A selection of English ESL humor printables with general vocabulary practice, vocabulary practice

General vocabulary practice

Humor

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

Practice forming past simple questions with question words. Word order reinforcement. Students often forget "did" after the question word & are confused about correct word order.Suggested answers on page 2.Fully editable- change questions to suit.

Christmas role playing - 
https://en.islcollective.com/english-esl-worksheets/speaking-practice/role-play-miming-drama-activity-or-improv-game/christmas/christmas-role-play-oprahs-favorite-things-not/112365

Role Play - Jeopardy : Past Simple

Jeopardy! style game. Using the information on each card, ask a present simple question. Each card has many possibilities. Suggested answers are on page 2.This game is a review of question formation in the present simple- one that is often very difficult for students.

Role Play - Jeopardy Game: Present Simple

5 page worksheet includes a poster, 2 pages of speaking cards- one for each expression, and a two page glossary explaining the meaning of each expression- in numerical order. These common, everyday idioms are based on parts of the body.

Funny Body Idioms Classroom Poster + Glossary + Cards

This test can be administered to assess elementary students . This is everybody's favorite day. Students will enjoy learning and discussing about this day in class. 

The History of April Fool's Day - Reading Comprehension

An ESL/EFL listening exercise for the song "Dumb ways to die", which has gone viral on the internet - about 50 million people have watched it so far http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw). Authored by John Mescall, this song was commissioned by the Australian Railway company to encourage passengers to be cautious at train stations. Its dark humor and cute characters made it an instant hit among both adults and children.











This song could be connected with the topic of public transportation, urban life or the Darwin Awards. In my class, I used it to connect to the previous class where students wrote and shared their bucket lists with eachother.











Lesson plan:











1. Warmer: Show 4 characters. Let students guess what happened to them. Introduce the song, and before listening, elicit some more dumb ways to die. Discuss the suggestions briefly with the class.











2. Listen to the song. Have students fill in as many gaps as possible. Listen again, then discuss each character' fate. To speed things up, you can also do the checking by projecting the lyrics onto the board, if you have that technology in class.











Here's the characters in isolated animations:http://dumbwaystodie.tumblr.com/

Dumb Ways to Die Lyrics Gap Fill

This April Fool’s Day reading includes a reading text on the origins of April Fool’s Day, vocabulary focus, collocations matching, comprehension questions, and speaking practice.


We have a teacher’s copy (including teacher’s notes, answer keys, and a pronunciation guide) which you can download when you register as a FREE member at TEFLlessons.com.


https://tefllessons.com/product/april-fools-day-reading/


Get 100+ FREE resources at tefllessons.com

April Fool's Day Lesson

A conversation game about what is funny and what is silly. Students are expected to answer in complete sentences. In preparation the teacher might discuss what constitutes fun and silliness and why each is important to our lives.

Christmas role playing -
https://en.islcollective.com/english-esl-worksheets/speaking-practice/role-play-miming-drama-activity-or-improv-game/christmas/christmas-role-play-oprahs-favorite-things-not/112365


Role Play Boardgame - What's So Funny?

The worksheet contains a short passage about a strange phone call. Students must read it and answer the questions.  There are also two more exercises about vocabulary: students have to match the words given in the grid with their definitions and then they must complete some sentences with the same words.

Mystery in the park - Reading comprehension and Vocabulary

use it to teach simple past irregular verbs in context and in a fun way!!It's really helpful if you include the solutions in the resource as it makes it easier for us in class to check the answers. Also, the solutions make the resource suitable for self-study.

Silly Story - Mr. Brown - Simple Past

kids have to answer the riddles and understand the meaning of different words. A fun activity but at the same time educational. Answers are given on the second page

Jokes and Riddles

Learning doesn't have to be boring! It can be and should be fun! In this worksheet students learn the present simple tense through some simple and funny jokes. Students will need to think about the meaning of the jokes and understand the punchlines.They can then tell these jokes to their friends which will make the learning process real and communicative.

Learn the Present Simple Through Jokes

Some simple and, I hope, funny jokes to practice puns, homophones, wordplay...I usually stick the answers up around the classroom for a fun mingling activity either as a warmer or at the end of a class.

15 Humor, General vocabulary practice, Vocabulary Practice English ESL worksheets pdf & doc