The China Teaching Web

ESL Conversation Class — Presidential Election

Level: Intermediate - Advanced
If you have the right students, holding a Presidential Election in ESL Conversation Class can be a great activity! Plus, it is a good learning experience since most of your Chinese students have probably never voted before.
Warmup: Explain to your students that they will be participating in a presidential election. Choose three people [...]

ESL Conversation Topics — Bosses and Employees

Level: Intermediate to Advanced
I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun teaching an ESL social talk then when I did this activity about bosses and employees. There was controversy and humor and all of my students left class laughing.
Warmup: Ask your students if they have recently been looking for a job. Make sure they [...]

ESL Conversation Topic — Crime

Level: Intermediate - Advanced
 Talking about crime is always an interesting ESL topic because you can go many different ways with the discussion.
Warmup: Print off some information about the 5 most dangerous cities in your home country. Go through the cities and then ask your students to tell you what the 5 most dangerous cities in China are.
Discussion:

Why is [...]

ESL Conversation Topic — Role Playing

Level: Beginner to Advanced
ESL Role Playing is a fun way to lighten up the mood and ’shake things up’ a bit. Of course, the role of your ESL role playing class will largely depend upon the participation of your students. Encourage them to ‘be actors’ and not worry what others think about them.
Warmup: Divide the [...]

ESL Conversation Topic — Random Questions

Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Sometimes I just do not have the energy to lead a ESL topic discussion so I will resort to using a series of random questions that your English students can discuss amongst themselves. After all, the purpose of an ESL conversation class is to get your students talking.
Warmup: Divide students into groups [...]

ESL Conversation Topic — Technology

Level: Beginner to Advanced
Technology is an interesting conversation for students of all ages. There are many ways to go with this ESL topic but talking about how technology affects humanity is always an interesting route to take.
Warmup: Ask your students to tell you who Bill Gates is and why he is famous. Ask your students [...]

ESL Conversation Topic — Mothers in China

Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Even if you are not teaching in China, you should be able to modify this ESL Conversation on mothers slightly to make it work for your particular country.
Warmup: Print off a copy of the article Why Mother’s Day is Extra Special in China and ask your student to take turns reading paragraphs. It is [...]

ESL Conversation Topic — The Titanic

Level: Intermediate to Advanced
The Titanic is a topic that students always enjoy talking about in class. If you direct the discussion in the right direction, you can have a great conversation about this famous sunken ship.
 Warmup: Ask the students if they have seen the movie Titanic. Show them some pictures or multimedia of the ship and [...]

ESL Conversation Topic — Biographies

Level: Beginner to Advanced
This ESL conversation topic will give your voice a rest and help your students to have some fun getting to know one another better.
Warmup: Talk about the concept of a ‘biography.’ Depending on the level of your students, you can introduce the vocabulary word ‘autobiography’ to them. Explain that for this class, [...]

ESL Conversation Topic — Mingling

Level: Beginner - Advanced
If you want to give your voice a rest and let your students have some fun practicing their English then this ESL topic is perfect for you!
Warmup:
Distribute the copies of the questions to your students and explain to them that today they will be ‘mingling’ with each other. Tell them that the [...]