A selection of English ESL long a sound printables

A nice exercise to review short a, i, e and long a, e and i words and shapes. Students draw shapes around each different vowel sounds. Students liked it and competed well.

vowel and shape review

Long e sound

Words with long a sound - aihave your students read through the sentences and fill in the spaces using the 'ai' words from the word bank. This resource will help children read and spell words with the long vowel a sound. We use 'ai' in the middle of words including train, rain, paint, grain, wait, tail, waist, etc. What is a cloze activity? A cloze worksheet is a useful activity to improve a child's reading comprehension and grammar skills. Words are removed from the text for students to fill in as an exercise in reading comprehension. I am one of the content developers at primaryleap.co.uk. This resource can be used for home learning or in the classroom. I hope you find it useful.

Long vowel 'ai' words - cloze activity

This is a fun song by AJ Jenkins for learning animal sounds, reading and pronunciation. It contains the lyrics, chords and Youtube link. It's great for a sing along. The chords are really easy (capo on the 5th fret) 

Animal Sounds

Long and short vowel sounds are difficult to hear and read.  A short, quick practice.

vowel sounds

English idioms are an attractive, entertaining part of the language, but sometimes beginners pay too much attention. From this article written by essay-company writers (https://essaycompany.org/), you will learn what idioms are and whether they are worth remembering. The difference between an idiom and a proverb where butterflies in the stomach come from, and what it is that spoon that sucks with fear.



What are idioms?



Idioms or phraseological expressions are stable turns of speech, indecomposable combinations of words, understood, as a rule, in symbolic meaning. The meaning of its constituent words does not determine the importance of the whole expression. Often the sense of an idiom is difficult to guess, to understand from its constituent words if you are not familiar with it.



For example: to be in the same boat. It means "to be in the same situation, to experience the same difficulties.



"I understand your problem. We are in the same boat."



Idioms are called stable, indecomposable combinations because they are used in a fixed form. For example, no one says to sit together in the same boat or be in the same vessel. An idiom is used as a ready-made figurative pattern for some typical situations.



The meaning of the expression about the boat can probably be guessed, primarily when heard in context, but there are idioms whose purpose is impossible to imagine.



"I want to buy a Saturday night special, but I'm scared to own it."



Idioms are called stable, indecomposable combinations because they are used in a fixed form. For example, no one says to sit together in the same boat or be in the same vessel. An idiom is used as a ready-made figurative pattern for some typical situations.



"A rolling stone gathers no moss."



The meaning is a person who often changes his place of residence, occupation, never settles down, does not settle down. Accordingly, the equivalent would be: "he who does not sit still will not make a good living."



How many idioms are there in the English language?



There are thousands of idioms in English, but it is impossible to tell the exact number, just as it is impossible to say the precise number of words in the language. For example, the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms (M. McCarthy, 1998) has 5782 dictionary entries, but that number doesn't say much.



English idioms are as much living units of speech as words, and their numbers are constantly changing. Some idioms live for centuries, while others quickly go out of use.



English idioms, proverbs, colloquial formulas, phrasal verbs, and other similar units of speech



Idioms can easily be confused with proverbs, various speech patterns, phrasal verbs. Even scientists sometimes find it difficult to distinguish them.



Idioms are a type of formulaiс language - stable, indecomposable expressions that should be understood and taught as a single unit of speech, rather than a group of words.



These patterns include:



1. Greetings and good wishes



How are you? 

Have a good day!



2. Prepositional groups or prepositional phrases



In a minute 

Once in a while



3. Proverbs, sayings, proverbs, quotations.



Bad news travels fast 

Buy the best, and you only cry once 



4. Phrasal verbs.



To look for

To sign in



5. To look for, to look for, sign in, and register. 5.



Blond hair 

Deeply disappointed



6. Conversational speech formulas



You have to be kidding!

Do you see what I'm saying?



7. Idioms



A penny for your thought

To give the green light



As you can see, the line between idioms and similar expressions is sometimes tough to draw. For example, the phrasal verb to look for cannot be called an idiom - there is nothing conversational about it, that is, any symbolic meaning. But the phrasal verb to sail through can easily be confused with an idiom because it has a symbolic meaning.



В idioms, and even more so in various collections of phrases on the Internet, are often found not only in dictionaries but in everything that remotely resembles them. It has at least a hint of idiom, including individual words with symbolic meanings.



How much knowledge of English idioms is necessary?



Sometimes I think that English idioms are almost the first necessity because they are ubiquitous in English.



Honestly, not that often.



It is beneficial and exciting to know idioms, but there is no point in learning them on purpose. Let's consider two cases: knowing idioms for their use in speech and understanding speech or text.



1. Use of idioms in speech



Many idioms have a stylistic coloring, are used in informal speech, are characteristic of some social or age groups. 



2. Understanding idioms



In my experience, I can say that when speaking to native speakers, idioms are rare. Often there are:



colloquial clichés,

phrasal verbs,

sentence groups.



But idioms, that is, turnips with symbolic meaning, like it rains cats and dogs when pigs fly, are rare. Your interlocutors understand that English is not your native language and try to speak without much difficulty.



By the way, many have noticed that when you talk to a foreigner in the company, you understand him well, but when they talk to each other, nothing is understandable. People talk to each other in their everyday language without making allowance for the "foreignness" of the interlocutor, so their speech can be dotted with slang and incomprehensible jokes.



Do I need to learn idioms?



If you have recently started studying English, you still have a small vocabulary, and reading a page of English text gives you a headache. You do not need to learn, memorize English idioms by heart actively. Idioms are quite an advanced part of the language, not a priority initially. If you discover a list of 100 or 200 idioms, in practical terms, it will give you very little because they are not so common, but your head will be scored thoroughly.



But idioms are perceived by many as an attractive, curious part of language, something like amazing facts or "did you know that...?" In that case, idioms can just be read at your leisure as something entertaining.



But if you're actively reading and listening in English, you'll sometimes encounter idioms. I think you should memorize them at a comprehension level, but there is no point in learning them so solidly that you can use them freely in speech - they are not such ordinary and necessary expressions.



Fortunately, memorizing idioms at the comprehension level is relatively easy, thanks to their vividness, imagery, and sometimes an entertaining origin story. The unusual and vivid things are best imprinted on the memory.



Popular English idioms with translation - a selection from personal experience



In conclusion, here is a selection of idioms that I have encountered in practice: I have not read them out of a textbook, but heard them from someone, met them while reading, and for some reason, they stuck in my memory. Here is my list of popular idioms.



Piece of cake - easy as pie, like a piece of cake.



It's an expression I learned as a kid. In Terminator 2, John Connor, the future savior of humanity, hacks into an ATM with some electronic device and steals money from it. "Piece of cake," John says and runs away.



To ring a bell - to remind you of something, to ring a bell.



The idiom has been seen several times in movies and detectives and is remembered because of the imagery. The ringing of a bell symbolizes a sudden thought.



Rule of thumb - A simple rule of thumb, an approximate way of judging letters.



The rule of thumb is a simple, practical method of not measuring something accurately. Linguist Paul Nation likes to use the expression in scientific papers and lectures.



The origin of the idiom is not precisely established. One version says that the "rule of thumb" came from the old carpenters' way of measuring - with a finger, not a measuring instrument. Everyone's fingers, of course, are different, so such a "tape measure" was not distinguished by accuracy but was easy to use. According to another version, the expression came from an alleged law in England, according to which the husband was allowed to beat his spouse with a stick, but not thicker than his thumb.



To have a crush on someone.



The expression is often found in youth comedies, teen literature, and sitcoms such as "The Friends" or "How I Met Your Mother.



Different ball game 



It's an expression I've only heard from one person, but many times. Do you know how some people have favorite words and phrases? Just such a case in point. An acquaintance of mine in America, a kindly elderly uncle who loved to spout wisdom and talk about the old days, used to say things like.



Jumpscare, in horror movies: a sudden frightening of the viewer, literally: a jump scare.



One of the essential and most effective scare tools in the horror movie and game makers' arsenal, which is why I don't like the genre. In its most primitive form, it looks like this.



The hero sneaks down the dark hallway of a vampire castle with a flashlight, the music building up a tense atmosphere. He approaches a large mirror on the wall, and then there is a rustle, and a shadow flashes behind him. The hero sharply turns around and sees that it is just a mouse. He exhales and says, "It's just a damn mouse!" and turns to the mirror, AND THERE!!! Plus a robust and squealing sound effect. Such scares make the viewer jump on the spot (apparently, hence the name).



The device is hackneyed among genre fans who have resorted to it in a cheap horror movie. In good horror, scare in much more subtle, profound ways, forcing not just the occasional jumping out, dropping popcorn, and the entire film to sit in suspense, and by the end just burning your nervous system to the ground.



I was introduced to this cinematic term when I watched the walkthrough of the super scary game PT on YouTube. Someone wrote in the comments that the frequent use of jump scare frustrated him - such a good game and such a cheap trick.



The bottom line is the gist, summary, lit.: bottom line, bottom line, bottom line.



This idiom means approximately the same: inference, conclusion. For example, a long article may end with a paragraph called "Conclusion" or "The Bottom Line. 



Street smart 



I heard the expression in a conversation with an American journalist, John Alpert. He said he had never been super bright, except for being street smart.



Street smart is a smartness acquired not at school and over books, but on the street, in life, in everyday life. It is also understood in a narrower sense: the ability to survive on the street.

English Idioms By EssayCompany: what are they, and should you learn them?

These are vowel sound cards with words to illustrate. Each letter is shown with long and short variants and includes a card for shwa . I printed each one on a different color of card stock. Geared for adult ESL, as there are no pictures.

vowel sound wall cards

An outlay of all the long vowel sounds and a worksheet on  the function of the fairy 'e'.

Long vowels

Are you familiar with the cartoon characters Phineas & Ferb? If yes, great. If not, then your students probably are. Utilise Youtube as a source for the video / song. Have students predict the likely verb either by using contextual clues, rhyming sounds or old fashioned guess work. Students write in the number in the space on lyrics worksheet and then correct (where necessary) on listening. Use a ´lyrics´ video on Youtube to allow students to self-correct. Show the official P & F video from Youtube as a reward and encourage your students to sing along. Be warned - it is quite a fast delivery. May require more than one listening. ENJOY!

Phineas n Ferb and Present Con.

Shows a list of words that vary only by one vowel sound. 

/ɒ/ (short 'o') and /əʊ/ (long 'o). 



This can be used to help students understand the different pronunciations and practice the different words.



IPA transcription of the words is included. 



There is also a flashcard set available here.

Minimal Pairs - ɒ and əʊ

this worksheet enhances the students' skill in recognizing pictures that has a long Ee word, naming words with long Ee sound.

Long Ee Worksheets for Preschool

AIMS:
The major aim of this exercise is to talk about experience and about your student(s) past.
•	to practice target language of Past Simple, Present Simple, Present Perfect
•	to practise informal conversation
•	to learn about classmates' important issues
•	to integrate skills of communication and meaningCONTEXT:
Tell your students they can imagine a converation with a person they have just met in a bar or pub and they're just having a friendly conversation. Some questions may sound like therapy questions so let the student talk as long as he/she wants.PROCEDURE:
1.	Tell your student(s) to get into pairs and inform them that they are going to exchange information on important issues in their lives.2.	IN A GROUP/ONE-TO-ONE: This is an excellent exercise which allows to practise various tenses and grammatical structures as well as vocabulary taught during the course. Student(s) practise here note taking, summarizing (as there isn't much space in the worksheet). Depending on what you want to focus on during the lesson you may pay attention to:
•	reporting
•	vocabulary
•	starters, movers, closers in a speech

Tell me about - speaking practice

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

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how to inform somebody about some news in English

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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

45 Long a sound English ESL worksheets pdf & doc