Interactive Language

Let's talk about St. Patrick's Day, which is coming up this month on March 17. This holiday isn't common where I am, so students were quite curious about its origins and traditions. This lesson is called Let's Talk About St. Patrick's Day and is part of my  Seasonal Conversations in English  lesson bundle, which takes students through a conversation between two people talking about various holidays.  The lesson starts with a brief one-page introduction to the holiday: We then move into a short conversation between two people who discuss the origins of St. Patrick's Day, St. Patrick's Day traditions, and Irish foods eaten on St. Patrick's Day. The conversation slides all have embedded audio files which can be played by clicking on the blue icon in the top left corner: There is also a slide with an audio file for the entire conversation: For beginner-level students, I tend to play the conversation line by line first so they can read along with the attached...

Love is in the air this week because Valentine's Day is coming up on Friday! I've added "Let's Talk About Valentine's Day" to my Seasonal Conversations in English lesson bundle, which takes students through a conversation between two people talking about Valentine's Day.  The lesson starts with a brief one-page introduction to the holiday: We then move into a short conversation between two people who discuss Valentine's Day cards, Valentine's Day activities, and Valentine's Day gifts. The conversation slides all have embedded audio files which can be played by clicking on the blue icon in the top left corner: There is also a slide with an audio file for the entire conversation: For beginner-level students, I tend to play the conversation line by line first so they can read along with the attached transcript before listening to the whole conversation, but for more advanced students, I usually play the entire conversation first (without letting...

Chinese New Year comes early this year, falling on January 29 instead of February. My "Let's Talk About Chinese New Year" lesson, which is part of my Seasonal Conversations in English lesson bundle, can help students better understand the traditions of Chinese New Year and learn how to talk about them and introduce them to others. The cover looks super festive: As always, the lesson starts with a brief one-page introduction to the holiday: This is followed by a short conversation between two people who discuss foods eaten at Chinese New Year dinner, Chinese New Year traditions, and Chinese New Year activities. The conversation slides all have embedded audio files which can be played by clicking on the blue icon in the top left corner: There is also a slide with an audio file for the entire conversation: For beginner-level students, I tend to play the conversation line by line first so they can read along with the attached transcript before listening to the whole conversa...

Happy New Year 2025! I know some teachers in the US are just getting back after the winter break, but Christmas isn't celebrated where I am, so except for getting New Year's Day off, everything is pretty much business as usual. A couple of my ESL students asked if I could teach a lesson on how to talk about New Year and New Year's activities for our last class of 2024, as many previous New Year's conversations with their English-speaking colleagues in the office usually go something like this: English-speaking colleague: Happy New Year! ESL student: Happy New Year! *Silence* -Conversation ends- So I made an addition to my Seasonal Conversations in English lesson bundle titled, "Let's Talk About New Year." Like my other Seasonal Conversations in English lessons, this lesson starts with a brief one-page introduction to the holiday: This is followed by a short conversation between two people who discuss New Year's activities, New Year's resolutions,...

Seasonal Conversations in English  are a set of lessons for beginner to intermediate (A1/A2) ESL learners looking to improve their listening and speaking skills while also learning specific vocabulary associated with different holidays.  I created this lesson bundle to help beginner to intermediate students practice talking about seasonal topics. As such, these lessons are primarily designed to provide speaking practice, so the listening portion of the lessons aren't very long. Each lesson begins with a brief overview of the holiday: This is followed by a short conversation between two people discussing three topics associated with the holiday. For example, in "Let's Talk About New Year" (the lesson pictured above), the conversation covers New Year's activities, New Year's resolutions, and new beginnings for the new year. Students can start by listening to the whole conversation in its entirety. (Conversation transcripts are included in the lesson.) Each conve...