One of the most important things for improving our students English is giving them the opportunity to engage in natural conversation.
I, personally, like to host short conversations or discussions as warm ups at the beginning of class. I give my students a few minutes to read and think about the prompt, and then we go around the class and share our thoughts.
In my class, I always share first, unless a student asks to go first, to give my students an example. I have found that this also combats some of those “first volunteer jitters”.
Here are ten of the conversation starters I have used in my beginner ESL class this year.
- How do you celebrate your birthday?
- Describe someone in your family.
- Where do you have the hardest time with English?
- What do you do when you’re sick that is not taking medicine?
- What is your favorite chore and what is your least favorite chore?
- Describe the last thing that you bought. What did you buy? Why did you buy it? Where did you buy it?
- What are 3 things you like about living in the US and what are 3 things you don’t like about living in the US?
- What are some things that you miss about your home country?
- What are 3 things that are different in the US than in your home country?
- Tell me about your dream job.
What are some of your favorite conversation starters for beginner students? Let us know in the comments.
by Taynim Johnson