01.09.

2021 5 Clever Conversation Lesson Plans for Adult ESL Students

1. Talking Jobs
This conversation lesson is exceptional for your beginner adult students. It implements key
vocabulary that is easy to follow while discussing the target topics of work, jobs, likes and dislikes.
The essential ESL skills that are built during this lesson include reading, listening, communication,
informative discussion, vocabulary and developing questions and answers that bolster practical
conversation.

You will first focus on the reading and listening comprehension involved in this activity. Your
beginner students will read a short text, after you read it out loud first in order to develop listening
skills vital to conversation.

Sample Text:

Tom is a banker. He works banking hours, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the National Bank of
Ohio. Tom truly likes his job and attended university for his degree in finance and
accounting. Tom really likes his colleagues. He likes working with them, and he likes
discussing their weekend experiences on Monday morning with them too. Tom also likes the
people who come to the bank, especially his regulars.

Sample Comprehension Questions:

What is Tom’s job?

Where does he work?

What does he like about his job?

Did Tom go to university for his job?

What did Tom study?

The simplicity of the comprehension questions is important for your beginner students. You want
to keep them engaged without discouraging them with challenging questions right out of the gate.
Here are a few more examples for this beginner conversation lesson here.

Now that your students have a handle on Tom’s job and can answer questions relating to it, open
the floor for them to discuss their work. This is when the practical conversation comes into play.

Ask them about their work. Even if you have already discussed these topics, your students are much
more warmed up this time around. You can also record the follow-up discussion and discuss that
with your students later.

Sample Conversation Questions:

Would you like Tom’s job? Why or why not?

Do you like your job? Why or why not?

What do you like about your work?

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-conversation-lessons-for-adults/ 1/6
01.09.2021 5 Clever Conversation Lesson Plans for Adult ESL Students

What don’t you like about your work?

What are some different jobs done by your colleagues?

2. Grocery Shopping
Conducting a grocery shopping ESL lesson with your adult students may seem elementary, but it is
a daily task that is actually a large part of how your student may navigate simple conversation.

If your students begin to doubt your abilities when you mention this lesson, thinking it seems like
far too simple a topic to need covering in class, take those students to the grocery store—or make
up a faux grocery store in your classroom with printed pictures and food items—and begin asking
them multiple questions in English. They will soon find the importance of such a seemingly simple
lesson.

For this conversation lesson, you will need to build a dialogue surrounding grocery shopping.
Maybe you could even record your next shopping experience with a friend or family member to get
some more creative ideas as well, capturing things that naturally unfold during a routine shopping
trip.

Communication, dialogue, vocabulary building and snappy English thought are all ESL skills
represented in this wonderful conversation lesson for your adult students.

Sample Dialogue: 

A: What do we need to get?

B: I forgot our shopping list at home.

A: Are you serious? Don’t joke with me.

B: I did, I am really sorry. Can’t believe I did that again.

A: Well, I think we need carrots, chicken, butter…

B: And milk and eggs, don’t forget those.

A: Right!

B: Should we get ice cream?

A: Remember the last time we got ice cream? It was delicious, but we ate too much!

The value of this example dialogue is to show your students how many questions and answers are
commonly found in English conversation. People will often ask you things, from the small to the
very, very big.

It also highlights areas of not so proper grammar, but is still how many native English speakers
converse.

Sample Comprehension Questions:
https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-conversation-lessons-for-adults/ 2/6
01.09.2021 5 Clever Conversation Lesson Plans for Adult ESL Students

What are these people doing?

What did they forget to bring to the store?

Have they forgotten the shopping list before?

What did they need to buy?

Do they want ice cream?

Once you and your students have built a solid foundation of understanding with these questions,
practicing with a few great dialogue scripts, like this similar example you can also use, takes it all to
a real-world level.

As suggested before, at this point you could accompany your students to a grocery store or create a
pretend grocery store in your classroom. Either way, this is a great environment to begin a natural,
free-flowing discussion surrounding shopping, cooking, what they eat normally or any other related
topic that comes to mind.

Sample Conversation Questions:

What do you normally get for food?

Do you buy everything for the week? For the month? Or do you shop daily? Why?

How do you choose your carrots, peppers, chicken?

Do you normally shop alone or with someone? Why?

Have you ever talked to anyone at the grocery store, and what did you talk about?

3. Superstitions
This conversation lesson has plenty of discussion opportunities built into it.

Discussing superstitions, especially the bizarre ones, can bring about all sorts of colorful
conversations. This lesson is excellent for your intermediate adult students with a focus on new
vocabulary, discussion, reading, listening, opinions, storytelling and creative English expression.

First, you will want to set the stage for the superstition communication to take place. It is possible
that your students know what superstitions are, but have never known the word to describe them
until now.

Sample Conversation Questions:

Do you believe in superstitions?

Do you believe in luck?

Are there certain people, places, things or events that are lucky or unlucky?

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-conversation-lessons-for-adults/ 3/6
01.09.2021 5 Clever Conversation Lesson Plans for Adult ESL Students

Do you believe in ghosts or spirits from another dimension?

What are some superstitions from your culture?

What is the most strange, unbelievable superstition you have ever heard?

Since superstitions are rarely discussed in English classrooms, the vocabulary and conversation will
evoke some serious English brain fuel to get things moving in the right direction. However, once it
does, everything will begin to flow smoothly and so will the conversation!

Once the concept of superstition is developed, begin introducing some new superstitions that will
provoke more discussion between students.

Pair your students up and give each pair a worksheet with several superstitions and their meanings.
Each superstition will have a few questions your paired up students can utilize to spark up practical
and inventive conversation.

Sample Conversation Questions Based On Common Superstitions:

It is bad luck to put your hat on a bed. Have you ever put your hat on a bed? Do you do that a
lot? Do you believe in this superstition? Will you put your hat on a bed now that you know about
this superstition?

To avoid bad luck, you should knock on wood when good fortune is brought up. Have you seen
anyone do this? Have you done this before? What would you knock on if you can’t find wood?
Do you believe in this superstition?

A ringing ear means someone is thinking about you. Do you think this is true? How will this
change your perspective when your ear rings?

Breaking a mirror is seven years bad luck. Have you ever broken a mirror? Do you believe in
this superstition? Why or why not?

You could even fold a personal writing activity into this lesson, having students dictate their
conversation partners’ answers to the questions. You can utilize these great superstition
examples for developing this lesson plan further.

4. Career Cache
This lesson is similar to the beginner lesson previously discussed. However, this lesson is more
concentrated for listening comprehension, a valuable ESL skill in communication, and wonderful
for your intermediate adult students.

The ESL skills involved in this conversation lesson include listening, communication, English
thought and expression when answering questions during discussion.

For this lesson, you will need to develop a few short paragraphs explaining different people’s
careers, similar to the previous beginner conversation lesson on jobs and work, but more robust in
description.

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-conversation-lessons-for-adults/ 4/6
01.09.2021 5 Clever Conversation Lesson Plans for Adult ESL Students

First you will read the short career captions, having your students listen only. This will allow them
to hone those vital listening skills! There are plenty of excellent examples you can draw from on the
Internet, like this one, to make this lesson a home run for your adult students.

Sample Text:

Harry is a firefighter and he loves his demanding job. Harry wakes up very early in the
morning, at around 5 a.m. on the days he works and drives 30 minutes to the fire station in
downtown Los Angeles. He needs to know a lot about different firefighter techniques and
tools. He also needs to have basic medical knowledge for emergencies. He really likes his
fellow firefighters, especially Larry, his best friend. They completed firefighter
training together. Harry works 24 hours straight and is then off of work for two days.

Sample Comprehension Questions:

What does Harry do for work?

Does he like his job?

What does Larry do for work?

At around what time does Harry need to get up on working days?

Does Harry like his colleagues?

What skills does Harry need to perform his job effectively?

How long is Harry’s shift at the fire station?

You can develop several of these career-minded paragraphs and comprehension questions. After a
few, let your students develop a short paragraph about their careers and have them read them out
loud to you or to partners.

Break them down into pairs (if they are not already in pairs) and have them listen to each other’s
job descriptions while they read them aloud again. Then they should take turns asking each other
questions about those job descriptions.

Then your students can ask you a few comprehension questions to spark more conversation during
this communicative conversation lesson.

5. Coffee Table Controversy

This conversation lesson is perfect for your advanced students ready to discuss current events that
may be controversial and trending on various news outlets.

The ESL skills your advanced adult students will gain from this exceptional communication
building lesson are reading, listening, English expression, critical English thought, vocabulary and
advanced grammar. You may even find it useful to add a few idioms or phrasal verbs as well,
depending on your students’ comfort levels.

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-conversation-lessons-for-adults/ 5/6
01.09.2021 5 Clever Conversation Lesson Plans for Adult ESL Students

First you will need to find a controversial issue that may be of importance to your students. It is
always a wonderful idea to find a topic that relates and/or will be of interest in order to keep your
class engaged. You can use utilize the below example or check out this link for more great ideas.

Sample Text:

The overfishing of the Pacific Ocean has become a very serious debate over the last few
decades. Asian countries have been the brunt of much negative press after fishing vessels in
the Pacific pull up giant whales for the fishery market. Many North American and European
activists are wholeheartedly against the business of catching and killing whales for food.
However, many Asian countries maintain that it is part of their culture and subsistence
practices.

Sample Conversation Questions:

Does your culture eat any food that may be controversial to other cultures? What kind of food?
Have you had this experience?

Do you think it is right for whales to be killed for food and/or science? Why or why not?

What are your thoughts about other countries trying to stop the Asian fish industry from
catching whales? Do you think it is just, or is it an intrusion on their culture?

Do you think catching whales for food is the same as beef markets in North America and
Europe?

Developing conversation lessons for your adult ESL class is essential to the growth and success of
your students, both in language learning and professionally.

They will have the exceptional support and knowledge of you while they navigate practical adult
conversations that will keep them in the discussion at work with colleagues and clients.

Your students will also develop faster response times to questions and begin honing their listening
skills as conversations happen in real time, just like a native speaker.

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-conversation-lessons-for-adults/ 6/6