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Listen to the conversation and do the exercises to practise and improve your listening skills.

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Breaking News English - Easy News English

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easy news English, news, ideas, online activities and printable handouts that save you time - for news English and current events lessons.

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Review skills learned last week. Recreate activities with a new topic or edit work from last week.

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See week 1

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See week 1

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This chart can be used to help you review sounds on your own, but might be too advanced to be used with students.

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The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a set of symbols that linguists use to describe the sounds of spoken languages.

This page lets you hear the sounds that the symbols represent, but remember that it is only a rough guide. There is lots of variation in how these sounds are said depending on the language and context. For example, in English voiceless plosives usually end with a puff of air called aspiration, but the voiceless plosives on this page aren't aspirated.

Choose a symbol to hear the sound it represents.

For best results, please use a browser with HTML5 Audio support. The latest version of any popular web browser will do.

Sorry, you have JavaScript disabled or your web browser doesn't support it.
This interactive chart won't work without JavaScript enabled. Please enable JavaScript or upgrade to a modern web browser.

Vowels

Pulmonic consonants

Bilabial

Labiodental

Dental

Alveolar

Post alveolar

Retroflex

Palatal

Velar

Uvular

Pharyngeal

Glottal

Non-pulmonic consonants

Clicks

Voiced implosives

Ejectives

ǁ Alveolar lateral

ʛ Uvular

ʼ etc...

Other symbols

ʍ Voiceless labial-velar fricative

w Voiced labial-velar approximant

ɥ Voiced labial-palatal approximant

ʜ Voiceless epiglottal fricative

ʢ Voiced epiglottal fricative

ʡ Epiglottal plosive

ɕ Voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative

ʑ Voiced alveolo-palatal fricative

ɺ Alveolar lateral flap

ɧ Simultaneous ʃ and x

Affricates

t͡s Voiceless alveolar affricate

t͡ʃ Voiceless palato-alveolar affricate

t͡ɕ Voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate

ʈ͡ʂ Voiceless retroflex affricate

d͡z Voiced alveolar affricate

d͡ʒ Voiced post-alveolar affricate

d͡ʑ Voiced alveolo-palatal affricate

ɖ͡ʐ Voiceless retroflex affricate

Queries and comments can be directed to [email protected]

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An adjective is simply a word that describes or modifies a noun. Some of the most common ones include things like colors or words like big/small, hot/cold, hard/soft, etc. If you want to teach them the awesome way, then you'll need to keep on reading to find out my top picks for ESL adjective games.

You can find adjectives in every single ESL textbook, from beginner to advanced. Instead of focusing on them exclusively, most textbooks sprinkle them in throughout. There are some fun ESL adjective games that you can try out if you want to spice things up a little bit in your classes.

Here are some of my favourite fun ESL activities and games for adjectives.

Adjective Games and Activities for ESL: Top 17

#1 ESL Adjective Game: Flashcard Sentences

If you use a textbooks to teach kids, chances are that there are flashcards that go along with the book. Get your hands on these if possible because they are a very valuable teaching resource.

The way it works is that students have to take a look at the picture and then make a full sentence using that word. If correct, they get to keep the card. If incorrect, it goes to the bottom of the pile.

In this case, choose the cards with adjectives. Or, use the nouns but require that students include an adjective in the sentence too.

More details here: Using Flashcards in your ESL Classroom.

#2: Dialogue Substitution

There is often a reading to introduce a unit. In this case, you may find one that's filled with adjectives and wish to make better use of it than just simply having students read it together with a partner or by themselves.

To do dialogue substitution, leave some of the words blank (adjectives or nouns in this case) and then have a word bank that students can use to fill in the blanks. It turns this kind of mindless activity into something far more useful because students also have to focus on meaning, and not just simply reading.

Check it out here: Dialogue Substitution.

#3: Picture Prompt Warmer

A nice way to introduce a topic or set of vocabulary is to find a related picture. In this case, you'd want to ensure that there are a lot of possible adjectives that students can see. Then, elicit some words that students know.

Instead of just the noun, encourage students to add an adjective. For example:

dog->a brown dog

building->a tall building

Find out more about this popular ESL adjective activity here: Picture Prompt Warm-Up.

#4 ESL Adjectives Game: Taboo

Chances are that you've played taboo at a party of some kind. Basically, you have to get your team to say a specific word but you can't use other, related words. It's a fun party game!

In this case, you'd want to use adjectives. It can take a bit of time to set this up so it's usually only worth it if you can use it for multiple classes. But, the effort is worth it because it's a fun way to spend an English class!

More information here: ESL Taboo.

You could also consider using this one for comparatives and superlatives. It's a fun way to get students to try to guess the correct adjective. More ideas here: ESL Comparative and Superlative Games and Activities.

ESL Adjective Game for Kids (Animals)

Do you want to see one of our favourite adjectives games for kids? Then you'll need to check out this short video below for all the details. Try it out in your English classes today and I'm sure you'll be happy with the results! You can see even more animals ESL games here.

#5 ESL Adjective Games: Disappearing Sentence

If you have just a minute or two before the end of the class, consider using this filler that also makes quite a good review activity.

Write a sentence on the board related to what you've been teaching. For example:

"The large, brown cat and the tiny black dog like to take long walks by the river."

Then, erase 2-3 words at a time and students still have to say the sentence. By the end, there will be no words left but students will have memorized the sentence.

Learn more here: Disappearing Sentence ESL Game.

#6: Incorporate Adjectives into your Daily Routine

It's ideal to have a routine to start your class off, no matter what age you teach. This is especially important with little kids as they know what to expect and it just gets things going more smoothly.

You might want to start your day off with something like the following:

Good morning, how are you?

What day of the week is it?

How's the weather today?

Look out the window. What do you see (include adjectives here)

Review specific adjectives (big/tall/short, etc.)

More information about doing this in your classes here: Daily Routine for ESL Classes.

#7 ESL Adjectives Games: Dictogloss

This is a classic ESL activity because it focuses on a wide variety of skills at the same time. The way it works is that you find a reading passage (or write your own). In this case, it'd be heavy on the adjectives.

Then, you read it out at a normal pace and students have to work in pairs to recreate what they just heard. Ideally, they'd understand about 50% of it. Read the story again and students add more information. Finally, they compare their version to yours at the end.

Find out the details here: Dictogloss ESL Activity.

Opposite Adjective Practice

Do you want to do some online practice with your students? Show them this short video and let them get to work! It's ideal for students who need a bit of review with them.

#8 ESL Adjective Activity: Draw a Picture

This is one of my favourite activities for units directly related to adjectives to describe people. The way it works is that students sit back to back. One student has a picture (of a person) and has to describe to their partner what they see. This person has to draw it.

It's a simple activity that students love! Check it out here:

ESL Adjective Activity for People.

#9 Interactive Adjective Games: Flip-Chart Vocabulary Review Game

If you're looking for a quick, but fun ESL review game that's ideal for adjectives, then consider Flip-Chart. The way it works is that one students sits at the front of the class and you stand behind them with a flip-chart with words on it.

Their team has to give them hints about the word and the person sitting in the chair has to guess what it is. The team with the most points at the end of the allotted time is the winner.

Check it out here: Vocab Review Game.

#10: Got to Hand it to You

If you're looking for an ideal way to review adjectives, then you'll want to check out this activity. It's kind of like ESL Jeopardy, but it's far more student-centred. Find out more details here: Got to Hand it to You Review Game.

#11: The I Spy Game with Adjectives

#12: Role-Plays

If you teach English to beginners, then you'll certainly want to consider using this role-play activity. The way it works is that you give students the start of a conversation, but with some blanks in it. Of course, you'll want to make the conversation so that it lends itself to using lots of adjectives!

Then in pairs, students have to work together with a partner to fill in the blanks and complete the conversation. After that, they can perform their short conversation in front of the class.

If you want to give this beginner-level ESL activity a try, find out more about it: ESL Role-Plays.

#13: Board Games

I love to play board games in real life which is perhaps why I like to use them in my English classes too. It's easy to design them for just about any topic, grammar point or vocabulary set. Plus, the students love to play them!

In this case, you might fill the board with questions that would require students to use adjectives in their answers. Maybe they could describe things around the classroom. It's up to you but I've definitely use board games for teaching adjectives quite successfully in the past. Learn more here: ESL Board Game Activity.

#14: Detective ESL Adjective Game

#15: Running Dictation

This is one of my favourite ESL games for a number of reasons. It's:

Student-centred to the max

Fun and students like it

Can be used for just about any topic

Gets students out of their seats and moving around the class

Uses a variety of skills in a single activity.

The way it works is that you can post bits of a conversation around the class. Of course, use lots of adjectives in it! Then, students have to work together to dictate the conversation. Once that's done, they can order the sentences they have to make a coherent conversation. Try it out today: Running Dictation Game.

#16: Telephone

I'm sure you played this game when you were a kid. The way it works is that you have to pass a sentence down the line and then find out what you have at the end. Comparing it to the original usually yields some hilarious results! You can use it for any sort of vocabulary. Learn more about it: ESL Telephone Game.

#17: What are you Cooking?

This is a fun, food-related activity to try out with your students. The way it works is that students have to design a 3-course meal based on an ingredient list from another team.

Then, they have to convince the class that they have the most delicious meal. Hence, the heavy adjective use! Check out the details for yourself: What are you Cooking?

What is an Adjective?

An adjective is a word that describes or modifies other words. They can help make writing and speaking more specific and interesting. Both beginners and more advanced English speakers can use a variety of them. Some examples of adjectives are words like big, green, and pointy.

What are the Types of Adjectives?

There are some different types of adjectives to be aware of. They include the following:

Descriptive (colors, sizes, etc.)

Possessive (my, your, etc.)

Demonstrative (this, that, etc.)

Interrogative (which, what)

Indefinite (some, many, a few, etc.)

Tips for Teaching Adjectives

Are you looking for some tips and tricks teaching adjectives ESL? Do you want to know how to teach adjectives? Then look no further than this quick list!

Remember to keep things student-centred. This means that you should be talking less, and your students talking more!

Review is key. Students to have to see and use things at much as possible for them to actually remember. Sure, they can study at home, but chances are they won't, so help them out in class!

Less is more. It's better for students to know a few adjectives really well and be able to use them correctly, rather than a list of 100+ adjectives and only kind of know them. Keep this in mind when planning your lessons.

Show, don't tell. One of the ways to make language memorable is to show students instead of just telling. If you're explaining brilliant, show them a brilliant blue, and then a dull one. They'll never forget it.

Know the different types of adjectives (descriptive, comparative, superlative, positive).

Don't forget pronunciation. This is a key part of the lesson when introducing new vocabulary.

Do you have any tips or ideas for how to teach adjectives? Leave a comment below and let us know! We'll add your idea to this list.

How do you Make Teaching Adjectives More Fun?

The key to make teaching adjectives more fun is to use a variety of interesting and engaging activities and games such as board games, surveys, videos and more. Then, also consider some worksheets, controlled practice, freer practice, along with homework to reinforce key concepts with adjectives.

What about Online Practice for Adjectives?

If you're looking for some sources for online practice for adjectives for your students, then these games and activities probably aren't what you're looking for. But, not to worry!

Here are some of my favourite resources for online adjective games that you'll want to recommend to your students:
ESL Games Plus English Club
What about ESL Adjective Worksheets?

If you're looking for something to do in class besides these adjective games ESL, then consider using some of these worksheets. They're an ideal way to give your students some practice with the forms and specifics of how to use adjectives in the English language.
ISL Collective
You could also print off some of these and give them to your students for homework. Either way, they'll get some extra adjective practice which basically equals some ESL teaching awesome!

What about an ESL Adjective List?

As you may have noticed, we don't actually list the most common adjectives here. Instead, we prefer to point people to the following resources, depending on the level and needs of your students:

List of Adjectives by Category ( emotions, personality, etc.)
100 Common Adjectives List Top 500 Adjectives List
The thing to keep in mind with these resources is that less is often more. I'd rather my students know 50 of the most common adjectives down cold and be able to use them in conversation rather than they know 500 of them only vaguely and not well enough to use them.

What are the Most Common English Adjectives?

However, if you want a list, then here are the most common 25 adjectives that all English learners should know:

Did you Like these ESL Adjective Activities and Games?

Yes? Thought so! Then you're going to love this book over on Amazon: 101 ESL Activities for Teenagers and Adults. The key to happy, engaged students who love coming to your classes to learn English is a wide variety of interesting games and activities. And this book will help you do just that.

Well-Organized and Easy to Use

There are enough ESL activities to get you through an entire semester or course in style. And the best part is that the book is well-organized into various sections: reading, writing, speaking, listening, grammar, review, etc. so that you should be able to find what you're looking for in a minute or two. Yes, it really is that easy to have better English lessons.

Available in Two Formats

You can get the book in both digital and print formats. Keep the physical copy on the bookshelf in your office and use it a handy reference guide when doing your lesson planning. Or, take the e-version with you to your favourite coffee shop for lesson plans on the go.

Get your Copy Today

Does it sound like exactly what you need to get some excitement back into your ESL classes? Then head over to Amazon to check it out for yourself. But, only if you want to get yourself a serious dose of ESL teaching awesome in your life:

Have your Say about ESL Adjective Games

What are your thoughts about this list of activities, online practice and worksheets to help your students learn more about English adjectives? Do you have any favourite ESL adjective games? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We'd love to hear from you.

Also be sure to give this article a share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. It'll help other busy English teachers, like yourself find this useful teaching resource.

Last update on 2020-04-15 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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ESL Adjective Games, Activities, Worksheets & Lesson Plans

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An adjective is simply a word that describes or modifies a noun. Some of the most common ones include things like colors or words like big/small, hot/cold, hard/soft, etc. If you want to teach them the awesome way, then you'll need to keep on reading to find out my top picks for ESL adjective games.

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Do you have a favorite adjective?

It's hard for me to pick just one.

Adjectives are, by far, the best part of speech!

When used correctly, they can turn any regular old sentence into something special. Look at the two sentences below and tell me which one sounds better.
The water was blue. It was cold, but felt good after sitting in the sun.
Or
The water was a brilliant blue. It was chilly, but felt refreshing after baking in the bright sun.
Obviously, the second one, right? While both sentences are good, the second one is so much more interesting and expressive!

It's believed that the English language is made up of more words than any other language in the world. While impressive, it's not hard to believe when you look at the number of adjectives we have and the number of synonyms we have for each word.

We English speakers like to describe our situation and surroundings in great detail. Bur for ESL students, the number of adjectives we use can be overwhelming. Take the word "pretty," for example. We could also say:

Beautiful, attractive, lovely, appealing, cute, gorgeous, ravishing, stunning or alluring.

Of course, each adjective comes with its own unique nuance that changes the definition slightly-which is what makes adjectives great!

In order to attain a certain level of fluency and mobility within the English language, it's important for ESL students to become familiar with the different types of adjectives. Students will need to have a firm grasp on adjectives in order to communicate successfully in English. Today, we'll explore several categories of adjectives and how to teach adjectives in the ESL classroom.

Types of Adjectives Every ESL Student Should Be Familiar With

There are hundreds of commonly-used adjectives in the English language. To make it easier for students learning these words, try teaching adjectives in groups rather than individual, unrelated vocabulary words. Today, we're going to look at some of these adjective categories and how you can teach them to your students. If you want a more in depth-look or quick review of the different types of adjectives, check out "7 Types of English Adjectives to Know."

Positive Adjectives

Positive adjectives are adjectives that have an inherently positive meaning. They can be used to describe or further identify nouns and pronouns, and without positive adjectives, the English language is reduced to dry, basic sentences.

There are dozens upon dozens of positive adjectives. Words such as "grateful," "important," "motivated" and "pragmatic" are considered positive adjectives. It's important for students to learn positive adjectives so that they can better express their thoughts and feelings about the world around them, people and different situations.

Note: Make sure students are aware that positive adjectives can be turned negative when "not" precedes the adjective. For example, The lecture was not engaging at all. Additionally, students should be aware that some adjectives have negative connotations and definitions themselves, such as "annoyed," "furious" and "broken."

Comparative Adjectives

Another important type of everyday adjective is the comparative adjective. Think about how often in our day-to-day lives we compare two or more things. For this reason, students need to become familiar with comparative adjectives and how to use them correctly in order to properly express their thoughts and ideas.

A useful formula for your students to use when thinking about comparative adjectives is: subject + verb + comparative adjective + than + object.

Remind your students that the suffix "-er" is added to the adjective to express the difference between the two nouns; for example, Your house is bigger than my house.

Superlative Adjectives

I like to think of superlative adjectives as related to comparative adjectives.

Your ESL students may also find it easier to understand superlative adjectives in relationship to comparative adjectives.

Similarly to comparative adjectives, superlative adjectives are used to discuss a noun in relationship to other nouns. We use superlative adjectives to show that one object is the least or most, the smallest or greatest in terms of quality.

Encourage your students to memorize the following formula: subject + verb + the + superlative adjective + object. Remind your students that for regular superlative adjectives we add the suffix "-est" to the adjective.

For example, The bus is the easiest way to get downtown.

Note: You may want to take some time to review some of the irregular superlative adjectives. For example, three syllable comparative and superlative adjectives change structure. We say "more diabolical" and "most diabolical" respectively. Likewise, there are a handful of adjectives that completely change such as "good," which becomes "better" and "best" respectively. For a more in-depth explanation of the rules surrounding superlatives, you can show your students this post by the British Council.

Descriptive Adjectives

Descriptive adjectives are perhaps some of the most useful adjectives for ESL students to master. These are the adjectives used to describe the size, shape and color of places, people, things and ideas.

Descriptive adjectives allow writers and speakers to modify a noun and paint a vivid picture of that noun in the mind of the reader or listener. Descriptive adjectives include adjectives such as "blue," "old," "tall" and "soft." For example, My brother has blond hair, but I have brown hair.

5 Engaging Activities for Adjective Practice

Now that we're done covering the most common adjective categories, let's look at ways you can get students comfortable with using them in sentences. Here are some fun activities to use in your next adjective lesson. Best of all, most of these activities can be modified for any level and age group of ESL learners.

But first, did you know that FluentU makes language learning easier and more effective? By including FluentU in your coursework, you can help students expand their vocabulary and communicate like a native English speaker. That's because FluentU uses actual real-world material, like music, movie clips and news articles, to teach English. Instead of clunky dialogues, they learn English from actual conversations between native speakers.

Try using FluentU alongside the following activities to really get your students engaged.

1. Picture Race

Useful for Teaching: Descriptive Adjectives

Picture Race is a great game for getting your students to use adjectives. Before class, print out several pictures you want to use in the activity. If you need help finding pictures to fit the theme of your lessons, check out Pixabay. Make sure you add variety to your photographs or paintings, choosing a mixture of people, places and things.

In class, divide your students into small teams. Each team will need a sheet of paper and a pen. At the front of the room, hold up or display one of the images you've prepared. The teams race against each other to come up with as many adjectives as they can to describe the image. Give them two minutes.

At the end of the two-minute mark, have each team read out their list of adjectives to the class. Teams get points for every adjective they came up with that the other teams don't have on their lists. For example, if Team One and Team Two both have the adjective "green" on their list, both teams cross it off. However, if Team One has the adjective "bright" and the other teams do not, Team One gets a point.

Once the points are tallied, display the second picture. Continue with as many rounds as you choose. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.

This game is great because some students may have a larger vocabulary and other students can learn from them.

2. Describe Your Best Friend

Useful for Teaching: Positive Adjectives, Comparative Adjectives, Descriptive Adjectives

This is primarily a writing activity. Students should work individually to describe their best friend.

On the board, write down "appearance," "personality" and "compared to me." Then, instruct the students to start by describing their best friend's physical appearance.

Then, students should write a few sentences describing their friend's personality. They'll need to exercise their knowledge of positive adjectives to accurately describe their friend. Finally, ask them to compare themselves to their best friend using comparative adjectives.

Save time at the end of the lesson for students to read or share their descriptions with the class. Make any corrections that are needed so that the whole class can learn from the mistakes or errors.

Tip: For a variation on this activity and to get your students to practice different sets of adjectives, ask them to describe their favorite season and type of weather or to describe their favorite city.

3. Grow the Sentence

Useful for Teaching: Positive Adjectives, Comparative Adjectives, Superlative Adjectives, Descriptive Adjectives

This activity is ideal for practicing all types of adjectives, while also giving students the chance to practice the correct positioning of adjectives in various sentences.

Before class, prepare a worksheet listing various sentences with the adjectives removed.

For example: The ____ tomatoes taste _____ than the ____ peppers.

The students will need to fill in the adjectives. If your class needs a little extra help, try providing a word bank with various adjectives for the students to choose from. In the previous example, the sentence should eventually read: The red tomatoes taste better than the green peppers. In some cases, there may be more than one right answer and that's okay! Aim to provide 12-15 sentences and make sure you create sentences that require different types of adjectives.

After you pass out the worksheet in class, have students work individually or in small groups to complete the exercises. Don't forget to save time at the end of class for students to share their favorite sentences, and make corrections as necessary.

4. Taboo

Useful for Teaching: Positive Adjectives, Comparative Adjectives, Superlative Adjectives, Descriptive Adjectives

This is a fun, high energy game for the whole class to enjoy!

Start by asking for a volunteer to stand in front of the class. Then, instruct the volunteer to think of an object-it can be a person, place or thing, but should generally be something most students would be able to guess.

Once the student has an image in mind, he or she should begin to describe the object using as many adjectives as they can to describe the thing they are thinking of without actually saying what the object is. The rest of the class must try to guess what the object is based on the description. You can either have students shout out answers or ask them to raise their hands with their guesses and call on them in turn. The student that correctly guesses the object goes next.

Tip: A more structured variation of this game is to prepare cards with different objects on them before class. In this way, you, the teacher, can control what objects and items are described in class. In class, the first student selects a card and must describe that object without saying what the object is.

5. Adjective Bingo

Useful for Teaching: Positive Adjectives, Comparative Adjectives, Superlative Adjectives, Descriptive Adjectives

Prepare several bingo cards with different images of objects and items. Then, in class, give a bingo card to each student or group. After all the cards have been handed out, stand at the front of the class and call out different adjectives and details about the individual objects. Give students a chance to see if they have an item that matches your description. For example, you may say "red apple." On some bingo boards maybe you included a "red apple" and on others you included a "green apple." Students will need to listen carefully to correctly fill in their bingo boards. If a student gets a diagonal line, vertical line, or horizontal line, they should call out "BINGO!" Make sure you check their board to ensure they successfully achieved "BINGO!"

Tip: For your more advanced students or older students, you could let them take turns being the person who calls out the descriptions.

Make Your Next Adjective Lesson a Smashing Success

Adjectives are the spices that add flavor to the English language. Everyone loves listening to a story if it's filled with great descriptions. And with these activities, your students will begin to master adjectives and be able to embellish their English in no time!

And One More Thing...

Looking for fun resources for teaching adjectives and other vocab? Then you're going to love FluentU! FluentU takes real-world videos-like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks -and turns them into language learning experiences.

There are many different types of videos, as you can see here:

FluentU makes it easy to watch and understand native English videos with interactive captions. Tap or click on any word to see what it means, learn how to use it, hear it pronounced and more.

For example, if you tap on the word "brought," then you see this:

You can learn any video's vocabulary with FluentU's fun quizzes. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you're learning.

The videos are organized by genre and level, so it's super easy to find the ones that work for you. FluentU also keeps track of your learning, then suggests videos and examples perfect for you.

Start using FluentU on the website or download the FluentU app from the iTunes store or 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.
Bring English immersion to your classroom!

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Show, Don't Tell: How to Teach Adjectives to ESL Students

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Do you have a favorite adjective? It's hard for me to pick just one. Adjectives are, by far, the best part of speech! When used correctly, they can turn any regular old sentence into something special. Look at the two sentences below and tell me which one sounds better.