A selection of English ESL traditions, national customs printables with general vocabulary practice, vocabulary practice

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Happiness Day Idioms

Here is another alphabet challenge! They have to name an item for each letter of the alphabet - there may be more than one. A great fun group activity as a competition, or activity for early finishers. Key provided. 

Alphabet Challenge (3)

A vocabulary worksheet with matching and fill-in-the-blanks exercises and discussion questions about the topic Weddings. It contains essential vocabulary and definitions.

Wedding Vocabulary

This worksheet includes a photograph of an american wedding with discussion (or writing) questions about the photo. A vocabulary list related to american weddings is included.

American weddings

Students should first read the text about the traditions of celebrating Maslenitsa, and then complete the tasks: 1) answer the questions about the text; 2) choose the correct answers.

Present Simple Reading for Comprehension: Maslenitsa

2 gap-fill activities - one is a listening exercise based on a video produced by Panda Express, the other is purely a reading exercise with a link to the solution

Chinese New Year - Gap Fill Exercises

Students should read the text about Maslenitsa and then they should do two exercises: 1) answer te questions (to find them in the text) and 2) choose the correct answers.

Present Simple Reading for Comprehension Slavic Culture Maslenitsa

Lesson Plan: The Lion and the Saint



Lesson Overview

• Level: B1

• Duration: 60 minutes

• Materials: Worksheet provided



Objectives

• By the end of the lesson, students will have a deeper understanding of the life of Saint Gerasim through the story of Saint Gerasim and the Lion. Through this exploration, students will not only enhance their language skills but also be enriched in the Orthodox Way, strengthening their faith and spiritual journey with God.

• Students will practice speaking and reading skills.

• Students will expand their vocabulary related to the story.

• Students will discuss themes of kindness, gratitude, and responsibility.



Lesson Plan

Warm-Up (10 mins)

1. Discussion:

◦ Discuss the importance of helping others, animal kindness, and understanding human emotions.

◦ Encourage students to share their thoughts and experiences.



Speaking 1 (10 mins)

1. Trait Selection:

◦ Students select and explain the three most important traits for a good friend from the given options.

◦ Encourage discussion and justification of choices.



Reading (15 mins)

1. Comprehension Questions:

◦ Students read the story of Saint Gerasim and the Lion.

◦ Answer questions related to the story, encouraging critical thinking.



Speaking 2 (10 mins)

1. Discussion:

◦ Students discuss Saint Gerasim’s actions of kindness and compassion, lion Jordan’s gratitude, duty, and commitment, trust, and forgiveness.

◦ Encourage critical thinking and empathy in responses.



Speaking 3 (5 mins)

1. Taboo Game:

◦ Pair students and have one student explain highlighted words without using specific terms to their partner.

◦ The partner guesses the word based on the description.



Closing (5 mins)

1. Reflection:

◦ Ask students to reflect on the lesson, discussing what they learned and any insights gained.

◦ Encourage feedback and discussion on the themes explored.


Reading and Speaking - The Lion and the Saint

Reading about the Chinese concept of Feng Shui, its origins, main theories, applications. General vocabulary. Picture description. Discussing the topics in the article. 

The theory of FENG SHUI

Reading about one of Sweden's most important festivities- Midsummer. General and Midsummer vocabulary. Picture description using the words from the text. Speaking about traditions and national customs of one's country. 

MIDSUMMER in SWEDEN- Traditions and Celebrations

This is a group-based activity wherein Ss discuss and guess where hte superstitons come from. I added some challenging vocabulary to encourage Ss to ask for help or use dictionaries. To wrap, I encourage Ss to shout out their ideas and ask if they have similar superstitions in their country.

More World Superstitions

If you have read and enjoyed the giver, this worksheet and the activities therein will surely add more fun to your learning and enjoyment. With this worksheet, you can practice writing, discussion, and team work. I hope you will find it worthy.

The Giver - Chapter 8 Activties

General vocabulary practice

Traditions, national customs

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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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

18 Traditions, national customs, General vocabulary practice, Vocabulary Practice English ESL worksheets pdf & doc