A selection of English ESL athletes printables

This press article is not that recent (2007) however my students always love the topic as it has always led to great debates about the fate of athletes

Readin comprehension with:

1) vocabulary exercise

2) questions to check the comprehension

3) debate about athletes

China's disposable athletes

Here is a sample composition about a woman athlete. Choose someone you admire and write your own composition. Research their background.



Cover available here:



http://en.islcollective.com/resources/printables_page?id=56692

Creative Writing: Favorite Woman Athlete #1

Reading comprehension + writing test about the environment

Polluted air puts Olympic athletes at risk

This worksheet explores the achievements of the five greatest Olympic athletes of all time: Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Carl Lewis, Paavo Nurmi, and Larisa Latynina. Designed for EFL students, the worksheet aims to enhance reading comprehension, vocabulary, and critical thinking skills. Students will learn about Michael Phelps, who won 23 gold medals in swimming across five Olympics, showcasing his versatility and endurance. Usain Bolt, the fastest man in the world, set world records in the 100m and 200m sprints, winning multiple gold medals. Carl Lewis dominated track and field with nine gold medals in events like the long jump and sprints over four Olympics. Paavo Nurmi, the "Flying Finn," won nine golds in distance running, revolutionizing training methods with precise pacing and interval training. Larisa Latynina, a gymnast, earned 18 medals over three Olympics, setting high standards for future gymnasts.

The worksheet includes warm-up questions to activate students' prior knowledge and interest, reading comprehension questions to ensure understanding, and discussion topics to encourage deeper thinking about dedication, inspiration, and personal connections to these athletes. A creative activity invites students to draw and write about their favorite Olympic moment, fostering creativity and personal expression. This resource provides a comprehensive and engaging way for EFL teachers to introduce students to legendary Olympic athletes while developing essential language skills.

The 5 Greatest Olympic Athletes of All Time

Pattern your composition about your favorite (male) athlete on the one above. #3 in a series about sports. Combine in a spiral or use as a stand alone. 



Cover available:

 

http://en.islcollective.com/resources/printables_page?id=56692

Creative Writing: Lionel Messi: My Favorite Male Athlete #3

A text about some great stories from the Winter Olympics. Even if the Games are over now, I hope this will inspire my students to never stop dreaming, never stop learning! A 3 pages worksheet, with a multiple choice while reading, some true/false sentences, a vocabulary matching, then a couple of exercises focused on verbs+prepositions, and phrasal verbs. There are also some open questions to discuss, and a writing based on information about another history-making athlete. I hope you like it!

"African Athletes break barriers at 2018 Winter Olympics" - reading, grammar, vocabulary, writing

1. & 2. page: short reading text about the Native Americans' history - JIM THORPE (Native American’s and one of the world's greatest athletes in history) + short notes about the US state he came from;

 3. page: short quiz (reading comprehension), matching sentences + writing task (student must write a short text with his own opinion);

 FULLY EDITABLE.

Native Americans (USA): Athlete; Olympic gold medalist JIM THORPE  - 3 pages

My students will be able to: Ask about and describing exercise; discussing sports and athletes.

In this wolksheet, you will find: listening and writing exercises.



Sports lesson

Reading comprehension/Listening comprehension. The topic is streaming sports and old athletes. It is ideal for B1/A2 level students. Additional conversation questions are provided.

Italy's Oldest Sprinter

With the world’s best athletes set to compete on the world’s biggest stage, take a look at the facts and figures behind the Olympic Games Paris 2024, here's a snapshot of what to expect.

PARIS OLYMPICS reading passage

This worksheet is designed to develop students’ inference skills, reading comprehension, and critical thinking through a modern and highly engaging context. Students are first presented with a series of realistic social media posts reacting to an event. The posts are intentionally vague, encouraging learners to analyse tone, identify clues, and speculate about the situation.

The mystery continues with a reveal reading text describing a real athlete’s performance and public reaction without mentioning the athlete’s name. Students then research the individual online, creating an authentic information-gap element that naturally increases engagement and curiosity.

The worksheet integrates vocabulary practice with a focus on collocations and lexical chunks, followed by gap-fill exercises, multiple-choice comprehension questions, and guided discussion prompts designed to promote deeper speaking and critical thinking. The lesson works particularly well with teenagers, as it connects to themes of success, pressure, public opinion, and social media culture.

This material is ideal for B1 learners but can be easily adapted for stronger or weaker groups.

Who Are People Talking About?

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

11 Athletes English ESL worksheets pdf & doc