A selection of English ESL slow printables

A small booklet containing material for non-readers or slow learners pupils. It has several activities, might be used while rest of class works independently. The teacher should help the weaker ones.

Animals in Danger

Students read an article about Easter, then match words from the text with their meanings. They decide which sentences are true and false and finally answer open-ended questions.

Easter - reading comprehension

A gap fill exercise using the song Fireflies by Owl City. Some grammar is verb plus infinitive, and other vocabulary to check listening skills of the students. The song is slow and the singer has good pronunciation. Play the song on Youtube or download it and let the students listen a minimum of two times, but if they need to listen more let them, it´s more important that they get most correct even if they need to listen three or four times.

Fireflies by Owl City

This quiz can be used as a break during the lesson in order to make pupils relax. You (teacher) read the description very clearly and slowly then kids have to identify what was described by you. You(teacher) can split kids to 2 team and make it as a competition. 

Fun Speaking Quiz - I Ask - You Answer

Students will fill in the gaps with the nouns given before the song.It is a slow song which I like to listen a lot. Hope you find it useful and enjoy.Students will fill in the gaps with the nouns given before the song.It is a slow song which I like to listen a lot. Hope you find it useful and enjoy.

Alan Walker - Sing me to sleep ( fill in with nouns)

Use this fun Animal Crossing themed personality quiz to review a number of questions about the morning.



After reviewing the questions for pronunciation and comprehension, students can be paired off. One student will ask the questions, while the other answers. One of the worksheets has blank spaces where the questions should be.



After everyone has received their result, ask for a show of hands for each type, and slowly go through the personality test results as found on page 3. 



This is a fun activity that can take up to about 25 minutes.

Animal Crossing Personality Test: My Morning

This worksheet is designed for **B2-level learners** and focuses on understanding **uncountable, plural, and collective nouns** in the context of **Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs**. The worksheet begins with a reading passage explaining the hierarchy, using real-world examples to highlight how unmet needs can affect a person’s ability to reach their full potential. Students engage in various activities, including **warm-up questions**, **true/false**, **multiple-choice**, and **open-ended questions** to ensure comprehension of the text. 


The grammar focus shifts to distinguishing between **uncountable nouns** (e.g., *food*, *shelter*), **plural nouns** (e.g., *relationships*, *achievements*), and **collective nouns** (e.g., *society*, *people*). The inductive approach leads students to discover the rules for each type of noun before moving on to **P.P.P** (Presentation, Practice, Production) exercises. These exercises include identifying the correct noun forms and using them in real-life examples. Common mistakes, such as confusing countable and uncountable nouns, are highlighted, along with differences between **British** and **American English** in collective nouns. 


The lesson concludes with a creative writing task where students reflect on their own needs and describe which one is most important in their lives, allowing them to apply the grammar points learned in a meaningful way.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: uncountable, plural, and collective nouns

Easy matching exercise of opposite adjectives to the pictures.(old-new, old-young, tall-short, big-small, thin-fat, long-short, happy-sad, fast-slow, open-closed)



Opposites - adjectives

A fill in the gaps activity for  beginner students on Valentines Day. It can be used in  adults or children classrooms. The singer pronounces the words slowly and clearly. First, the teacher shows the video(link in the worksheet) and elicits from students vocabulary related to the story. Then, plays the song for students to complete the lyrics. 

Valentine song 

This activity is based on the song She, by Harry Styles, and focuses on offering kids and pre-teens the opportunity to explore a cool, slow song with different activities. Fill in the blanks, choose the correct option, order the lyrics and rewrite the sentences are the activities. 

She_ by Harry Styles

The aim of this ws is to read this poem slowly and allow each sentence to sink in. This is a piece of timeless writing and you will find its undeniable truth and wisdom a simple but so profound and positive credo for life. The simple philosophy of this piece of prose poetry will enthrall you completely, it will be an inspiring awakening in your life, it will definitely refresh your spirit and reside somewhere at the back of your mind for ever.

Desiderata - Desired things - ageless words of wisdom

Reading comprehension. General vocabulary. Talking about chronic fatigue syndrom, causes of fatigue, how to prevent it, the importance of slowing down, etc. Vocabulary exercises. Phrase matching. 

Why so many people have CHRONIC FATIGUE? - Worksheet

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

128 Slow English ESL worksheets pdf & doc