A selection of English ESL how long printables

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

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)

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

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

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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

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)

Improv game / Role play / Miming or drama activity

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

This is a classic Guess Who boardgame I made using characters that I generated with the WimpyKid character Generator (http://www.wimpykidclub.co.uk/wimp-yourself/)The Guess Who game is this: Students have to guess each other's mystery person before their opponent guesses theirs. They can only answer YES or NO.
 
You can use this worksheet in your ESL/EFL classes to practise body parts, clothes, (garments and accessories), and asking closed (Yes/No) questions in an entertaining way. Sure to get your students involved. 
 
I recommend using this ESL printable worksheet up till pre-intermediate level, as the game is focused on asking questions and giving short answers in the Present Simple tense using the auxiliary verb 'have', and the Present Continuous tense using the verb "wear". 
 
Sample questions are included on page 2 of this worksheet. 
 
 
Here's how to play the Guess Who game in ESL class: 
 
1. Pair students up and let them choose a 'mystery person' secretly. 
 
2. Tell them the rules: 
 
A) The point of the game is: who can find each other's mystery person first? 
 
B) Students may only ask 'YES' or ‘NO’ questions (and of course, reposnd with a 'YES' or 'NO'). 
 
C) If some detail is not clearly visible in the picture or is subject to interpretation, your pupils can reply: "I can't tell" or "It's not possible to tell". 
 
D) In each turn, students narrow down the scope of the possible mystery persons. When they feel certain enough to make a guess, they can, but if they guess wrong, they've lost. 
 
3. Give one copy of the boardgame to every student. 
 
4. You're advised to hand out one transparent plastic foil with each Guess Who boardgame. Students can place the foil over the boardgame and cross out on it the characters that they have ruled out using an erasable magic marker. 
 
Here's how this works: for example, one student asks: "Is your person blond?" If the answer is 'Yes', then he/she crossed out all the persons that are NOT blond, leaving only the blondes eligible. If the answer is 'No', they cross out all the characters that are blond, leaving only the non-blondes up. 
 
5. Throughout the game encourage students to respond with auxiliary verbs, not just a simple Yes or No, e.g. "Yes, he or she is/does", "No, he or she isn't/doesn't" (using the form "he or she" until the gender of the mystery character has been revealed in order to keep this info hidden). Once the gender is revealed, they can go on using the specific gender in responses, e.g. "Yes, he is", "Yes, he does", "No, he isn't", No, he doesn't". You could, however, also opt for forbidding questions about the mystery person's gender. This way you'll see longer games and more questions.

Guess Who ESL Boardgame

I made another version of the well-known Guess Who boardgame for ESL learners with characters I created using the avatar creator tool at <a href="http://avachara.com" target="_blank" title="http://avachara.com">http://avachara.com</a> . Sample questions and gameplaying expressions can be found on the second page of the worksheet. 
 
There is a related Guess who boardgame that you may also want to play for the sake of variety: 
<a href="https://en.islcollective.com/resources/printables/worksheets_doc_docx/guess_who_with_25_characters/present-continuous-progressive/109463" target="_blank" title="https://en.islcollective.com/resources/printables/worksheets_doc_docx/guess_who_with_25_characters/present-continuous-progressive/109463">https://en.islcollective.com/resources/printables/worksheets_doc_docx/guess_who_with_25_characters/present-continuous-progressive/109463</a> 
 
The game is meant to give you an opportunity for practising speaking with your class in a fun way. 
 
Here's how to play the Guess Who game in ESL class: Hand out one copy of the boardgame to each student. Put students in pairs and let each student choose a 'mystery person' secretly. Each student needs to guess each other's mystery person faster than their partner. It is only allowed to ask 'YES' or ‘NO’ questions (and of course, answer 'YES' or 'NO'). If something is unclear from the picture, your students can respond by saying "I can't tell" or "It's not possible to tell" (in this case, you can decide whether the student can ask another question, or if it's their partner's turn). Question by question, students narrow down the list of possible mystery persons until they feel confident enough to make a guess. Usually when one has been ruled out of the last two persons remaining. 
 
I recommend that you hand out one transparent plastic foil along with each Guess Who boardgame. Students can place the foil over the boardgame and using an erasable magic marker cross out on it the characters that they have ruled out. 
 
How do students figure out who cannot be their opponent's mystery person? For example, "Is your person blond?" If the answer is 'Yes', then they cross out all the characters that are not blond. If the answer is 'No', they cross out all the characters that are blond. 
 
Encourage students to answer with auxiliary verbs, not just a simple Yes or No, e.g. "Yes, he or she is/does", "No, he or she isn't/doesn't" (using the form "he or she" until the gender of the mystery character has been revealed in order to keep this info hidden). Once the gender is revealed, they can go on using the specific gender in responses, e.g. "Yes, he is", "Yes, he does", "No, he isn't", No, he doesn't". You could also opt for forbidding questions about the mystery person's gender. This way you'll see longer games and more questions. 
 
You can use this worksheet in your ESL/EFL classes to practise body parts, clothes, (garments and accessoriese), and asking closed (Yes/No) questions in an entertaining way. Playing this game is a proven way of getting your students engaged in speaking English. 
 
I recommend using this ESL printable worksheet up till pre-intermediate level, as the game is focused on asking questions and giving short answers in the Present Simple tense using the auxiliary verb 'have', and the Present Continuous tense using the verb "wear".

Guess Who boardgame with 20 characters

With the easy board game, learners will practise the present perfect in an enjoyable way. Every square provides a verb and a picture clue. Every time a correct question is asked, the game can be used as a communicative activity whereby players ask each follow-up questions. (e.g. Have you ever ridden a camel? Where did you do this? Was it fun? How much did it cost? How long did it last? etc.) Answer key and grammar tip included. LetÂ´s make learning fun! 

Board Game - Have You Ever?

Part 2 of the BULATS (Business English) speaking test requires candidates to choose one (from 3) topics and speak for 1 minute. They have 1 minute to choose and prepare, and then one minute to speak. The topic has 3 points which must be included, and one question which must be answered. This document has 20 topic cards that you can print and cut out to practise the activity.  I created them for my (employed) students so they may not be suitable for all candidates, but feel free to adapt the document to suit your own circumstances.  Note that the topics are not taken from past exam papers - they were just invented by me so please do not think that these particular topics will necessarily crop up in the exam. The purpose of the cards is to allow candidates to practise preparing and organising their thoughts quickly and getting familiar with how long one minute feels when they are speaking.

BULATS Speaking Test Part 2 - talk for one minute

Students complete and write an email asking for information about an English course in Ireland. The beginnings of the paragraphs have already been written for them, but they have to finish them telling their reasons for writing, the course they are interested in, when they want to go, and where how long they want to stay.

Asking for information email

This board game helps students formulate How many/much/How long and Yes/No future perfect and future perfect progressive questions. 
Students also practise using future time clauses with by + date, by the time, when and before. Please change years (I made this a while ago) and cities to suit your class. Board game uses both active and stative verbs. Topics are suitable for adults at an upper intermediate to advanced level of English. Use a penny as die. Heads move one and Tails move two. Contains answer key.

Future Perfect vs Future Perfect Progressive Board Game

I created another version of the classic Guess Who boardgame for ESL learners with characters that I made using the avatar creator tool at <a href="http://avachara.com" target="_blank" title="http://avachara.com">http://avachara.com</a> . You will find a bunch of sample questions and gameplaying phrases on the 2nd page of the printable. 
 
There is a related Guess who boardgame that you may also want to play for the sake of variety: 
<a href="https://en.islcollective.com/resources/printables/worksheets_doc_docx/guess_who_boardgame_with_20_characters/present-continuous-progressive/89982" target="_blank" title="https://en.islcollective.com/resources/printables/worksheets_doc_docx/guess_who_boardgame_with_20_characters/present-continuous-progressive/89982">https://en.islcollective.com/resources/printables/worksheets_doc_docx/guess_who_boardgame_with_20_characters/present-continuous-progressive/89982</a> 
 
You can use this worksheet in your ESL/EFL classes to practice body parts, clothes, (garments and accessories), and asking closed (Yes/No) questions in a fun way. 
 
I recommend using this ESL printable worksheet up to pre-intermediate level, as the game centers around asking simple questions and giving short answers in the Present Simple tense using the auxiliary verb 'have', and the Present Continuous tense using the verb "wear". 
 
Playing this game is a proven way of getting your students involved in speaking English. 
 
 
GUESS WHO GAMEPLAYING GUIDE 
 
1. Pair students up. 
 
2. Ask who knows the game. 
 
3. Explain the point of the game: they will have to guess each other's mystery person quicker than their partner. 
 
4. Explain the rules. 
 
A) They may only ask 'YES' or ‘NO’ questions during the game (and of course, answer 'YES' or 'NO'). 
 
B) If a certain detail is not clearly visible from the picture or leaves room for various interpretations, your pupils may respond by "I can't tell" or "It's not possible to tell". Next, it's the other pupils's turn. 
 
c) Turn by turn, students narrow down their list of possible mystery persons until they feel ready to confidently make a guess. Usually this happens when one has been ruled out of the last 2 people that remain. If they get the person wrong, their partner wins. 
 
5. Hand out the following to every pair: 
 
A) One copy of the boardgame per pair. 
 
B) One magic marker per pair. 
 
C) One transparent plastic foil per pair. Tell students that they are supposed to place the foil over the boardgame and use the foil to cross the characters who they have ruled out using an erasable magic marker. How does this work in practice? For example, "Is your person wearing a hat?" If the answer is 'Yes', then they cross out all the characters that are NOT wearing a hat. If the answer is 'No', they cross out all the characters that are wearing a hat. 
 
6. Before (and throughout) the game remind students to use auxiliary verbs in their responses, not just a simple Yes or No, e.g. "Yes, he or she is/does", "No, he or she isn't/doesn't" (using the form "he or she" up to the point when the gender of the mystery character has been revealed in order to keep this info hidden). Once the gender is revealed, they can start using the specific gender in their responses, e.g. "Yes, he is", "Yes, he does", "No, he isn't", No, he doesn't". 
 
You can, however, also choose to make it a rule and not allow asking about the gender. This way the game will last longer and result in more questions.

Guess Who with 25 characters

You can use this any time after you have taught your students how to form plurals. You can use it at the beginning of the next lesson to review the plurals or as a filler. You can cut the worksheet into five parts to use it for five students. Students should be able to write the plurals even if they don´t know the words as long as they know the words.

make plurals

How do we form comparative and superlative ( long and short adjectives) 1 page

Adjectives

This lesson plan focuses on the present perfect with questions and responses using 'How long...?' The main  language on page one can be adapted to suit the level of student. Listen and repeat one, two or three mini-conversation exchanges or practice reading together. In the practice sections the question 'How long...?'  and responses using 'for,' and, 'since,' are put into play (you can build student confidence by having them apply the practice with the text covered). On page two there are two easy exercises and a quick listening section with some simple follow-up questions. Wrap it all up with a focused application on students own experiences. My students said the lesson was interesting and useful!

Present Perfect

54 flashcards with How Long questions for students to practice present perfect and present perfect continuous. 
 
They should ask and answer the questions and make a comparative sentence about themselves and their neighbour. 
 
You could also choose individual cards and ask students to make a line from the person who's been doing it for the longest time to the person who's been doing it for the shortest time. 
 
You can find more tasks and activities to practice this topic at http://www.englishshouldbefun.com/perfect-continuous/ 
 
Enjoy!

How long - Flashcards - Present Perfect or Present Perfect Continuous

here is a grammar guide to help students use the  present perfect continuous with lots of examples . it has been raining ,or  how long have you been  working?...;

163 English ESL worksheets pdf & doc: how long