A selection of English ESL taboo vocabulary printables

A game to practice vocabulary about jobsand professions. Students cannot say the words that are on the cards, which are related to each job. Students usually have fun with this activity.  

Taboo game on jobs

A game that can be played with any vocabulary - I have given examples of some science words, but it can be modified to any subject or vocabulary being taught.

science taboo

This worksheet is perfect if you want to practice some vocabulary while exploring the topic "Nature disasters".



It is designed as a classic taboo game. Each student gets a card with the clue word that he has to explain to his classmates. There are also some words below, that are related to the clue word and cannot be used.

Nature disasters taboo

Use the following 32 Taboo cards on the topic of Art for a fun speaking game where students will have to describe the Main Word without using any of the keywords presented. 

Taboo Cards on Art

Different parts of the mountain and water cycle this is chart contains various content that can be adapted for pictionary, charades, taboo, and jeopardy games.  It is useful for reviewingthe different vocabulary associated with the water cycle.  

Mountains Parts

Flash cards which can be used to revise vocabulary in class, and to play games as taboo. They might enjoy it as well as spelling the words

Animals cards

In Shadow – A Modern Odyssey is a provocative and thought-provoking short film written, directed & produced by Bulgarian-born Lubomir Arsov in 2017. It comes across rather dystopian, and downright depressing at times, but ends on an uplifting and enlightening note.



It poses many questions through an epic quest into the darkness of Western civilization, and addresses many controversial, taboo, perhaps ‘conspiratorial’ topics, which are frequently considered uncomfortable and, perhaps, censorious by many. These 'hot' topics include: hyper-sexualization & rape culture, materialism, narcissism, celebrity worship, the Military-Industrial Complex, corporate lobbying, child abuse, exploitation, tech addiction, substance abuse, to name but a few - all woven in a tapestry of complex and vivid symbolism and story-telling through this short film (13 minutes long). It asks poignant questions, such as, “What happens when we drop our masks of identity and return to our human core?” and "What really fulfills us?"



In Shadow - A Modern Odyssey

Taboo game for beginners. Basic vocabulary. Words that are not allowed to be used while describing the word are written below. One Student picks a Card and tries tp describe the word. The other members of his or her team have to guess within 60 seconds. If the guess it, the next card can be described - until time's over. 

Time can also be prolonged to up to two minutes depending on the learners' language Level.

A member of one of the other teams checks that no forbidden word is used.



Taboo_elementary 1

Explain the word on the card so that the other players can guess it, without using the “taboo words.”

Rules
One player takes a card.
Their task is to explain the main word, without saying any of the taboo words.
If the player says a taboo word, the card is lost.
The others try to guess the word.
Each correct guess gives the team 1 point.
The time limit is usually 1 minute per turn.
After time runs out, the next player takes a turn.

Taboo game without using the “taboo words”

Rules:
Divide players into two teams.
One player from the team is the “speaker” for the round.

How to Play:
The speaker picks a card with a secret word at the top and a list of “taboo” words below it.
The speaker’s job is to help their team guess the secret word without saying the secret word or any of the taboo words.
The speaker can use other words, sounds, or gestures but cannot use any taboo words or parts of the secret word.

Time Limit:
Each round lasts for a set time (usually 1 minute). Use a timer to keep track.

Scoring:
The team earns one point for every secret word correctly guessed within the time limit.

Switching Turns:
After the time is up, the other team takes their turn with a new speaker.

Winning the Game:
Play continues until all cards are used or for a set number of rounds.

The team with the most points at the end wins!


Taboo Game (Personality adjectives)

Taboo game for pre-intermiate. Basic vocabulary. Words that are not allowed to be used while describing the word are written below. One Student picks a Card and tries tp describe the word. The other members of his or her team have to guess within 60 seconds. If the guess it, the next card can be described - until time's over. 

Time can also be prolonged to up to two minutes depending on the learners' language Level.

A member of one of the other teams checks that no forbidden word is used.

Taboo_pre-intermediate

General Vocabulary worksheets. I teach them these new words and follow it up with an oral practice of making sentences with each word or a game of taboo if i have more than 1 student. 

General Vocabulary

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

57 Taboo vocabulary English ESL worksheets pdf & doc