Listening seems like a passive activity.

1. Conversation Dialogue Script
2. Dialogues In English For Intermediate

Below are a few ESL podcasts that I recommend. For Intermediates. If you don’t understand some parts of the conversation, what should do you?

ESL teachers know better than anyone — that’s not exactly true.

Language learners need to actively develop their listening skills.

Listening is every bit as vital to learning as reading, writing and speaking.

But it often slips through the cracks in the classroom.

Listening exercises are regularly brushed over, confined to the dreaded audio CD that accompanies the textbook.

You yawn as you press play.

And then you start listening to the slow, staged dialogues involving Mario and Margaret’s outing to the store. You know the ones, right?

One thing’s for sure: if you’re bored, your students definitely are.

Whether you’re using a range of audio resources or you’re simply getting students to speak to each other, listening is a great opportunity to expose students to a variety of accents, as well as to have fun whilst learning.

So hold onto your seat belts, it’s time to make listening practice awesome!

10 Awesome Activities to Improve Intermediate ESL Students’ Listening

Conversation Dialogue Script

The ten activities listed below aim to get your students thinking, moving and working together.

And, of course, a competitive element never hurts, does it? The idea is to vary your activities, never allowing for the students to get overly comfortable or familiar with how an exercise is going to look.

Keep it moving, people!

1. Relay the message

This classic game, otherwise known as “running dictation,” is a great active ice breaker, as well as a natural way to introduce a topic.

The game plan:

• Put students in pairs or groups of three, assigning one (or two) as runner and one as writer. Sit the writers at tables at one end of the room.

• Stick pre-printed messages at the other side of the room, one for each group or pair. These messages can be the same or different, easy or difficult, long or short, depending on the level and goals of the class.

• When you shout the word “go,” the runner runs to the message, reading and remembering what they can. This can be as much as a few sentences or as little as one word. The aim is to be able to relay it accurately to the writer.

• The runner goes back to the writer to relay the part of the message that they memorized. The writer (you guessed it!) writes it down.

• Repeat until the message is complete. Teams score points for speed but more importantly for accuracy of spelling and punctuation.

2. Back-to-back interview

What better way to improve listening skills than to listen to each other? This is a great activity for practicing listening without relying on lip reading or actions. It also incorporates speaking practice, thus killing two birds with one stone. You can use this activity to introduce famous people you want to talk about during your lesson.

The game plan:

Dialogues In English For Intermediate

• Pairs of students sit back-to-back, one as the interviewer with a list of questions.

• The interviewee is given a famous person to role play, with a list of answers. (This can also be done as an exercise to learn more about each other personally. For example, at the beginning of a course when students don’t know each other well).

• The interviewer asks the questions, writing down the answers as they go along.

• The fastest interviewer to work out who they’re talking to wins!

3. Follow the directions

This activity provides excellent practice which will prepare students to ask for directions in a foreign country. It allows students to gain audio rather than visual practice with receiving directions, giving them the ability to understand step by step instructions.

The game plan:

• Provide students with a street map, either a real one or something tailored to the activity and their level. You can even go crazy and create a big one for the classroom floor!

• Split the students into teams, and have one person go at a time.

• Read instructions for the student to follow, such as “go straight two blocks.” To win a point, the student must successfully navigate the map until they find the right store, the lost friend or the buried treasure.

4. Telephone

In this game, students are responsible for listening carefully to their peers as well as successfully relaying a message. It encourages students to determine similar sounding words from one other, and can be used as a starter activity to introduce any topic.

The game plan:

• Create two teams of students and set up both teams in lines. The end of each team line should be at the whiteboard.

• Whisper a word or sentence to the student farthest away from the whiteboard, and then have them whisper the message they heard to the next student. Each student whispers to the next until the end of the line.

• The last student writes the message on the board. The winner is the team with the most accurate spelling, pronunciation and content, although bonus points for originality and hilarity may be awarded!

5. Minimal pairs card hold-up

Improve your students’ knowledge of proper pronunciation with this quick-fire game, which is good for reinforcing phonics lessons.

The game plan:

• Give a set of pre-prepared word cards to each team (there can be as many teams as you want, depending on how many card sets you have). Go here for a useful list of minimal pairs.

• Students spread the word cards out on a table.

• Call a word out. For example: “feet!” The students have to search their decks and hold up that word’s card as fast as possible.

6. Movie clip quiz

You can incorporate movies into just about any lesson, giving students a welcome moment of relaxation and respite from learning (or so they think!). Movies and TV shows provide a more authentic speed of real world speech.

Need inspiration for videos to use in class? Check out FluentU’s ever-growing collection of English language videos taken from real-world sources like children’s shows, Disney movies, music videos, funny YouTube videos, inspiring talks and more. We’ve got plenty of bite-sized clips which are perfect for in-class activities.

Using FluentU, students will be more engaged in this activity and they’ll learn the material even better. Not only does FluentU offer video, but it offers scaffolding that isn’t available anywhere else; students will find authentic content approachable, interesting and totally within reach. Plus, with such a diversity of great content you’re guaranteed to find something that your class will love.

The game plan:

• Give students a question to answer, dividing them into teams.

• Begin watching the clip. To play, students must pay close attention and stand up when they hear the answer to the question. Pause the movie and see if the first person who stood up knows the correct answer.

• Ask the second question. Repeat. Alternatively, you can give the students a list of questions to answer and allow the clip to play through entirely. Then you see who has the most correct answers at the end.

7. Song gap-fill

Songs are a great way to engage reluctant listeners, as they can be tailored perfectly to fit the preferences of the students. Why not use the latest pop song? Lyric repetition is welcomed here!

The game plan:

• Give each student/pair the song lyrics with some words missing. To make it easier you can put the missing words in a box at the top of the page.

• Play the song, pausing if necessary. The aim is for the students to fill in the missing words.

• Once at the end, go through the answers to see which student/pair got the most correct.

8. Order-the-lyrics

This activity is a variation on the above, giving students practice in noticing the subtle differences between lyrics in music.

The game plan:

• Pairs get a set of the song lyrics cut up into lines.

• As they listen to the chosen song, they have to put the lyrics in the right order on the table. Repeat the song if necessary. You can always have a sing-along after the activity is completed!

9. Listen and throw

Of course, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t go back to your trusty textbook audio CD. Go ahead, and spice up the accompanying activities to make this CD even more valuable as a learning tool. In this exercise, students are listening for a specific answer to a question in an audio dialogue.

The game plan:

• Sit the students in a circle and split them into three or four teams.

• Give each individual a piece of paper that’s their team color. Have them scrunch the paper into a ball.

• Place three baskets in the middle of the circle, each with a possible answer written on it.

• Ask a question relating to the listening exercise — this should preferably be something that appears near the end of the dialogue. For example, “Whose birthday is it?”

• Students listen to the dialogue and throw their paper ball when they know the answer. Count the colors in the correct basket to determine the winner.

10. Slap the picture

This activity uses friendly competition to encourage sharp listening and quick reaction times. A good activity for when students are getting tired or losing concentration.

The game plan:

• Students sit opposite each other in pairs, with pre-prepared words in between them. There should be no more than eight words, and students should look at them first to familiarize themselves.

• As they listen to a chosen dialogue, they have to slap the correct word when they hear it. Fastest slap wins a point! They can keep a tally as they go along to see who the winner is.

Whatever the activity, whatever the age or level, the most important thing is for your students to stay engaged by being challenged, doing something new and having fun.

And One More Thing…

Searching for fun, authentic videos to boost your students’ English listening skills? Check out FluentU!

It’s got a huge collection of authentic English videos that people in the English-speaking world actually watch on the regular. There are tons of great choices there when you’re looking for songs for in-class activities. You’ll find music videos, musical numbers from cinema and theater, kids’ singalongs, commercial jingles and much, much more.

On FluentU, all the videos are sorted by skill level and are carefully annotated for students. Words come with example sentences and definitions. Students will be able to add them to their own vocabulary lists, and even see how the words are used in other videos.

For example, if a student taps on the word “brought,” they’ll see this:

Plus, these great videos are all accompanied by interactive features and active learning tools for students, like multimedia flashcards and fun games like “fill in the blank.”

It’s perfect for in-class activities, group projects and solo homework assignments. Not to mention, it’s guaranteed to get your students excited about English!

The full FluentU video library is available on any computer or tablet, and users can even download the app at the iTunes and Google Play store.

If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to teach English with real-world videos.

Do you feel nervous and forgetful when talking with English speakers?

When I was studying Spanish, basic conversational skills were the hardest thing for me to learn.

Whenever someone asked me a question, I would freeze up and forget how to talk.

When it came time to hold a Spanish conversation, I would suddenly forget everything I studied. That’s when I realized that I had not been practicing my conversational skills.

I spent six years studying the language at high school and college, but I never got the opportunity chat with actual Spanish speakers.

The mistake that a lot of students, including myself, make when learning a foreign language is forgetting to practice real-world conversational skills.

Instead, we spend our time memorizing vocabulary words and doing workbook activities. And while these exercises are also important, they don’t teach us how to speak naturally.

What You Need to Hold a Basic English Conversation

Being able to have a basic English conversation isn’t hard—you just need to know how to express yourself and start with brief, simple conversations.

To hold a basic conversation, you need to be able to:

• Introduce yourself and share some personal information.

• Talk about your needs and expectations.

• Make future plans.

• Talk about your career and your educational background.

• Hold simple conversations with people you encounter in day-to-day activities, like shopping, going to the bank or going to the doctor’s office.

Unless the only reason you’re learning English is to read literature, you’re going to have to communicate with English speakers at some point. Whether traveling abroad, working for an international company or going to an English-speaking university.

Before you become a master English conversationalist, you’re going to need to develop some basic English conversational skills to help you speak confidently and not forget your vocabulary in the moment—like I used to do with Spanish.

The best way to build these skills is to take basic English conversation courses. Great for preparing for an upcoming trip to London or New York, these courses can teach you how to talk about yourself, ask for help and hold simple conversations with people you’ll encounter throughout a normal day.

Here are some courses that will get you chatting in English in no time.

SKESL

Topics Covered: Small talk, feelings and opinions, day-to-day activities and interests

SKESL’s Beginner Conversation Course is great for ESL students trying to build their basic conversational skills.

The course is filled with helpful content, as well as audio clips of English conversations, dialogues and comprehension quizzes. In fact, it’s probably one of the most comprehensive free courses you’ll come across on the internet.

The course has 10 units, and each unit covers a certain topic and has a total of 20 conversations. The beginner conversation course has 200 conversations in all.

BBC Learning

Topics Covered: Introductions, work-related topics, casual and formal conversations

The BBC’s Learning English Courses aren’t just great for learning how to hold conversations, they’re also perfect for building your vocabulary and improving your grammar.

In terms of conversational English, this English Course for Lower-Intermediate Students teaches you how to introduce yourself, ask and answer questions and hold basic conversations with English speakers. It even has a unit that teaches the difference between formal and informal speaking, which is good to know if you ever plan on working or studying in an English-speaking country.

Another good thing about the BBC course is that it comes with videos of people speaking English naturally, as well as transcripts and short activities to test you on what you’ve learned.

FluentU

Topics Covered: Everything

Because FluentU uses a lot of real-world videos to teach English, learning how to hold basic English conversations has never been easier. FluentU is an online immersion platform that takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

The nice thing about learning English with FluentU is how you’re able to study using a variety of resources—they have a huge library of videos and clips to reinforce your learning.

And since everything is arranged by difficulty, as well as topics like culture, business, entertainment, health and more, you can easily find a different conversation every time you study.

Topics Covered: Making plans, talking about yourself

Speak English with Confidence is a paid online conversational course by Udemy that teaches you how to hold basic English conversations and improve your pronunciation and listening skills.

The course is divided into a total of nine units, each covering a different topic like introductions, work-related conversations, interests and more. What’s nice about this course is that you’re able to start at the beginner’s level and advance to intermediate conversational English as you complete the course.

Also, Speak English with Confidence is one of the most comprehensive conversational English courses on the internet. It comes with the following resources to help you learn:

• Five hours of educational videos

• 56 articles covering conversational English

• 248 extra resources to help you study

• Interactive exercises and activities

And best of all, after finishing the course, you’re given a certificate of completion that you can use when applying to an English-speaking job or educational program.

TalkEnglish.com

Topics Covered: Using English expressions and casual conversations

TalkEnglish is a free language-learning where students can improve their English skills. Its English Speaking Basics course is for beginner ESL students who want to practice their basic English conversational skills.

Perfect for learners who are just learning how to communicate with English speakers, this course teaches students how to use English expressions that are commonly used in conversations, like:

• “I wanna + (verb)”

• “You seem + (adjective)”

• “I were you, I would + (verb)”

The course is broken up into three sections, each one a little more difficult than the previous section. Every section has a list of expressions that you can click on.

After clicking on an expression, you’ll get an explanation on how to use the expression in conversation, as well as a list of sample sentences and short audio clips of these sentences being spoken by an English speaker.

All Ears English

Topic Covered: Learning English, using expressions and general conversation

All Ears English is a podcast for helping ESL students improve their speaking and listening skills. The podcast is run by three English teachers named Lindsay, Michelle and Jessica, who talk about a number of exciting topics, like important study habits every student should have and how to respond to a funny joke.

One of my favorite episodes is How to Respond to “What Are You Up To?” in English, which teaches you how to respond to this commonly-used greeting by talking about how you’ve been.

What makes All Ears English different from other conversation courses is that the podcast typically covers how to become a better English student. But instead of talking like how a teacher would lecture the class, the podcast takes a conversational approach that uses slang and humor to teach conversational English.

Daily English Conversation

Topics Covered: Day-to-day activities and general conversation topics

Daily English Conversation is a YouTube channel that teaches you the basics of conversational English by having you listen and repeat sentences.

Best for students who have a little extra time to spend studying, the videos on this channel are often more than an hour long. But if you’re someone who enjoys programs that teach English with audio clips, you’ll find this channel to be incredibly useful.

In most videos, you’ll find a conversation between two or more English speakers, as well as a script so you can follow along. There are a number of topics covered in one conversation video, and by clicking “read more” on the video’s description, you can skip to specific topics that you want to listen to.

The Daily English Conversation videos include a mixture of basic and more advanced English conversation topics, making it a great resource for students of all levels.

And if you’re looking for a couple of good videos to start out with, take a look at Learn English Conversation for Beginners: Basic English and Most Common Questions.

With the help of these basic English conversation courses, you’ll never have to worry about freezing up in a conversation again.

After a little bit of practice, you’ll start to feel more confident about your speaking skills and holding English conversations will start to feel natural to you.

If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn English with real-world videos.