The China Teaching Web

Level: Beginner - Advanced

The ESL conversation topic of “tell about a time when…” is a good way to get all of your students talking. I have used this topic in both beginner and intermediate conversation classes.

Warmup: Give each student a copy of the questions below. Run through each question to make sure that everyone understands the vocabulary.

Topic Discussion: Divide the students into groups and ask them to discuss each question for 15-20 minutes. After the group discussions, call the students back together and discuss their answers to the question. Be sure to give a few answers yourself.

Discuss with your partner about a time when
1. you were sad about life and didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning.

2. you did something that you were very sorry about

3. you were so excited that you couldn’t sleep.

4. you cheated to get ahead of someone else.

5. you had to go to the doctor or to the hospital.

6. you had a scary nightmare and you woke up out of breath.

7. your parents were very disappointed in you.

8. you were shocked.

9. you fell in love with someone but they didn’t love you back.

10. you were so happy that almost exploded.