 Pages - 07/12/2020 (Publication Date)

#23: The Expert Listening and Speaking Activity for ESL

If you teach intermediate to advanced level students, then you’ll want to try out this ESL listening and speaking activity in your classes.  The way it works is that students have to think of a few things that they know a lot about. It could be their hobbies, something in the news, related to their education, etc.

Then, they choose the topics that they think will be most interesting to the other students in the class. After that, they have to have mini-conversations with at least one other student (the amount depends on the time you want to spend on this ESL activity). It’s ideal because it helps students get to know each other in an in-depth kind of way.

Check out the activity here: The Expert ESL Conversation Activity .

#24: Ordering Food in English

A nice speaking and listening activity is something like a roleplay where students practise ordering food in a restaurant and taking orders. It’s super practical and quite a useful exercise. Find out some of the best ideas:

ESL Ordering Food Activities .

#25: Describing ESL Activities and Games

In English, an important skill to master is being able to describe people, places or things with relative clauses or adjectives. There is plenty of fun listening/speaking activities and games that can be used for this. Here are some of the top picks:

Describe the Word Games .

#26: Spelling Game Word Challenge

#27: ESL Contractions Practice

An important part of speaking English fluently is the use of contractions. Without using them, speech sounds awkward and stilted. Check out some of the best ideas for teaching them:

Contractions ESL Games and Activities.

101 ESL Activities: Games, Activities, Practical ideas, & Teaching Tips For English Teachers of...

  • 148 Pages - 03/09/2016 (Publication Date)

#27: Typhoon Game

This is a fun TEFL speaking and listening game that makes an ideal review activity. It’s really fun and whenever I use it in class, students talk about it for weeks afterwards and always ask if we can play it again! Try it out for yourself!

Typhoon TEFL Review Game .

#29: Basketball Challenge ESL Listening/Speaking Activity

This is one of the best listening and speaking activities for ESL and I’m sure your students will love it as much as mine do! It’s best for kids (elementary students) but I’ve used it with teenagers and university students as well. It’s perfect for reviewing any simple grammatical structure or vocabulary. Learn more about this ELL listening activity:

Basketball Challenge ESL Activity .

#30: Films and TV for Teaching English

If you’re looking for listening and speaking ESL activities, then some of the best ones to consider are those that use a TV show or film. There are lots of ELL listening activities that can be done with them. For more details about movies and ESL listening activities, have a look here:

Teaching English with Films .

#31: Use an ESL Warm-Up

#32: A Fun Debate Topic

A nice way to get students to speak and listen to each other is to have a friendly debate. The key is choosing an interesting thing that students want to talk about. Check out some ideas:

Interesting Debate Topics

Pointless Things to Debate .

 #33: Online Quiz for Kids

#34: More Ideas for Teaching Listening/Speaking for ESL

#35: vocabulary sheets.

If you’re looking for a simple solution for speaking and listening classes, then consider picking up these vocabulary sheets. They’re easy to use, and your lesson planning will be done in minutes! Learn more here:

Vocabulary Sheets ESL

#36: Twenty Questions

#37: I’m Going on a Picnic Game

Try out this simple warmer game that focuses on speaking and listening.

How to Play, “I’m Going on a Picnic.”

#38: Me Too!

Try out this simple speaking/listening ESL activity. Students have to make a true statement about themselves. For example:

  • I enjoy playing golf.
  • My favourite food is pizza.
  • I love to try new restaurants.

If the statement is true for other students in the class, they can stand up and say, “Me too!”

#39: Would You Rather Questions

500+ Would You Rather Questions for Teens: Questions about Sports, Food, The Human Body, Gross...

  • 81 Pages - 12/19/2022 (Publication Date)

ESL Listening and Speaking Activities FAQs

There are a number of important questions that people have about ESL listening and speaking. Here are the answers to some of the most common ones.

How Can ESL Students Improve Speaking and Listening Skills?

There are a number of ways ESL students can improve their speaking and listening skills:

  • Take a conversation class
  • Find a conversation partner
  • Listen to podcasts or watch TV shows or movies
  • Record conversation practice and refer back to it later
  • Immerse yourself in English
  • Find a private tutor

What is an ESL Communicative Activity?

Communicative activities for ESL are ideal to help English learners improve their speaking and listening skills. They require learners to communicate with each other through both speaking and listening, They can improve fluency, break down barriers and help students get to know each other.

What are Some of the Best Listening and Speaking Activities for ESL?

There are a number of ESL activities that can students improve their listening and speaking skills. Some of the best ones include the following:

  • Discussions
  • Board games
  • Conversation starters

Did you Like these Listening/Speaking Activities for Adults?

If you liked this list of fun things to do in your classes, then you’re going to love this book: 101 ESL Activities for Teenagers and Adults.

The key to happy, engaged students who are improving their language skills is a variety of activities and games during your classes. It’s easier than ever to do that with this book.

The best part? It’s well-organized into sections: listening, speaking, warm-ups, review, 4-skills, etc. so you’ll be able to find what you need quickly and easily. It’s lesson planning made easy, guaranteed.

Keep a copy on the bookshelf in your office. Or, the digital version on your phone for planning your ESL lessons on the go. You can read the digital copy on any device by downloading the free Kindle reading app.

Where can I get this Book of ESL Activities?

Check out the book for yourself today on Amazon. But, only if you want a serious dose of ESL awesome in your life, okay?

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Have your say about these ESOL Speaking and Listening Activities

What are your thoughts about these activities? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from you.

Also be sure to give these teaching ideas a share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter and give us a follow. It’ll help other teachers, like yourself find this useful teaching resource.

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About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 15 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 100 books for English teachers and English learners, including 101 ESL Activities for Teenagers and Adults and 1001 English Expressions and Phrases . She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

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esl activities listening

Here you can find activities to practise your listening skills. Listening will help you to improve your understanding of the language and your pronunciation.

The learning materials in this section are written and organised by level. There are recordings of different situations, and interactive exercises that practise the listening skills you need to do well at school, get good marks in your tests and exams, and get more out of your free-time activities.

Take our free online English test to find out which level to choose. Select your level, from beginner (CEFR level A1) to advanced (CEFR level C1), and improve your listening skills at any time and at your own speed.

Choose a level

esl activities listening

A1 listening

Are you an elementary (CEFR level A1) learner of English? Practise and improve your listening skills with these listenings and exercises.

esl activities listening

A2 listening

Are you a pre-intermediate (CEFR level A2) learner of English? Practise and improve your listening skills with these listenings and exercises.

esl activities listening

B1 listening

Are you an intermediate (CEFR level B1) learner of English? Practise and improve your listening skills with these listenings and exercises.

esl activities listening

B2 listening

Are you an upper intermediate (CEFR level B2) learner of English? Practise and improve your listening skills with these listenings and exercises.

esl activities listening

C1 listening

Are you an advanced (CEFR level C1) learner of English? Practise and improve your listening skills with these listenings and exercises.

esl activities listening

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How to Teach Listening in the ESL Classroom: 15 Valuable Activities That Create Solid Skills

Teaching listening skills can be tricky, as all students learn at different paces.

Some students will “get it,” others may struggle… and what if a student is hard of hearing?

In this post, I’ll discuss how to teach listening skills in the classroom, including methods to improve your students’ listening and confidence, and activities you can do with them to improve their skills overall.

3 Ways to Increase Listening Skills and Confidence

1. limit the use of translation., 2. avoid confusing listening skills with literacy skills., 3. use videos because students can watch and listen..

  • Pre-listening activities

1. Predicting and guessing

2. vocabulary preparation, during listening activities, 3. listen for specific words and expressions, or even watch for specific items., 4. listen for sequence and order., 5. listen and watch for specific events., after listening activities, 6. refer back to pre-listening vocab and sequences., 7. notice collocations., activities for later practice and reinforcement, 8. listen again for the same things (maybe some students missed them) and new things., 9. listen for particular words and expressions in new environments., 10. listen to new expressions and compare them with similar ones., 11. play “listen and do” games., 12. use technology for listening practice at home..

  • Extra activities for after listening

13. Dictation

15. flashcard games.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

First of all, here are three basic principles.

Translation is a habit that needs to be limited because…

  • Students tend to start to panic when they find they don’t know every word.
  • Using those electronic translators especially can give warped ideas of meaning.

This doesn’t mean that you never let them translate. Sometimes having an equivalent from their first language is the only way to move them forward, but quickly move on and don’t allow them to keep returning to it.

When students hear a new word or expression, they need something to tie it to. As their teacher, you can help them with this by providing…

  • Context:  Help them to find clues to the meaning in the context of the listening “text.”
  • Pictures: Show them a picture so that when they hear the word or expression again later, the picture will come to mind.
  • Action:  Get them to perform an action so that when they hear the word or expression again later, they will remember that particular action.
  • English synonyms or antonyms:  Their understanding of English will grow by leaps and bounds if they can explain an English word with other English words. Encourage (and guide) them to look up unknown words in an English dictionary.

When you first introduce a new listening “text” (e.g., video, story, song, podcast…) concentrate on listening and don’t provide subtitles or written script (yet).

The reasons for this are as follows:

  • Firstly,  we don’t want students with poor literacy skills to be disadvantaged in learning the listening skill.
  • Secondly, students who are confidently literate often want to be able to see and read the words while they are listening, but this would rob them of the opportunity to really listen.
  • Thirdly, as mentioned above, it can be a real confidence booster when they discover just how much they do understand without any other help.

Once they have listened without seeing subtitles or script the first time, and you have discussed some issues, then you can listen and watch again with the assistance of subtitles or text.

We want to prepare our students to take part in conversations. A large part of that listening involves reading a speaker’s facial expressions and body language , which can vary from culture to culture. So, most of the time, your students need to practice their “listening” skills by watching videos, or watching you talk or tell stories.

You could use FluentU to give students a leg up in this challenge. FluentU teaches English with the same videos that native English speakers watch, like movie clips and trailers, vlogs, news segments and inspirational talks.

But it does so with the addition of learning tools that make the content approachable for learners of any level.

esl activities listening

Students will have a number of other tools at their disposal with FluentU , including transcripts, interactive subtitles with a built-in contextual dictionary and personalized quizzes.

Just as you would for a reading text, you need to prepare your students to deal with something new to concentrate on and listen to, whether they are watching a video, listening to someone read or tell a story , listening to a song or just listening to a live talk.

Here are some examples of how to teach listening skills to your ESL students using various engaging activities.

Pre-listening a ctivities

In normal conversation, what we hear tends to fit in with what we expect to hear, and without necessarily thinking about it we tend to listen for specific details.

It’s telling that when someone says something totally unexpected or out of context, many people respond in surprise with “What?!” as if they didn’t actually hear the words. While listening to people we are familiar with in a particular context, we can easily guess what they will say.

So before playing the “text,” prepare your students for the experience, and get them thinking about the topic:

  • Tell them the title of the piece, and ask them to guess what it is about, or what they think might happen in the story. Writers and filmmakers think very carefully about the title of their story and they want readers, listeners or viewers to think about the title, so all of the words are important. Sometimes the title is designed to be tricky and possibly misunderstood at first to pique interest, so you can guide your students to enjoy that, too.
  • Tell them the names of characters involved and let them predict and guess who they are and what they are like. As the students get into the movie or story, they will probably identify with one or more character, so let them enjoy guessing about them and discovering more later on.
  • Ask a question to get them thinking about the theme of the “text” or something in it. For example: If it is something to do with food, you could ask them, “What is your favorite food?” If it is something that happens on a train, you could ask them about their favorite or most frequent mode of travel and talk about transport, just to get them thinking along those lines.
  • Show them a picture:  a snapshot from the video, or a picture from the cover. Discuss it. Predict and guess. If the students are going to listen to you read or tell a story from a book, show them the cover and talk about the picture—there is usually a lot of information hidden there, and it helps bring out relevant vocabulary.

Hopefully, they might even remember relevant English words they have previously learned. All of this will help to review known vocabulary, and introduce some new vocabulary.

When you choose something for your students to study in the context of a listening lesson , you need to consider its suitability  for the age and maturity of your students and whether it is at an appropriate difficulty level. This could be based on the amount of “new” vocabulary in the “text.”

Make sure you have watched or listened right through (never use something you haven’t thoroughly examined!) and note down words or expressions that they might find challenging. Obviously, if there are a great many new words, maybe it’s too difficult—unless maybe the meaning is really obvious from the visuals.

Make a list of words from your movie or story that some or all of your students may have difficulty with, especially words that are key to the story.  You don’t have to teach the students all of the new words the first time through. Just choose a few that are essential and teach them before playing the “text.” Of course, including one or two that they already know will probably boost their confidence, too.

Remember: When you are introducing new words, translate only if absolutely necessary. Where possible, connect the words with pictures, actions and other English words.

While students are watching and/or listening, it’s sometimes hard to tell whether they are really still paying attention or just relaxing and daydreaming. (At least if it’s a video, they are more likely to stay focused.) So it’s a good idea to give them tasks to do while playing the “text.”

Here are some ideas.

Obviously, your students need to be listening specifically for the words and expressions you have just taught them. They should also have some words they already know to listen for, to help them focus and improve the skill of listening.

Give them specific questions to focus on, such as…

  • What is the word that comes after the target word?
  • Who says this word?
  • How many times do you hear this word?

You can even give them a small “Bingo!” card with the target words for them to mark off as they hear them.

They could also be looking for specific visual items. On the board or a worksheet, put the things they are looking for into chronological order as they appear: This could be in the form of English words or pictures.

Students could be asked to work out the order that things happen. They could, for example, have several pictures on a worksheet that they have to put into the right order as they notice them happen. (Before listening, they could guess the order, and then check as they go along.)

Ask the students to watch out for specific happenings.

For example:

  • Notice who wears a hat.
  • Notice who gives something to someone else.
  • How many people say, “Hello!”?
  • Who drives a green car?

Right after watching the video or listening to the story for the very first time is a very important moment. At this moment, you want to…

  • Reassure students if they are feeling lost or overwhelmed.
  • Help them to make sense of what they have just seen and heard.
  • Help them to hang on to learning they have just acquired.
  • Prepare them for the very valuable second time through.

Here are some ways to cover that ground.

  • Discuss how (and why) they were correct (or not) in their pre-listening predictions and guesses.
  • Talk about the characters, e.g., who they like and why.
  • Review the vocabulary that was discussed before listening.
  • Ask if they noticed the things they were asked to watch for.
  • Ask about the sequencing.

This could take the form of a class discussion, a prepared worksheet, discussion in pairs or even a quiz-type game.

Draw attention to the context of the newly-acquired vocabulary and ask if they noticed any familiar or unfamiliar words that might tend to collocate with them. The ability to notice this can become a valuable skill for students.

This is also a preparation for the second time they listen or watch. Now that they have noticed specific words, expressions and characters, get them to widen their observation to see what is around.

For example: Let’s say you are watching “Finding Nemo,” and your students have been listening for the word “ocean.”

Students could notice that…

  • Everyone says “the” ocean, not just “a” ocean.
  • Three times, someone mentions “the entire ocean.”
  • Right at the beginning, Marlin had promised Coral an “ocean view.” (What does this normally refer to?)
  • What always leads to the ocean? All drains.

Of course, if you are going to try to talk about specifics like this you could also…

  • Use FluentU videos , where there is lots of help from interactive subtitles.
  • Watch and be very familiar with your videos.
  • Find a script database and download the script. (Making it easy to do a search on particular words.)

Depending on your class setup, how long your lesson is, how old your students are and how long the video or story is, you could listen again immediately to reinforce all of your recent learning.

If that is not possible, then make sure you do take time later to listen again—more than once!

Here are some things to try:

Listen (and watch) again, with the same instructions as the first time, to make sure that every student enjoys success.

Here are some additional ideas:

  • Students could be in pairs to point out to each other the things to pay attention to.
  • Add some extra things to listen for and notice, especially those collocations mentioned above.
  • Add some other new during-listening activities this time.

Learning increases when students can start using new vocabulary in new situations. If possible, let them listen to something else that uses some of the new expressions. Maybe you could use a different medium. For instance, tell them a story (made up, if you like) that uses some of the new vocabulary. You could tell a story about a place that has great “ocean views,” referring to the Nemo example above.

Now take the newly acquired words and expressions and change them a bit, making substitutions for parts of them. Let students listen and notice the differences. Again, you could tell a story and change some parts. For a simple example: Instead of Goldilocks and the three bears , there could be three frogs, or Goldilocks could be a boy, etc.

There could be other changes in the language, such as gender of pronouns, or tense.

The addition of movement to a learning activity can improve and cement the learning. So practicing newly-acquired words and expressions using action is both fun and beneficial. If students have learned some verbs , these can be mixed with already familiar verbs in an activity that involves responding to the words with actions. For example, a “Simon Says” type game.

If students only think about English during class time, then it will take them a very long time to learn it well because they need to learn to think in English. Nowadays, it is not difficult to provide them with a video, or story podcast, to listen to again at home.

They could be so enthusiastic about it that it doesn’t even feel like “homework”! They can be given set exercises or questions to help them focus, or they can simply relax and enjoy it, soaking up the language.

E xtra activities for after listening

There are other ways that students can be reminded of words and expressions taught during a listening session.

The teacher can dictate quotes from the video or story that they have already watched and enjoyed, and the students can try to write them down. This helps to tie in their literacy skills with their listening, as well as reinforcing what they have learned through watching.

This could also be a “running dictation” where students are in pairs—one to run and dictate, the other to listen and write—and the written text to dictate is posted somewhere at a distance such as outside the classroom. The running student goes and reads and remembers as much of the text as he can, then runs back and dictates it to his partner to write down. Here’s an example of this in action.

Words or expressions focused on in the video or story can be incorporated into a “Bingo!” game. Go to a website such as ESLactivities.com  to create enough cards for the whole class, each containing the same words but in random order. Give students objects such as small stones or sunflower seeds to use as markers.

Students place markers on their cards as you call out the words, and when someone gets five in a row in any direction they call “Bingo!” The winner becomes the next caller, the markers are removed and the game starts again.

Words and expressions to be focused on can be written on flashcards and used for many different games. For example, students could have their own small set of cards and hold up the appropriate one when it is heard while listening to the “text.” Or pairs of words could be placed on the boards with students in pairs racing to claim the right one when it is heard.

It is very important for students to listen to the story or watch the video again, as soon as possible after the first time.

But it’s also important to keep doing this later at greater intervals.

With every repeat, old information will be reinforced and new things will be learned, too!

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21 Excellent Listening Activities For ESL Classes

April 3, 2023 //  by  Mhairi Sim

Practicing listening skills is super important for ESL learners. Making these tasks fun is the best way to ensure high levels of engagement from students. Fun games and quick activities are the perfect way to give your students daily practice of this essential skill and ensure they develop their confidence! Here, we have gathered 21 listening games and activities that are super simple to build into your daily classroom and that your students will love!

Listening Games

1. do what i said, not what i say.

This game is a fun warm-up for your next ESL lesson! The teacher calls out instructions and students must follow the previous instruction, instead of the one that has just been called out. 

Learn more: YouTube

2. What’s The Password?

This game comes with a free printable board that you can edit for your class. Read a sentence to your students which includes an item from the top row and side column. They must then check the grid to find where the points meet to give them letters from the password. 

3. Listen and Draw 

Students will enjoy this fun game that can be played individually or on the class board. Read out a sentence to your students (e.g. the dog is on a car) and have them draw what it describes!

4. Get Competitive With a Board Race

A board race is a super competitive activity that your students will love. Sort your class into teams, each with a marker for the board. The teacher then calls out a category and students must race each other to fill the slots on the board with correctly spelled words that link to the category. 

5. Change Seats If…

esl activities listening

This fun activity is a super way to end the day or as a brain break for your students, whilst still working on their English skills. The teacher will say “change seat if…” and then adds a statement at the end.

Learn more: ESL Kids Games

6. Play The Telephone Game

esl activities listening

The telephone game is a circle time classic and is great fun for English learners. Students sit in a circle and the teacher will whisper a phrase to the first student. The students then pass this phrase along the circle and the last student says aloud what they have heard.

Learn more: ESL Active

7. Play 20 Questions

Playing 20 questions is a fun way to get your students talking and practicing their English in a no-pressure situation. A “thinker” thinks of a person, place, or thing and the other students must ask twenty or fewer questions to guess what the thing is.

8. Fizz Buzz

esl activities listening

Fizz Buzz is a fantastic way to combine math with an English listening exercise. Students count up from the number 1 to 100 but must say “fizz” if their number is a multiple of five or “buzz” if it is a multiple of 7.

Learn more: Dr. Mike’s Math Games For Kids

9. Play a Game of Bingo

A fun game of bingo can easily engage your students in a fun revision session! Each student gets a bingo board and can cross off pictures as the teacher calls out specific weather types.

Learn more: Gift of Curiosity

10. Get Familiar With Homophones By Playing a Game

Homophones are particularly tricky for English learners. For this fun game, students listen to the teacher call out words, then once a homophone is called they must race to be the first to write the different spellings of the words down.

Learn more: Teaching English

11. Do a Blindfold Obstacle Course

Set up an obstacle course for your class and let your students guide each other through it using only verbal directions!

Learn more: All ESL

12. Dress Up Relay Race

esl activities listening

For this game, teachers call out an item of clothing that the students should grab from the box. Students must then put the clothing on before running back to their team for the next person to go.

Learn more: Healthy Kids

13. Play ‘Cross the River

Select one student to be the “catcher” and all other students line up at one side of the playing zone. The “catcher” calls out something that means students are free to cross the river without being caught (e.g. if you have a red jacket). All other students must then try to make it across without getting caught.

14. Have Fun Answering Some Beach Ball Questions

Write some simple questions on a beach ball that will encourage your students to use their target vocabulary. The student who catches the ball must ask the question to other participants in the class.

Learn more: Super Teacher Worksheets

Listening Activity Ideas

15. try this online english listening test.

esl activities listening

Give your students the opportunity to complete a listening activity with an online test. This activity has a pre-recorded audio text on which students will then answer multiple-choice questions before completing a dictation task.

Learn more: Excellent ESL 4 U

16. Start The Day With a Listening Mat

Listening mats are a fun activity to practice listening skills. You will call out the instructions at the bottom of the page for how to color or add to the picture. Check how well your students have listened by comparing pictures at the end of the task!

Learn more: Casual Teaching

17. Listen and Number Body Parts

Practice numbers and body parts with this simple activity. Students can practice their English listening skills as they listen for the body part’s name as well as the corresponding number for them to label it with. 

Learn more: Gru Languages

18. Listen and Do

Your English learners must listen closely during this activity to fill in their grid as per the instructions that the teacher will read aloud. This activity gives students the opportunity to practice different types of vocabulary including shapes, colors, animals, food and drink, and items of clothing.

Learn more: Twinkl

19. Listen and Draw a Monster

Ask your students to get into pairs before giving them each a blank sheet of paper and the printable sheet of monsters. Each pair of students will then take turns listening to their fellow students describe the monster they need to draw.

Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers

20. Do Some Daily Listening Practice 

You can easily incorporate English listening skills into your daily classroom routine with this amazing activity. Students can scan the QR code with a device to listen to the text before answering the True or False questions.

Learn more: Sea of Knowledge

21. Test Your Students’ Comprehension With Boom Cards

These Boom cards are a perfect resource to either print or use digitally. Read the short stories out to your students before having them answer the multiple-choice questions to demonstrate their understanding. 

A1 listening

A1 listening

Are you a learner at A1 English level (elementary) ? This section offers listening practice to help you understand familiar words and basic phrases when people speak slowly and clearly. Situations include meeting people, shopping and conversations at work.

Each lesson has a preparation task, an audio recording and two tasks to check your understanding and to practise a variety of listening skills. Make a start today!

Choose a listening lesson

A request from your boss

A request from your boss

Listen to requests from a manager to practise and improve your listening skills.

  • Read more about A request from your boss

A voicemail message

A voicemail message

Listen to a voicemail message and answer the questions to practise your listening skills.

  • Read more about A voicemail message
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Booking a table

Booking a table

Listen to someone booking a table in a restaurant to practise and improve your listening skills!

  • Read more about Booking a table

Business cards

Business cards

Listen to four people talk about their jobs to practise and improve your listening skills.

  • Read more about Business cards

Finding the library

Finding the library

Listen to a conversation about the university library to practise and improve your listening skills.

  • Read more about Finding the library

Meeting a new team member

Meeting a new team member

Listen to a conversation between two new colleagues to practise your listening skills.

  • Read more about Meeting a new team member

Meeting other students

Meeting other students

Listen to a group of new students meeting for the first time to practise and improve your listening skills.

  • Read more about Meeting other students

Meeting people at a dinner

Meeting people at a dinner

Listen to introductions at a dinner party to practise and improve your listening skills.

  • Read more about Meeting people at a dinner

Ordering in a café

Ordering in a café

Listen to people ordering food and drinks in a café to practise and improve your listening skills.

  • Read more about Ordering in a café

Organising a group project

Organising a group project

Listen to people organising a group project and answer the questions to practise and improve your listening skills.

  • Read more about Organising a group project

Shopping for clothes

Shopping for clothes

Listen to a conversation in a shop to practise and improve your listening skills.

  • Read more about Shopping for clothes

The first English class

The first English class

Listen to a teacher give students information about a new course to practise and improve your listening skills.

  • Read more about The first English class

Learn to listen with confidence

Our online English classes feature lots of useful learning materials and activities to help you listen and respond with confidence in a safe and inclusive learning environment.

Practise listening to your classmates in live group classes, get listening support from a personal tutor in one-to-one lessons or practise by yourself at your own speed with a self-study course.

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Illustration of a group of people talking

17 Fun Games to Get World Language Learners Talking

When learning a new language, speaking in front of peers can be daunting. These games can help alleviate pressure and lower the stakes for students.

Speaking—it’s the main aspect of learning a new language that really intrigues students, writes former Spanish teacher Sarah Wike Loyola . 

But even when students are offered opportunities to speak in the classroom, a room full of tweens and teens who were chattering away in the halls moments before will often fall completely silent. 

“A student may have a deep fear of making a mistake, or may be just plain shy, even in their native language,” writes English as a second language tutor Diane Gantenhammer . 

Games and playful activities are a great way to alleviate pressure, lower the stakes, and infuse joy and levity into what may be an anxiety-inducing process for some. Here is a list of 17 games to play with more advanced world language students (and, in some cases, even ELL students) that can help them use the new language they’re studying.

Two students in Fatima Belouahi's class

Sketch and Guess: Educator Fatima Belouahi secretly assigns each of her ninth-grade students a vocabulary term. She likes to tailor her choices where possible toward terms that may spark some interest, like free speech . Students draw a representation of their term, then walk around the room challenging classmates to identify what they’ve drawn. It has all the fun of Pictionary but with added academic benefits backed by research: When students draw information they’re learning, it can increase recall by nearly double .

Never Have I Ever: This classic game, often played at sleepovers, can take on a new life in the classroom. Kids start by holding five fingers in the air (use fewer if you’re short on time). Going around the room, each student will share something they’ve never done. For example, “Never have I ever traveled to another country.” All students who have traveled to another country put their finger down, then share a brief story related to that experience, writes Gantenhammer. Then the cycle restarts. Once a student has put down all of their fingers, they’re out. 

Affirmative/Negative: Write a series of questions on the board that you might normally answer with a simple yes or no, like “Do you know how to make pancakes?,” “Can you ride a bike?,” or “Will you be taking the bus home from school today?” Next, let the class know that they cannot respond with yes or no, and that shaking their head or nodding doesn’t count either. Go around the room, asking each student to find a way to answer your question, and see what they come up with. (Sourced from Making English Fun .) 

Who’s Telling the Truth?: On their own piece of paper, each student will write down their name and three facts about themselves that none of their classmates know. Choose three students to come to the front of the room, and choose one of the student’s facts to read aloud. Next, the investigation commences.

“All three claim that the fact is theirs, and the class then proceeds to question them in an attempt to determine who is telling the truth and who is lying,” Gantenhammer writes. Each student can pose one question to only one of the three students, then the class has to collaborate to figure out who is telling the truth. 

Draw It Back to Me: In pairs, while one student covers their eyes with their hands, the other will draw a picture on a piece of paper. Simple imagery is ideal, like a flower or some fruit. Next, the artist will try to describe what the other student must now draw an exact replica of, but without showing the original sketch.

A student might instruct their partner to draw a strawberry cut into three pieces or a flower with five petals and a stem, but will the petals be the right shape? Will the stem be the right length? Should the flower be small, medium, or large? At the end, the pair can compare and contrast, discussing what they might’ve intentionally said instead to produce identical images and practicing their ability to be descriptive in their target language in the process. (Sourced from Making English Fun .) 

Pick-a-Trait: This game works best a ways into the year when students have gotten to know each other, writes educator Susan Verner for Busy Teacher . In a hat or small bag, collect a bunch of slips of paper each listing a character trait like happy, funny, brave, and loyal. Have each student pick a trait out of the bag, select a student they think possesses that trait, and give an example of why. Students not only get to practice speaking but also can build stronger relationships with each other. 

Guess Mhe Secret Word: Start by assigning random topics and unrelated secret words to each student. For example, the topic could be “My favorite hobby” and the secret word could be “Pineapple.” The students’ mission? To stealthily embed their random word within a speech they’ll deliver to their peers without raising any suspicions as to what the word may be. The rest of the class become detectives, Gantenhammer writes, listening intently and then guessing the hidden piece of vocabulary. 

The 5-Second Rule: This is a classic game of word association that will keep your class on their toes, writes Ewa Stoklosa , English language teaching content manager at ESL Brains. After receiving a category—like subjects in school or modes of transportation—a student has five seconds to brainstorm and shout out three related things that fall under that category. If they succeed, and the class decides their answers fit the category, they get a point. You can divide the class in half or into small groups, then see who gets the most points before a timer runs out.

Castaways: Each student starts by drawing an item—anything from an umbrella or a pizza to a bouquet of flowers. Encourage students to get creative, writes Gantenhammer. Collect the drawings, then pass them back out, ensuring that no student receives their own. 

Next, tell the class that they are no longer students but castaways on a deserted island. On top of that, only half of them will be able to survive. All they have to their name is what is drawn on the piece of paper in front of them. Each student now has to justify their survival to their fellow islanders based on their item. 

Can You Guess Who?: Compile the names of famous historical figures or celebrities in a hat. One student draws a name; then, with a partner, in small groups, or as a whole class, they’ll answer yes or no questions that help their peers guess their identity. 

A fun riff on this activity starts with students putting a Post-it note on their forehead with a vocabulary word or tidbit of information on it—like an animal or a profession. Ensure that students cannot see what is written on their Post-it. Students then walk around the room asking questions of their classmates to find out who or what they are. (Sourced from Making English Fun .)

True or False: Randomly assign students to share a true story, or a completely fabricated story, with their classmates. One by one, they’ll take their place as storytellers, and afterward, classmates vote to determine their tale’s legitimacy. Gantenhammer suggests letting students question the storyteller for clues to extend the activity.  

A Shared Story: Collaborative storytelling is a great way to help students practice speaking, listening, and building off the contributions of others, according to educators from Grand Canyon University . You can start the story off with a single line, have a student start, or even employ ChatGPT for a little inspiration. For example: At the stroke of midnight, a talking cat appeared outside Tim’s window, inviting him to a magical party that only animals knew about. From there, each student takes a turn adding another line to the story. 

Coffeepot: This game is perfect for a class that needs a bit of extra practice with their grammar. Randomly select a student and assign them a verb, like dance . To guess the word, the class builds a body of clues based on questions they ask using the word coffeepot as a placeholder for the secret verb. For example, If it were raining outside, would you still coffeepot? Where are some places that are perfect locations to coffeepot ? Are any celebrities good at coffeepotting ? 

“The verbs that work best in this game are those that refer to what people (or animals) do and that are intransitive (e.g., it is fairly easy to guess the verb swim but not necessarily the verb use ),” writes Stoklosa. 

Impromptu Improv: After brainstorming a bunch of different prompts for an interaction—like a host of a game show instructing a contestant or a detective interrogating a suspect—write them all down on slips of paper and put them into a hat. In pairs or small groups, have students pick out a scenario and play out the roles. 

The activity could stop there, but in Belouahi’s classroom, students coauthor a script for the role-play, use arts and craft materials to make props, and film their scenes on their cell phones. The final product is seen only by the students and Belouahi, which alleviates some pressure and empowers students to take more risks as they grapple with vocabulary in unexpected ways. 

Four Corners: At the 2022 Elementary and Secondary Education Act Conference (ESEA), Title 1 Academic Language Coach Amy Gilliam and her colleagues shared a variety of oral language protocols and collaboration activities that can help increase engagement. Four Corners is one of them. 

This activity works best in a classroom where there’s room for students to freely walk back and forth. Designate each corner of the room with a letter: A, B, C, and D. Next, ask a multiple choice question, and have students walk to the corner of the room that reflects which answer they think is correct. With their fellow classmates who chose the same answer, the small groups will discuss why they think they’re right. Offer a little help by way of sentence starters where needed. In a whole class discussion, students can chime in and defend their decision before you reveal the correct answer. 

Two students with fortune teller game in class

Fortune Teller: Paper fortune tellers might be a nostalgic throwback for some students, but in this game they’re a quick way to spark deep and engaging conversations. The outermost flaps will be marked with colors, then numbers, while the innermost flaps conceal a question that students will discuss in the target language. During a lesson on social media and cancel culture, Belouahi’s students answered questions like “What is cancel culture?” and “How can someone behave badly online?”

In pairs, one student operates the fortune teller while the other student chooses a color and spells it aloud (“Green, G-R-E-E-N”), then a number (“Four, F-O-U-R”). They choose one more number, which determines the flap to lift and reveals the question that the pair will discuss. For free customizable templates, search online with the keywords “editable fortune teller template.”

First One, Then Many: Pass out index cards to each student in the class with an image, vocabulary word, or short phrase on them. Ask students to form small groups with peers who have a card connected to theirs. For example, a card with the word cow , another with a picture of a milk carton, and one with a picture of grass may form a group. The newly formed group should collaborate to come up with an explanation for why their cards are all linked and defend it to the teacher. (Sourced from Amy Gilliam, Angie Jones, Lara Randby, and Denise Zawada.)

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10 Inclusive Ways To Teach Whole Body Listening (Plus Free Posters and Worksheet)

Encourage active listening to facilitate learning.

Whole body listening posters on blue background.

One of the most important jobs we have as teachers is to make sure students listen—really listen—to what we are saying and teaching them. Anyone who’s taught in a classroom knows this is definitely easier said than done. Ensuring you have your students’ attention is a big component of classroom management . And let’s face it, this is one of the most demanding parts of the job. In addition to being important for learning, listening is also a vital part of social communication. But it’s not just something we do with our ears. Whole body listening is a tool we can use to help make listening more accessible, concrete, and multi-faceted. Here we’ll break down what it is, why it’s helpful for students, and some tips and suggestions for inclusively incorporating it into your classroom.

What is whole body listening?

What are the benefits of whole body listening, is whole body listening right for everyone.

  • Whole body listening activities and strategies

Plus, be sure to fill out the form on this page and grab your free set of printable whole body listening posters plus an inclusive worksheet to help kids identify what whole body listening looks like for them.

Good listeners do many things with their bodies and minds besides just listening with their ears. The concept of whole body listening includes many intentional steps we can follow to encourage active listening and understanding, while also promoting effective social connection. For example, the brain thinks about what we’re hearing, and whenever possible our eyes look at who’s talking, our mouths stay quiet, our body faces the speaker, and we keep our hands and feet to ourselves.

Susanne Poulette Truesdale, a speech pathologist, first created the concept in 1990 to make the idea of listening more concrete. Since then, it’s expanded to include the heart as it relates to empathy and understanding other perspectives.

Listening is a huge skill that will serve students throughout their entire lives. Developing listening skills is crucial for children as it forms the foundation for comprehending content, context, social cues, effective communication, and building relationships with others. But it’s not as straightforward as we might think. As teachers and adults, we have defined what good listening should look like. Of course, students want to do the right thing, but they might not know how to pay attention in the way we expect them to. Additionally, for kids with attention or sensory regulation challenges , it can be even harder.

Since active listening is not always intuitive and all students come to us with different capabilities, we need to explicitly teach kids how to listen. Here’s where whole body listening comes in. Breaking down the steps into manageable pieces helps give students the tools they need to effectively listen.

Social skills also play a significant role in effective listening because listening looks different in different contexts. For example, sitting down and listening to a story looks different than listening on the playground or when you are talking to someone.

Whole body listening can also help us block out distractions that get in the way of our learning. Avoiding distractions and advocating for our needs can be tricky for all of us, but we can offer concrete suggestions and give students many opportunities to practice as part of our instruction.

Another benefit to promoting active listening is increasing students’ awareness and self-assurance. According to Waterford.org, helping kids improve their listening skills also leads to greater self-belief and confidence.

To meet every learner where they are, we have to be mindful of each student’s unique needs and use a variety of approaches to accomplish the task. Basically, like most things we use in our classrooms, it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. Still, we can use the framework as an effective method to help our students attend better.

Students with ADHD, autism, and sensory processing challenges may struggle to perform whole body listening in the same way other students do. Just like in every aspect of their learning, we make accommodations for students based on what we know they need to be successful.

Our free printable whole body listening posters and worksheets suggest many ways we can support students in developing this important skill.

We can still encourage all students to actively listen by using more than just their ears. The overarching goal is to have “good listening attention,” and we can support different needs and still achieve the same goal of engagement and active listening.

For example, let’s say a student may focus better while she is moving. We can find tools, like fidgets or a Theraband, to support what actually helps increase her ability to attend. Of course, we have to offer accommodations while still minimizing distractions for everyone. It’s a tricky balance that requires knowing your students well. But the trade-off is that when everyone is listening in the best way for them, the whole class benefits.

Activities and strategies to support whole body listening

1. display posters and complete a worksheet.

Visuals help make concepts more accessible and concrete for kids. Our printable whole body listening posters and worksheet encourage different types of learners to use their entire bodies to pay attention and establish social connections with their peers and teachers. Fill out the form on this page to get them.

Book cover of Listen, Learn, and Grow by McAlister Greiner Huynh and Elizabeth Sautter,

2. Read a book

There’s a book for everything! Here are two great books to emphasize the importance of listening.

Buy it: Listen, Learn, and Grow by McAlister Greiner Huynh, Elizabeth A. Sautter, and Kristen Wilson at Amazon

Buy it: Quiet Please, Owen McPhee! by Trudy Ludwig at Amazon

3. Encourage talking in partners or small groups

Getting kids talking to each other is a great way to practice listening while also focusing on communication skills. Turn and Talk, and Think-Pair-Share are two great strategies to get kids talking and listening with intention. Read more about the benefits of facilitating talking in the classroom, and check out these fun alternative strategies to Think-Pair-Share .

Mindfulness worksheet on blue background

4. Practice mindfulness

Incorporating mindfulness into our days is always a win. It helps both kids and adults pay attention with purpose and can promote better listening skills. Mind-body activities help calm our bodies and minds, which in turn supports our ability to listen and attend to our learning.

Try it: Free Mind-Body Printable Activities

5. Use social behavior mapping or social stories

The Blue Brain teacher explains that a social behavior map is a chart or guide that helps a student understand a scenario better and how to act in these different situations. You can use this tool with students to discuss and walk through important steps of the listening and communicating process. Check out these templates to get started brainstorming with your students.

Strips of paper which serve as story starters for a speaking and listening activity

6. Practice skills with story-building sentence starters

Give students sentence starters to build their speaking and listening skills while building a story.

Learn more: Speaking and Listening Story Building at Elementary Nest

7. Model and show examples

Explicitly showing students what whole body listening looks, sounds, and feels like in our bodies can help students develop a deeper understanding of how to do it. We can practice and model it ourselves for our students. Also, for the younger set, check out this quick video from Sesame Street to illustrate the concept in a developmentally appropriate way.

two kids building with legos, with one of them sitting behind a barrier to hide his creation

8. Practice listening and speaking with LEGO building

This is such a fun one! Students give instructions to their partners to build a LEGO creation that’s identical to the one they’ve already made. The catch is that they can only use their words to explain how to build it. Both the speaker and listener have to be very focused to be successful. Kids can switch roles to practice both jobs.

Learn more: First Week Favorites…Say What? at Andrea Knight, Teacher, Author

9. Play games

Classic games like Simon Says, Telephone, and Musical Chairs all promote active listening. These great transition activities serve double duty by also encouraging students to listen very closely.

Screenshot of Jack Hartmann Whole Body Listening Video.

10. Watch a video

We love Jack Hartmann for breaking down concepts for kids in an approachable way. This whole body listening video offers a great summary of all the components to help students understand the notion of listening with all parts of our bodies.

What strategies do you use to promote listening in your classroom? Come share your ideas in the  We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, check out the best noise meters to monitor your classroom ..

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COMMENTS

  1. 12 Great ESL Listening Activities & Games

    12 Low or No Prep ESL Listening Activities. Here is the list of activities, exercises, and games that you can start using with your students to improve their listening skills. Everything has been arranged into different groups to make finding the right activity for the right student even easier. Let's begin!

  2. Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab

    NEW - Life Stories using AI Technologies to Promote Discussion Skills. Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab has been providing online English listening comprehension activities for ESL and EFL learners since 1998. Visit Randall's other Web sites at DailyESL.com, EZslang.com, and Trainyouraccent.com for more language practice.

  3. 40 ESL Listening Activities for 7 Learning Styles—from ...

    40 ESL Listening Activities for 7 Learning Styles—from Kinesthetic to Mathematical. Reaching certain learning styles can be easier than others, especially when it comes to ESL listening games. Intentionally planning English listening practice to cater to various learning styles is key for your ESL students' success.

  4. Listening

    Our online English classes feature lots of useful learning materials and activities to help you listen and respond with confidence in a safe and inclusive learning environment. Practise listening to your classmates in live group classes, get listening support from a personal tutor in one-to-one lessons or practise by yourself at your own speed ...

  5. 17 Engaging ESL Listening Activities for Your Next Class

    ESL Listening Activities for Intermediate Students Songs With Lyrics Worksheet. Western pop music is popular throughout the world (think Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, One Direction, etc.) You can use this interest to your advantage in the classroom by incorporating some of the best-known English-language pop songs into listening activities.

  6. ESL Listening Activities, Games, Worksheets, and Lesson Plans

    Then, there are a number of things you can do, depending on the level: Say the word and students have to find it. Give hints about the word. Start a sentence and students have to finish it with a word on the board. Etc. Find out all the options for one of the best ELL listening games here: Flyswatter Game.

  7. ELLLO

    ELLLO stands for English Listening Lesson Library Online and features natural English lessons that come with quizzes, vocabulary training, and free printable worksheets. ESL students and teachers can access over 2,000 free lessons that feature World English with speakers from over 100 countries.

  8. The Best ESL Listening Games and Activities.Making English Fun

    Dictation Relay is an active and collaborative game that combines listening, writing, and physical activity. It involves students relaying a sentence from the teacher to their team and dictating it accurately. Setup: Divide the class into teams and designate a space for the relay. Time to Play: 15-20 minutes.

  9. 16 ESL Listening Websites with Interactive Lessons and Audio Files

    1. ESL Video. The clips you find here are divided by level: beginning, intermediate, intermediate low, intermediate high and advanced. Each category has approximately 40-70 videos and each video comes with a quiz.. Students can choose any video that catches their interest, like this beginning video with Lala the penguin.Those who are at the high intermediate level, on the other hand, can ...

  10. Listen In English

    Improve your English listening skills with graded ESL lessons from TV, movies, academic sources, and more. Explore engaging content for learners of all levels at Listen in English. isten in English [ Activity List ] [ 목차 ] [ Lista de actividades ] [ Lista de atividades ] Easy TV 초급용 TV TV fácil TV fácil.

  11. 10 Awesome Activities to Improve Intermediate ESL Students' Listening

    Whether you're using a range of audio resources or you're simply getting students to speak to each other, listening is a great opportunity to expose students to a variety of accents, as well as to have fun whilst learning. These ESL activities for intermediate students are game-changers for developing listening skills in the classroom! Contents

  12. ESL Listening Games and Activities for All Ages

    Check out these top-quality ESL listening games and activities for help planning your English lessons. These TEFL listening activities are fun and easy to use in classes with young learners, teenagers or adults. List of Animals that Start with E with Pictures. Are you an animal lover? We got a list of animals that start with the letter "e."

  13. Free ESL Listening Worksheets for Your Lessons

    ESL Listening Worksheets for Advanced Students. Topic Worksheet Type; Technology & Relationships: Listening comprehension, Intermediate-Advanced Level: Aakward TV moments: Listening comprehension and writing, Advanced Level: Other Resources. Check our big list of 12 ESL listening activities and exercises.

  14. Activities for Learners

    0-5 minutes. 5-10 minutes. 10+ minutes. Close filters. Listening. Learn English with our free online listening, grammar, vocabulary and reading activities. Practise your English and get ready for your Cambridge English exam.

  15. General Listening Quizzes

    Intermediate Listening. Difficult Listening. Basic English Quizzes. Academic English Listening. English Culture Videos. Vocabulary Lessons. ESL Vocabulary Quizzes. A list of English listening activities at the intermediate level for Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab.

  16. ELL Listening Activities & Games

    ESL Activities for Listening and Speaking. If you're looking for some ESL activities for listening and speaking, you've come to the right place! We're going to give a brief description of our favourite ESL activities that focus on two very important skills-listening and speaking. We'll also include a link to more details about how to ...

  17. General Listening Quizzes

    Try More Free Listening at Dailyesl.com. Follow Randall: Easy Listening. A list of English listening activities at the easy level for Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab.

  18. Listening

    Listening. Here you can find activities to practise your listening skills. Listening will help you to improve your understanding of the language and your pronunciation. The learning materials in this section are written and organised by level. There are recordings of different situations, and interactive exercises that practise the listening ...

  19. How to Teach Listening in the ESL Classroom: 15 Valuable Activities

    Pre-listening activities; 1. Predicting and guessing; 2. Vocabulary preparation; During listening activities; 3. Listen for specific words and expressions, or even watch for specific items. 4. Listen for sequence and order. 5. Listen and watch for specific events. After listening activities; 6. Refer back to pre-listening vocab and sequences. 7 ...

  20. 12 Listening Activities for ESL Students

    In their book Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, authors Murcia, Brinton, Snow and Bohlke offer the following listening activities and strategies that every ESL/EFL teacher can use in the classroom: One-Way (Nonparticipatory) Listening Tasks 1. Listen and Restore. Skills: Listening for global understanding; listening for details

  21. B1 listening

    Our online English classes feature lots of useful learning materials and activities to help you listen and respond with confidence in a safe and inclusive learning environment. Practise listening to your classmates in live group classes, get listening support from a personal tutor in one-to-one lessons or practise by yourself at your own speed ...

  22. 21 Excellent Listening Activities For ESL Classes

    8. Fizz Buzz. Fizz Buzz is a fantastic way to combine math with an English listening exercise. Students count up from the number 1 to 100 but must say "fizz" if their number is a multiple of five or "buzz" if it is a multiple of 7. Learn more: Dr. Mike's Math Games For Kids. 9.

  23. A1 listening

    Our online English classes feature lots of useful learning materials and activities to help you listen and respond with confidence in a safe and inclusive learning environment. Practise listening to your classmates in live group classes, get listening support from a personal tutor in one-to-one lessons or practise by yourself at your own speed ...

  24. 17 Fun Games to Get World Language Learners Talking

    The rest of the class become detectives, Gantenhammer writes, listening intently and then guessing the hidden piece of vocabulary. The 5-Second Rule: This is a classic game of word association that will keep your class on their toes, writes Ewa Stoklosa , English language teaching content manager at ESL Brains.

  25. Mental Health

    Mental Health - Listening. Liveworksheets transforms your traditional printable worksheets into self-correcting interactive exercises that the students can do online and send to the teacher. ... School subject: English as a Second Language (ESL) (1061958) Main content: Mental Health (2059713) Mental Health - Listening ...

  26. 10 Unique Ways To Teach Whole Body Listening (Plus Free Poster)

    1. Display posters and complete a worksheet. Visuals help make concepts more accessible and concrete for kids. Our printable whole body listening posters and worksheet encourage different types of learners to use their entire bodies to pay attention and establish social connections with their peers and teachers.