A selection of English ESL mental health printables

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

COMPETENCE	: 	The student reads different types of texts 

ACTIVITY		: 	The student obtains information from the text.

EXERCISE 1: Look at the pictures and complete the recommendations with a verb from the box.

EXERCISE 2: Listen to and read two conversations about how to protect our mental health. Then complete the Venn’s diagram with Pedro and Jenny’s typical day

  EXERCISE 3: Complete the chart with Carlos and doctor’s recommendations



our mental health

COMPETENCE	:The student writes different types of texts. 

ACTIVITY	: 	The student creates a poster with  some tips or recommendations.

EXERCISE 1: Match the activities with the expressions or adverbs of frequency to form  

logical recommendations (imperatives) to protect our mental health.

EXERCISE 2: Discover the missing letters and form more tips or recommendations to protect our mental health.

Read some situations of many children or adolescents during this lockdown. Then create a poster as final product giving 6 recommendations or tips to protect their mental health



Real mental health means incorporating practices that support emotional and psychological well-being into daily routines. From practicing mindfulness to setting boundaries in relationships, maintaining real mental health involves conscious, ongoing efforts. It also includes seeking help when challenges become overwhelming, highlighting the strength in vulnerability.



Real Mental Health

I created this worksheet for all my ESOL learners who will be working on mental health. As we are in a third lockdown, I decided to give a lesson on this very important topic. I hope some of you find it helpful.

Health & Wellbeing: Mental Health 

This is a text on an articleabout how social media impacts on our mental health. A must-read !!

It is followed by some comprehension exercises: synonyms, definitions, a grammer exercise,  questions on the text, a section where the students must write a brief synopsis on picture description

Hope you find it useful.

Social Media and mental health

This comprehension-based gap-fill exercise helps students practice using connectors such as although, though, and, but, because, so, then, and more. The passage focuses on the topic of alternative medicine and mental health, allowing learners to improve both their reading comprehension and grammar skills. Suitable for intermediate to upper-intermediate levels, this task also encourages class discussions on health-related topics.

Alternative Medicine & Mental Health – Connectors Gap-Fill Exercise

It's an ESL game to review vocabulary connected with mental health. On the first page you have the front of the card and on the second page the back. A student picks a card and reads to the other students the situation, he also secretly looks at the explanation on the back of the cards. The other students have to ask yes/no questions to him to try to find out the explanation. This game can be played in teams or with the whole group.

Mental Health Back Story Game - Situation and Guess the Explanation

Hey Teachers,



As we all know, the most prominent global issue circling around our social media pages, TV, and conversations with family and friends is the coronavirus pandemic. In response to this, I spent the better part of my weekend digging around for and putting together a comprehensive lesson plan on the theme of the coronavirus, which you’ll find attached below in this post. In this lesson plan, I tried to focus more on the impacts of the virus rather than the nature of it, which was the focus of the lesson I posted here a few weeks ago.



The full lesson plan is free for the time being on Fluentize via the link below:



https://app.fluentize.com/lesson/coronavirus-impacts



In the worksheets I posted here, you get the first half of the lesson. You can find the video as well as all the post-viewing activities and awesomeness on the actual Fluentize page for the lesson. It’s still free to download there if you register, and you'll get the whole thing, including the teacher's guide.



The lesson plan is geared towards an upper intermediate (B2) student level. It's based on a news report from Al Jazeera focusing on concerns over the mental health impact / aspect of the coronavirus pandemic. While it was tough to choose a video as the base for the lesson plan, this one struck me because it features some of the bright sides of the humanity in response to the pandemic - acts of kindness and it shows scenes of people coming together in times of crisis. I also couldn’t imagine a better video on the topic in terms of relevant vocabulary.



However, as you'll see in the lesson, we take the topic much further than just mental health and tackle all angles of the current situation, including the impacts on…



- Public life

- Education

- Business

- Healthcare

- Entertainment



From the creator’s standpoint, my favorite part of the lesson is the last bonus activity where you can dive into real-life ethical dilemmas and issues that have arisen as a result of the pandemic. This activity is available when you download it directly from the Fluentize page.



These dilemmas detailed on the last page of the lesson provide your students a chance to express their opinions, challenge students' speaking skills, and will be sure to get a lot of conversation stirred up on important topics related to the situation:





- People not following social distancing orders

- Dilemmas with ventilator availability in hospitals

- Donald Trump’s choice of words in a press conference

- Spending and the economy

- Price gouging of products like toilet paper





My next favorite activity in the lesson is in post-viewing (I) - on the prefixes. Rarely do I find a video where I can focus on such great examples of prefixes! The nerdy side of my language enthusiast brain really lit up when I realized I could make a little section of this lesson focused on prefixes. The following activity on the usage and functions of present participles as different parts of speech I also felt was one my better ones.





Again, you can find these  activities on the ethical dilemmas, prefixes, and present participles when you download the lesson directly from the Fluentize page.





I also realize that many English language teachers have switched to online teaching. For those of you who have done this, I recommend trying out our interactive lesson plan, which contains interactive fields for your students to write answers within. 



Also, when you do a Fluentize lesson online, we highly recommend using the platform Zoom and their remote control feature. The remote control feature allows students to take control of your screen during the lesson. You can do this by having your student request remote control of your screen, or you could also give control to the student. The reason this is so great is because it enables students to type answers in the interactive fields (download the 'Interactive Lesson' on the lesson page) of the lesson while you watch and help them with spelling and punctuation.



I’m hoping to release the mini lesson on Fluentize within the next day or so (which I'll do here as well), as well as some more lesson plans this week focusing around the coronavirus situation. I have a couple more videos I’m toying with and hope to get more out soon, so stayed tuned.



I wish all you good health and hope you have a meaningful lesson exploring this situation in detail with your students. 



Happy Fluentizing!



- Jake from Fluentize

Lesson Plan: Impacts of the Coronavirus Pandemic

A worksheet based around TED fellow Robert Gupta's talk on the beneficial effects of music on one's mental health. Focus on listening and speaking, with vocab pertaining to mental health.

Robert Gupta: Music is Medicine - TED talk worksheet

Weird and Funny Phobias (full lesson material)

Article Summary

Elizabeth Wagner's 2008 article, “Depressed Like You: The Myth of Teen Angst”, commences with Wagner's observation of the enormity of depression as a global concern, or certainly as a significant issue in American life. She then leads the way to what will be the focus of her article, which centers on the striking prevalence of depression in teens, and how this appears to carry through in adult statistics. This elicits the thrust of her interest; Wagner seeks to determine how much of what is typically considered ordinary, teenage angst is, in fact, serious depression, and how much of this is actually related to adolescence. Through better assessing of the teenage brain in this regard, Wagner asserts, must evolve a better understanding of depression in all men and women.



Turning substantially to studies conducted by the Oregon Research Institute, the author conveys this as evidence that teen and adult depression are more closely linked than has been suspected. Then, turning to work done at the University of Texas, Wagner further corroborates these findings, as the latter research demonstrates further similarities between teen and adult depression in regard to the efficacy of treatments. Contrary evidence is then presented, which suggests that teens do indeed suffer from periods of depression clearly linked to adolescence, as the depression often is not present when the teen years are left. This examination of various studies is followed by a discussion of how the teen brain evolves, citing research findings from the National Institute for Mental Health. Wagner concludes by affirming that, whether teen depression is driven by adolescent issues, or is more the onset of adult depression, this factor of it as the earliest indication of the disorder renders the extensive study of teen depression an urgent matter, reports Darren Barden, a writing coach who cooperates with writemyessayforme.co.uk.



The Article's Impact and Value



In terms of significant impact in the field of neuropsychology, Wagner's article does virtually nothing to contribute to existing knowledge. In the author's defense, no claims are made by her that such an undertaking is a part of her agenda; rather, she sets out to present, and consequently juxtapose, some of the latest research on the subject. This being her purpose, then, it is reasonable to evaluate how successful Wagner is in producing new insights and/or previously unexplored interpretations from the data employed. In this regard, Wagner's achievement appears to be, at best, modest, and this is at least partially due to the fact that her article is too brief to do justice to the ideas entertained within it.



It seems, in fact, that Wagner is exploring the possibilities within the field of teen depression as she goes along. This creates for the reader no clear sense of agenda or purpose within the article itself, Wagner's introduction notwithstanding. The initial emphasis, for example, appears to be on depression as a disorder that, ordinary conceptions aside, afflicts adults and teens at similar rates. This introduction does contain the caveat that there is evidence of specifically adolescent depression, but this is not stressed as particularly relevant. More crucially, Wagner concludes her opening in a self-contradictory way. That is, after noting that most adults suffering from depression begin to exhibit symptoms by age fourteen, she issues her rallying cry that efforts are needed to stop teenage depression before it starts. As the issue just identified is that of a depression not defined by age, it is confusing and unhelpful that Wagner chooses to assign this designation to the core problem.



Teen depression is, as the evidence, Wagner cites supports, a difficult and complex issue. It is inescapable that many teen problems, including depressive states, are mutually inclusive and exponentially fueled. As is common knowledge, the adolescent physicality is changing, and this induces various and sometimes confounding emotional states in even the most well-adjusted teens. Moreover, and not conveyed by Wagner in the citing of her selected research, methodologies of adolescent research itself are sometimes questionable. That is, adult depression is typically studied employing some form of the interview process; with teens, it is usually conducted more as a self-reported checklist. Given the scope of emotional, physical, and mental changes the adolescent undergoes, it is reasonable to anticipate a greatly subjective response. Such responses may properly serve in obtaining actual feelings about depression from teens, but they cannot relate how temporal these feelings may be, as hyperbole is a typical aspect of adolescent reaction. In other words, to the teen responding to a survey, the mild state of depression felt brief may be expressed as both extreme and ongoing. Wagner must acknowledge that, in assessing actual depression in teens, a far more strict methodology must be employed, or she must reveal this to have been the case in the studies she cites.



The ambiguity of Wagner's article may well be a result of a lack of professionalism in the writer. For example, the article opens with: “From a distance, depression can seem like no big deal. After all, who doesn't feel a little down in the dumps sometimes?” This is a very casual approach for any piece attempting to evince academic integrity, and it does not go far in instilling confidence in the reader as to the author's scholarship. It also, unfortunately, betrays the kind of careless structure abetting the ambiguity, or lack of real direction, in the article.

Depression is indeed an enormous and serious issue in the world, and an abundance of existing research by no means precludes the need for more. As Wagner somewhat indicates, there is an important correlation between adults and teens within the subject, but the focus should be directed toward the genuine roots of depression not associated with typical teen problems. In other words, if, as Wagner asserts, most adults suffering from depression begin to do so in adolescence, the wisest course would be to isolate these early depressive factors away from the “angst” concerns associated with teens, and often misinterpreted as clinical depression.



Teen Depression Article Summary

This is an easy reading activity. Students must read a short passage about physical and mental health, then they must match the words given below with their meanings and finally they must build sentences with the words given.

34 Mental health English ESL worksheets pdf & doc