A selection of English ESL history of english language printables

It is a part of presentation I made about the importance of English language and its spread around the world. It can be used as a classroom poster or reading activity.

A Brief History of English Language

For students of Foreign Language Departments .

Comparison of Old English, Modern English, German and Ukrainian languages. Highlighted isomorphisms. Ukrainian and Slavic dialectical material used. 

OLD ENGLISH MINI-CONVERSATION VOCABULARY. 

This document deals with the origins of the English Language

A Brief History of the English Language With Study Guide

This is a short, illustrated timeline of the history of the English language.

You can use it for discussions, games, or as a classroom poster.

Source: https://bilingualiesae.wordpress.com/2012/10/20/timeline-of-the-english-language/ 

The History of the English Language - Illustrated timeline

A selection of excerpts taken from Bill Bryson's book "Mother Tongue" from Penguin Books 1990. I have taken key materials from about half his chapters focusing in particular on Spelling, Pronunciation and American English. I have also added a short appendix from internet.

Mother Tongue (The history of the English Language)

https://www.academia.edu/77209277/HISTORY_OF_THE_OPPRESSION_OF_UKRAINIANS_BY_RUSSIAN_GOVERNMENTS

THE OPPRESSION OF UKRAINIANS BY RUSSIAN GOVERNMENTS

ENGLISH TEXT, ITALIAN AND UKRAINIAN ASSIGNMENTS. FOR LANGUAGE LEARNERS AND TRANSLATORS.

HISTORY OF OPPRESSION OF UKRAINIANS BY RUSSIAN GOVERNMENTS

An activity and video to celebrate St. Patricks day and Irish culture. The worksheet is a gap fill for 14 song excepts each featuring one vocabulary item in English which originated from Ireland or the Irish language (Gaeilge).



Learners listen to the video's audio first and complete the worksheet.

Video: https://youtu.be/8BSKN_0e7WQ



Learners then self correct their answers by watching the video while also learning about the meaning and origin of each vocabulary item.



An accompanying video lesson with additional vocabulary questions can be found here: https://en.islcollective.com/video-lessons/st-patricks-day-english-words-from-ireland-irish



St. Patrick's Day - English words from Ireland (in songs)

Enhance students' understanding of historical events and practice English language skills by using AI to create alternative histories. In this activity, students will explore how changing one event in history could lead to different outcomes. They will start by choosing a historical event from a provided list, such as "What if Hannibal had conquered Rome?" or "What if the Library of Alexandria had never been destroyed?" 

Students will then use AI to generate a brief description of the chosen event, ensuring the language is at a B1 level according to the CEFR. After understanding the original event, students will ask AI to create an alternative version of the history. They will summarize this alternative history in their own words, making sure it is concise and clear.

Next, students will prepare a 5-minute presentation. In their presentations, they should briefly explain the original historical event and then describe the alternative history scenario, discussing potential impacts and changes. They should not read directly from the AI-generated text but use it as a reference. Students are encouraged to use visuals or slides to make their presentations more engaging.

This activity fosters creativity and critical thinking, helping students understand history better while practicing their English language skills.

AI Alternative History Exploration

This worksheet explores the fascinating history of robots, from their origins in ancient myths to their modern applications in various fields. It begins by introducing the concept of robots in literature, highlighting the Czech origins of the word "robot," which was first used by Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R. The worksheet discusses key milestones, such as the invention of the first industrial robot, Unimate, in the 1950s and its role in revolutionizing manufacturing. It also touches on how robots have advanced over time, with the integration of artificial intelligence enabling them to adapt and solve complex problems. Modern robots' contributions to medicine, agriculture, and space exploration are presented as examples of their growing importance.

The worksheet includes vocabulary for translation, reading comprehension questions, and multiple-choice tasks to test students' understanding of the text. Short-answer questions encourage deeper thinking about robots' historical and modern roles. This material is designed for intermediate learners, particularly those interested in technology, innovation, and Czech contributions to robotics. The activities foster curiosity and engage students in meaningful discussions about how robots have shaped—and will continue to shape—the world. It is an excellent resource for classrooms focusing on science, history, or English as a second language.

History of robotics.

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)

For personal or classroom use only. Uploading on other internet sharing platforms or any commercial use NOT PERMITTED. Share Alike.

Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License

Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives License

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike License

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License

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

9 History of english language English ESL worksheets pdf & doc