A selection of English ESL movies & tv shows printables with general reading comprehension, reading comprehension

General reading comprehension

Movies & TV shows

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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how to accuse somebody of something in English

how to apologize, say sorry, forgive and express regret in English

how to ask for information and make inquiries in English

how to ask for something, make requests in English

how to blame somebody for something in English

how to defend yourself from criticism in English

how to deny or admit something in English

how to describe things or people in English

how to emphasize important things in English

how to encourage or discourage people in English

how to evaluate people or progress in English

how to express agreement /disagreement in English

how to express approval and disapproval  in English

how to express cause and effect in English

how to express interest in something in English

how to express likelihood, probability in English

how to express likes and dislikes in English

how to express sequence and chronology in English

how to express shock and disbelief in English

how to express sympathy and condolences in English

how to give permission, authorization in English

how to inform somebody about some news in English

how to interpret what was said in English

how to keep a conversation going in English

how to make guesses about something in English

how to make, accept and refuse offers in English

how to order or make a booking in English

how to persuade, convince people in English

how to praise people and express appreciation in English

how to reassure somebody of something in English

how to refuse and object to something in English

how to remind people of something in English

how to rephrase, paraphrase what was said in English

how to say thank you, express gratitude in English

Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

A short paragraph to read first about the movie, who directed it etc, and then follow the link to the youtube clip. Fill in the blanks as you listen and then find one synonym for each word the students find.



You´ll need to start it from 0:35 to get the beginning of Julia Roberts speech (but you can listen to it up until 0:35 if you want to) Its a great way to practise listening because I find some book listening tasks a bit robotic, so it gives students a chance to practise a more natural English tone. For levels B1 and over. I hope you like it, and if you´ve any requests or any issues, please send me a message and I will do my best to help you!

Notting Hill Movie Review

This is an easy reading comprehension activity that helps students exercise the past simple tense and revise vocabulary about movies. They read the passage, do the match up exercise and answer the questions.

RC - Saturday evening at home

This is an excellent film but for adults only. It has won many prizes. This worksheet contains information about the film and many different kinds of exercises. For mature audiences only.

Award Winning Film 'Precious' Multi-Page Reading and Exercises

            It's really helpful if you include the solutions in the resource as it makes it easier for us in class to check the answers. Also, the solutions make the resource suitable for self-study.

Phineas and Ferb - 9 Pages of Fun Activites

This text about Reality shows is meant for adults or high school students. The students have to read the text and answer the questions. It can also be a starter for a discussion about the subject Reality shows.

How Reality fakes it

Students read a short text about one of the most popular TV sitcoms of all time - Friends. At the end, they answer some questions and share opinions on this sitcom. This reading is for B1 level English students.

A popular sitcom - Friends | B1 reading comprehension

Students read a text about The Big Bang Theory, a popular sitcom, which started back in 2007.  They answer the questions on the second worksheet and also share opinions on this TV sitcom. This is suited for B2 level English students.

A popular sitcom - The Big Bang Theory | B2 reading comprehension

Reading lesson about the 2025 Oscars (aka the Academy Awards). Multiple choice questions that test critical thinking. Also has prompts for speaking and writing. https://eslfrog.com/2025-oscars/

2025 Acadey Awards

Based on current events in February 2025. Reading comprehension lesson with multiple choice questions that test critical thinking. Includes prompts for listening and speaking. https://eslfrog.com/indian-sues-theater/

Indian Man Wins Lawsuit Against Movie Theater for Showing Too Many Advertisements

Students will begin by listening to selected songs from the "Moana" soundtrack. They'll receive printed lyrics to follow along, ensuring they catch every word and nuance. After listening, students will analyze the lyrics, focusing on themes, emotions, and vocabulary. They'll discuss how these elements contribute to the overall narrative and character development within the movie.

Soundtrack Analysis:

Next, students will explore the broader soundtrack, discussing how different musical elements, such as melody, rhythm, and instrumentation, enhance the storytelling. They'll describe how the music complements the lyrics, sets the mood, and supports the film's themes of adventure, self-discovery, and cultural identity.

Outcome:

This activity not only deepens students' appreciation for the film's music but also strengthens their critical thinking, vocabulary, and discussion skills in English, all while engaging with an entertaining and culturally rich cinematic work.

Moana / Fill in the gaps and music appreciain

A set of questions about the latest movie of Spiderman, Spider-man: across the spider verse (2023). The last questions are personal opinions so the answers are open.

Spider-man across the spider verse

It is an article about the history of reality tv shows. Students fill in the missing parts in the article. There is one extra part which they do not need to use. After reading they can discuss the topic of reality tv shows.

22 Movies & TV shows, General reading comprehension, Reading Comprehension English ESL worksheets pdf & doc