A selection of English ESL interview questions printables

A short passage with some comprehension questions. It's a story I heard on the radio and it made me laugh. This passage could lead to a discussion about personal qualities and about always telling the truth. A WHITE LIE is a lie you tell to spare someone's feelings, or a lie that is harmless and may do some good. 

RC: The Interview

If we want to be more formal or more polite, we use longer, more indirect ways of asking questions. Indirect questions are necessary to master especially in the context of meeings and interviews. 

Indirect Questions

This activity will practice students interviewing and note taking abilities while applying the grammar rule of past progressive tense. First, students must write down the things they were doing in the specific times said in the chart. Then, ask their partner about what is he or she doing during the time listed in the chart. While doing the interview, the student who is aking questions must take down notes.

Past Progressive Tense Interview Activity

Teacher elicit some personal information as a way to provide students with examples. Then model the answers to the questions and invite students to mingle and interview their classmates.

Another way to get students talking and asking as many classmates as possible, this game can be played with 'onion ring' technique: have students in two circles (inner and outer circles) and clap for them to change partners.

As a follow-up T can ask sts to sit down and choose someone they've interviewed and report what they've found out. Students can use/practice object pronouns.

Enjoy!

Interview a partner

A kind of speed dating.  First, students have to make the questions (individual exercise to practise question structures).  Then they have to interview up to 4 different students (oral exercise to practise questions).  Finally, they have to feed back (writen or oral exercise to use the 3rd person sg).

The perfect flatmate

A worksheet to practise Present Simple tense: affirmative, negative, questions.



1. Complete the sentences. What do Jake, Kate and Monica usually do after school?

2. Interview your classmate - students work in pairs.

3. Write a paragraph about your typical day. Use the simple present tense.



Present Simple

Simple worksheet with an interview activity for the topic, 'Have you ever been to...?', using the present perfect question. 

First, students select one of the places on the worksheet that they have been to and check the circle on the picture (This worksheet was designed for students living in the vicinity of Yokohama in Japan, so please feel free to change the places on the worksheet to places in your students local area).

Second, the students write their answer to the questions in the two boxes to the right hand side of the worksheet, 'When did you go?' and, 'What did you do?'

Finally, the students should 'interview' their friends. They ask their friend, 'Have you ever been to...?' and their friend replies with either, 'Yes, I have', or, 'No, I haven't'. If the answer was yes, then they should also ask them one of the other two questions, 'When did you go?' or, 'What did you do?' When their friend replies yes they should sign the corresponding box at the bottom of the worksheet. When the student has all five boxes signed they should present their worksheet to the teacher.



Have you ever...?

A lesson about the Columbine shooting, critical questions/debates about the increase of violence and an interview with the mother of one of the shooters.



It includes re-creating a summery of the article, matching words with the correct description and critical questions.

School violence

Students are given a short description of a situation and then have to come up with a question or a statement. Questions can be used to interview a classmate. This worksheet focuses both on correct grammar and adequate pronunciation.

Making Useful Questions and Expressions - Ask it, Say it!

An interview where students have to answer questions (The're applying for a job) Grammar points. Tenses ,wh questions, likes  and dislikes .Family ,free time vocabulary.

Applying for a job May2015

Getting to know you exercise forcing students to go around the room and interview each other

Getting to Know You

There are some questions with phrasal verbs about housing. I ask my students to interview each other and make an oral report afterwards. 

phrasal verbs about housing 

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

318 Interview questions English ESL worksheets pdf & doc