ESL and EFL Discussion Activities | ESL Conversation Lessons

Do you talk to strangers?

Do you talk to strangers? Maybe we should.

Did your mother tell you not to talk to strangers? Mine did. Was that really good advice? Of course, we don’t want to compromise the safety of our children and we are not all social butterflies. We have our personalities and our boundaries and it is important to respect ourselves in that way.

How to break isolation

But isn’t there something alarmist, maybe even cold, about stranger danger? Are we encouraging isolation, apathy, disengagement, fear, tribalism? Even though it is natural to gravitate toward people who have familiar ideas and beliefs, could we be missing something in those who are different from us?

In Malcolm Gladwell’s new book “Talking to Strangers” he exposes how opening ourselves up to others has a lot to teach us. But it is not all touchy-feely shiny happy people communing. Talking to strangers can be very destabilizing and may even reveal or confirm that there are some twisted people out there. Not everyone is truthful and not everyone is empathetic. But some are, and by closing ourselves off for fear of landing on a bad one, we are pruning our outlook and our own empathy.

Talking to strangers is the key to more peace

Justin Trudeau’s keynote address to the NYU graduates takes this notion to the next level. He calls us out on our hidden biases, our fears, our tribalism. He wants to inspire us to have courage and get to know those who make us uncomfortable, get to know those who don’t resemble us and get to know those who don’t think like us. For him, and perhaps for Gladwell as well, talking to strangers is the path to world peace…no less.

Warm up

What do you think talking to strangers can achieve?
Why is it so difficult for us?

The Video: Justin Trudeau Diversity doesn’t have to be a weakness!

Discussion Questions

What are some of the main messages that stuck with you?
What does Trudeau mean when he talks about ‘tribalism’?
What does he mean when he says “win the argument”?
What can we do to know the good strangers from the bad strangers? Are there tools, tricks?
Do you think Trudeau is being naïve? In what way?
What are some of the ‘juicy’ words and expressions? Make a list and see if you can put them in other sentences.

What is your comfort food?

What is your comfort food? I dare you to NOT think of the answer. Too late? I bet your favourite dish is already in your mind. Maybe you are even seeing a memory or a person attached to this dish. Is it something your mother made when you were sick? Something you eat at Christmas? Is it sweet or salty?

Healthy…probably not

Chances are your comfort food is not too healthy. Right? Generally speaking, comfort foods are hardy, starchy and fatty. All great words that describe food. And that is exactly what you will find in this Insider Food video featuring 20 different people from 20 different cultures describing their comfort food.

But it makes me happy

Food makes people happy, conjures memories, and heals us when we are sick or sad and is often the heart of most celebrations. It is also a super fun thing to talk about. It ties in food, feelings, events and people, thus a nice integrated vocabulary exercise. The perfect Whole Language exercise.

While you listen

This video is chalk-a-block full of vocabulary, so I made a Google docs handout available through Teachers Pay Teachers to help collect the essential ideas. Or you can try this cool interactive worksheet. Of course, if you are working with more advanced students, you might want to ditch the handout and just let the students note what they can. Rember you can turn the CC on and slow down the video.

Pre Discussion

Just to get the food words flowing, do a Mind Map
What is your comfort food?
Why?

The Video: 20 Comfort Foods From around the world

Discussion

Which story did you find the most interesting?
Which dish have you tried?
Which dish would you like to try?
What do most of the dishes have in common?
What were some of the reasons the dishes were considered comforting?

7 types of icebreakers that will get your students laughing, thinking and connecting

The art of asking the perfect question is my own personal Mona Lisa. It is the element in my practice that I am always improving and perfecting. In fact, I even made a little video about some of the cognitive elements involved in questions.

Let go of perfection

Crafting a perfect question takes audience intuition, subject knowledge and most of all genuine curiosity about the result. But getting it right can be a mix of experience, trial and error and just plain luck. Jump in with something you find interesting and see where it takes you.

Have my questions bombed? Oh yes. Have I had the uncomfortably long blank stare? Yep. I have even been asked why on earth I would ask such a boring question. Ouch.

Most of all, when you are ‘on’ and right in the middle of a lesson, you need a certain amount of preparation, as well as have enough spontaneity to roll with the group if they want to go another way.

listen for patterns

It is the simplest yet the most powerful tool to see how articulate and fluid your students are. If you can, try to set an intention for what you listen for. Perhaps you can focus on speaking patterns like verbs, or use of modals, or vocabulary from previous lessons. If you notice mistakes, try to pick the most prevalent pattern and then give it some attention. Or perhaps you notice that the students are incorporating a bunch of previously learned vocabulary–make sure you point it out and praise them.

Question Tag-You’re it!

During the COVID confinement, I taught an online conversation course with about 10 students at a time. To allow everyone to speak, we played a game I called “question-tag”.

Students choose a question from the list and ask another classmate. Then that classmate is “it” and chooses the next question and classmate. Simple concept, but it puts the control in the students’ hands and adds just a touch of suspense to keep people engaged.

Want to play…You can use these 7 types of icebreakers to get going. The questions are meant as a corporate team-building exercise. Thus they are authentic and funny. Let me know how it turns out.

How exactly does gender work?

Books have been written about it, alcohol-based dinners never go without it, and more recently, we are digging into what defines it. Put simply, what are the differences between men and women? This TED talk by biologist Karissa Sanbonmatsu really got my attention. First of all because she presents some of the new discoveries from epigenetics and research in DNA that explain the differences between men and women from a biological perspective. Gotta love science. This lesson is filled with tons of scientific vocabulary to describe how DNA works to create gender differences.

However, here is the twist, Sanbonmatsu, a transgender scientist, also talks about the challenges she faced through her struggle with her own identity. This content is layered and complex. On one hand the objective is to help science-based students become more verbal with DNA related vocabulary–an important corner stone topic for biologists. But beyond that, the speaker pulls in the social challenges of the “old boys club” that exists in the scientific community as well as the very misunderstood transgenderism.

Pre discussion

What are some of the theories you have heard about the differences between men and women?
Do you think there are differences?
What does it mean to be transgender?

The Video: The Biology of Gender

There are really two aspects in this video mashed up together. 1) Sanbonmatsu shares the science of gender. 2) Sanbonmatsu talks about the reactions of her scientific community towards transgenderism.

I would first untangle each aspect.

What does the latest research tell us about gender?
What is the behaviour of our DNA?
How is Sanbonmatsu contributing to a society of tolerance inclusion?
Why does Sanbonmatsu expose the scientific community as being especially hard on her choices?
Do you think there are other social circles where transgenderism is more difficult?
What about less difficult?

I leave you with that for the weekend…have a good one.

Mel

Why do we believe weird things?

Level: B1, B2, C1
Handout on TPT

Media: Video
Language focus: beliefs, superstitions, conspiracy theories, fake news, disinformation.

Why do we believe weird things?

Fake news, misinformation, disinformation, these concepts are all over the media. We all know it’s out there, but how can we tell what is true and what is fake? First, let’s play a game…

True or False

Salt makes water boil quicker.
You should never swim right after you eat
Some people are more right-brain thinkers and others more left-brain thinkers.
Toilets flush differently in the southern hemisphere than the northern hemisphere.
Einstein failed math.
Humans and dinosaurs co-existed
Vaccines cause autism.
You need to wait 24 hours to file a missing person’s report.
We use only 10% of our brain.
Most of our body heat leaves through our heads.
You should never wake a sleepwalker.
Bats are blind.
Alcohol keeps you warm.
Sugar creates hyper children.
Your hair and nails keep growing after you die.
Slaves built the pyramids in Egypt.

In case you use this to generate discussion with your class, I won’t give you the answers. You could invite your students to check for themselves at Readers Digest.

It’s your brain’s fault

Famous debunker and Skeptic.com’s editor-in-chief Michael Shermer gives us a bit of insight into how our brain is wired to makes us believe weird things. He explains and demonstrates how things like priming and cognitive bias are natural neurological predispositions that lead us to faulty conclusions. This discussion utilizes vocabulary in both pure science and psychology to demonstrate, in very cool ways, how media can create what I will term “information blind spots.”

Lesson Notes

***Caution! I did this lesson with a high intermediate student and they were overwhelmed with Shermer’s speed. I would recommend slowing the video down and using this True/False handout to explain and explore some of the vocabulary and concepts in the video. Have your students read through the statements and make predictions about the possible answers. Then have your students watch the video to confirm or correct their original impressions.

warm up

Go through the handout and predict which statements are true or false.

The Video: Why People Believe Weird Things

Discussion

What makes us believe weird things…make a Mind Map of all the elements you hear?
Are you a skeptic?
Why don’t we listen to science?

Enjoy!

Mel

Do you believe in luck?

Level: A1, A2, B1, B2
Handout: Free on TPT

Media: Video
Language focus: emotions, actions, comparisons

Do you believe in luck?

I once introduced one of my girlfriend’s to a boy that seemed to be a good match for her. When I asked if things had worked out, she said no. She said he was nice, but he did not seem to have luck. She said it as if ‘luck’ was something you could be born with.

Is luck something you are born with?

That was such a strange way of looking at luck. It made me realize that this idea can be seen in so many different ways depending on your culture, your beliefs and perhaps your superstitions.

On the one hand, it can open up discussions on gratefulness, positivity and recognizing all the things in our lives that make us feel lucky…our children, our health, various aspects of our lives that make us happy.

Luck and Culture

But luck can also be explored culturally. For instance, in Japanese mythology, the Seven Gods of Luck are believed to have the power to grant luck. Hinduism, Taoism and Buddhism, also have gods or figures that are believed to bestow luck. I suppose this means that you can believe in luck like you would believe in god. Or that if you are unlucky, it may be because you don’t deserve luck.

In this wordless animated short by Mike Bidinger & Michelle Kwon called Jinxy Jenkins & Lucky Lou, yet another facet of luck is explored. Jinxy is a walking disaster. Every step he takes is laced with misfortune. He is nervous and unhappy all the time. Conversely, Lou is so lucky she seems bored and unchallenged. I will let you watch to see what happens when the two meet.

Lesson Notes

Warm up

When I taught this lesson, I used this template to collect the answers. Feel free to use it too. It is a free handout on Teacher Pay Teachers. I included the results of our discussion in case you need some ideas to prime your discussion.

Do you think you are lucky?
What makes you feel lucky?
Does your culture have any beliefs or superstitions about luck?

The Video: Jinxy Jenkins & Lucky Lou by Mike Bidinger & Michelle Kwon

Discussion Questions

What actions or events in the movie make the girl (Lou) lucky?
What actions or events make the boy (Jinxy) unlucky?
Why do you think Jinxy is so unlucky? Is there anything in his attitude?
Why do you think Lou is so lucky?
What happens when they meet?
Why does Lou seem unhappy about being lucky?
Do you have any examples in your life where luck was important?
Would you be happy if you were as lucky as Lou?

What is the worst or best rage bait you’ve encountered?

“A woman’s place is in the home”

“Immigrants should go back to their country”

“No doesn’t always mean no”

Did I trigger you? Do you want to tell me? Well then my rage bait trap worked. Rage bait is internet slang for when someone says something (usually online) in hopes of getting a reaction out of people. If you were to be scrolling through your phone and see a random video of someone saying something you absolutely disagree with, you might be tempted to leave a comment expressing your anger, however if you do, you are contributing to something much bigger than you think.

The judgmental monster in all of us

Rage bait use a very powerful human trigger: judgement. But by leaving a comment, the algorithm behind the post makes it more popular, thus suggesting it to even more people. This causes it to be more and more seen and therefore make money. Sometimes people use rage bait as a form of publicity for their own product. For instance, if you see something on Tiktok that makes you angry, and click on the creator you might see a link to a website trying to sell you something, this is one of the ways that indicate it is probably a scam.

A dark truth lurks

Unfortunately, among those who use rage bait for attention and money, there are some people who actually believe these ideas no matter how extreme. Can you tell what is real and what is not? I can’t.

Alpha, Red Pill, Conservatism

Among the more debated points of view are those belonging to the rising conservatism voices. One of the more disturbing trends is the Red Pill content that is gaining popularity among young boys. Seemingly an easy rage bait tactic–a thread dedicated to creating “safe space” where contributors vent their misogynistic grievances–it is also creating wide group of people who are inspired by it.

This scheme, used to make a small impact on your wallet, is making a much bigger impact on society and the next generation–a ripple effect that could impact the future more than you think. What will happen if the young kids, responsible for building the future, head out into the world with a mindset that was spawned from anger and hatred?

Discussion Questions

Have you seen or experienced rage bait?
What was your reaction? (see vocabulary below)
Now that you know about the algorithm, what will you do now?
How do you think rage bait effects younger audiences?
How can we protect them from it?
If rage baiters are really just trying to make money, is it really so bad?
Would you ever consider doing rage bait to earn some extra cash?

Vocabulary

Here is a list of words and expressions to help you express your opinions:

Critical:

Manipulative – This seems manipulative

Deceptive – The person is very deceptive

Exaggerated – They exaggerated the situation.

Out of context – That quote is taken out of context.

One-sided – It’s a very one-sided argument.

Unverified – They shared unverified information.

Neutral

Not worth my time – I’m not going to argue about that.

Ignore it – I just ignore that stuff.

Scroll past – I usually scroll past posts like that.

Let it go – Just let it go.

Angry

infuriating – That post is infuriating!

Outrageous – What an outrageous claim.

Disgusting – That’s just disgusting.

I can’t believe this – I can’t believe people fall for this.

So unfair – This is so unfair.

They crossed the line – That really crossed the line.

Surprised

Shocking – That video is shocking.

Unbelievable – Unbelievable!

Ridiculous – This is ridiculous.

Over the top – It’s way over the top.

Mind-blowing – That’s mind-blowing, in a bad way.

What’s the weather today?

I love talking about the weather. It is the easiest way to initiate a conversation with a stranger or acquaintance if you need to break the silence. Great for elevator rides, spontaneous waiting time and warm repartee.

It is also a ubiquitous element that can have multiple impacts on our lives. Indeed a rainy day, bright sun, or a snowstorm will change how we dress, the meals we eat, the activities we plan and perhaps how we get to work. Personally, I check the weather every morning because I take my bike to work–even in winter.

Moreover, I find weather phenomena fascinating. Tsunamis, earthquakes, tornadoes, nature has a way of reminding us who is really in control. Beautiful, powerful, terrifying the planet is a person. She breathes, she aches and she speaks. Are we listening?

This particular discussion lesson goes from general to scientific to silly. The objective is to elicit the vocabulary around a familiar topic and add a level of complexity with either the science behind weather or weather-related expressions. I just couldn’t choose, so I put everything.

Pre discussion

What are the different types of weather or climates you can name?
What affects the weather?
How does the weather make you feel? When it rains, when it is sunny when the snow falls…
How do you use the weather forecast?
What activities do you do in spring, summer, fall and winter?
What are the seasons like in your country?

Option 1: The Video: The Science of Weather

Divide the video into 2 or 3 segments and do a Tell Back of the main themes and words
How do meteorologists sort through information, identify trends, and make predictions?
Why do they often get it wrong?
Why is it important to predict the weather?

Option 2: Weather idioms

For this, I made a handout and some flashcards. They are on Teachers Pay Teachers TPT. Click to see the handout.

Try something new for 30 days

I recently read the book The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. In the book, the main character visits a library in a parallel dimension where each book represents one of her possible lives…should she have made different choices. The journey takes us into multiple different versions of this character, Nora Seed. She is a rock star, a mother, a glaciologist, an Olympic swimmer, a philosophy professor and the list goes on. In each life, Seed has the luxury of measuring the level of happiness and fulfillment the different paths procure her.

What if

It is the classic “what if”, question. Of course, it got me thinking of my own life. Then, instead of delving into regretted choices or getting depressed about what could have been, I thought of this TED talk by Matt Cutts: Try something new for 30 days. Since we cannot travel into parallel universes to see what could have been, Cutts’ idea is the next best thing.

Parallel Lives for 30 Days

We have all heard it before, we must step out of our comfort zone to grow…right? Cutt’s takes this to the next level with his self-imposed 30-day challenge. What I like about Cutt’s talk, is it gives a more tangible objective to this idea of trying new things. It may not be as profound as the Midnight Library, but it’s a start. After all, what’s 30 days?

Warm-up

What new thing would you like to try but haven’t yet?
What does it mean to “step out of your comfort zone”?
What are the benefits of doing new things? Any disadvantages?
What are the benefits of sticking with what you know? Any disadvantages?

The Video: Try something new for 30 days

Discussion Questions

Why does Matt think this is a good idea?
What did it change in his life?
What areas of our lives could we apply this to? Make a Mind Map…
Do you have any spontaneous ideas that you might like to try for 30 days?

What makes you feel grateful?

Let’s talk about gratefulness: the good, the bad and the ugly.

Level: A2, B1, B2, C1
Text comprehension
Handout 0.99$ on TPT

Language focus: prepositions, vocabulary building
Media: Article and video

Is it me, or does gratefulness seem to be the miracle serum of the millennium? Everywhere I look, someone is singing its praises. Instagram posts, articles, scientific and not-so-scientific, books, shorts, reels, TED talks, you name it, and there’s a gratitude champion behind it. Want to rewire your brain for happiness? Gratefulness. Hoping to live longer, control inflammation, push away degenerative brain afflictions? Gratefulness. It seems to be the miracle balm of our century.

Authenticity vs. Gratefulness

Don’t get me wrong.–I am authentically grateful for many, many things in my life. I have genuine awe for little things, like the poetry of the billowy plumes that float over buildings on cold winter days, the comforting hum of my family bustling around while I’m cooking dinner, my dog’s deep soul-soothing snores, and gossiping with my mother. And of course, the sun–how can you not be grateful for the sun?

But there are days when stress takes the wheel. Days where you watch loved ones slip away into Alzheimer’s, when people say goodbye to their pets, their friends, or–unthinkably–their children. On those days, life can be downright cruel.

And you know what, I think it’s ok to let it suck. To sit with the pain and be human–without the looming guilt of neglecting your gratefulness practice. Life can be heavy and you don’t always have to look for the silver lining.

When the Clouds Move Over

That said–and I think it needed to be said first–when the clouds part and life finds its way to a steady plateau, practicing gratefulness (or as I tend to think of it–hunting silver linings) can truly brighten a day that much more. I also believe in the “practice” of gratefulness much like one practices meditation or yoga. I think we have to make a conscious effort to see the little things that make us feel safe, happy and comforted. Otherwise is it all too easy to see the glass-half-empty version of our lives.

But mostly it is a fairly easy topic to generate thoughts–and discussion.

The lesson that follows features a simple yet insightful article by Positive Psychology. com. I chose it not because I want to turn this blog into a therapeutic resource (except for me), but because I hope you will find the language relatively accessible.

Warm Up

The article features the Iceberg of Gratitude. I would use this as a pre-reading exercise and perhaps do a quick word association.

Read the article: What is Gratitude and Why Is It So Important? by Tiffany Sauber Millacci, Ph.D.

You can download the Teachers Pay Teachers handout for comprehension questions, or simply use these discussion questions.

Discussion Questions

Why do you think some people feel disappointed instead of grateful?
How can gratitude make life better for you?
What is one thing you have that you consider a blessing?
Why is practicing gratitude difficult for some people?
Why do you think some people feel disappointed instead of grateful?
What are different ways you can express gratitude?