1. Conversation Skills for the Young EFL Learner
Sarah Coutts

2. Formulaic Language Simple Greetings
Hello! How are you? / I’m fine, thank you. And you?
Social English
Did you have a nice weekend? / Have a nice weekend!
Routines
What’s the date? / What’s the weather like today?
Classroom Language
Listen! / Repeat! / Sit down! / Work in pairs! Good! / It’s your turn! / Be quiet!
Asking Permission
May I go to the toilet? / May I clean the board? / etc.

3. DOLCH SIGHT WORDS Pre-Primer Primer First Grade Second Grade
Third Grade

5. Chunks
Collocations
Rich and famous, set the table, do the dishes, turn in your homework
Phrasal Verbs
Get up, log on, run out of, go on about, mess up
Idioms, catchphrases and sayings
Bark up the wrong tree, speak of the devil, don’t put all your eggs in one basket
Sentence Frames
Would you like a…? / Do you think…? / What would happen if…?
Social Formulas
See you later. / Have a nice day. / Mind your head.

6. Pronunciation
/b/ /v/ /f/ /p/ /l/ /r/ /j/ /z/

8. Odd One Out

9. Phone Number

11. Tongue Twisters

12. Tongue Twister Race
Spell New York: Knife and a fork, bottle and a cork, that is the way you spell New York
I saw Susie: I saw Susie sitting in a shoe shine shop.
Download the mp3 for these tongue twisters at

13. I have a date: I have a date at a quarter to eight; I’ll see you at the gate, so don’t be late.
Seven slick snails: Seven slick slimy snails, slowly sliding southward
Four furious friends: Four furious friends fought for the phone.

14. Pile On for Fluency
John runs. John runs away. John runs away from the wolf. John runs away, with his arms flying wildly, from the rabid wolf with sharp claws who is chasing him to eat him for dinner.
To help student fluency at the sentence level, try piling words and phrases on to a simple sentence. Start with a basic sentence – as simple as you can make it. e.g. “John runs.” Say the sentence for your students and have them repeat it. If they can read the sentence comfortably, add a word or a phrase. “John runs away.”

15. Dialogues
Dictate a dialogue or improve it.

16. Spot the Difference

17. Intonation Fun Say “Hello” to a friend
to a friend you haven't seen for 3 years 
to a neighbor that you don't like 
to a 6 month old baby 
to someone on the phone when you're not sure if they are still on the other end 

18. Say “How are you?” Say “Goodbye”
to someone you haven't seen for 20 years 
 to someone who has recently lost a member of the family 
to someone who looks very sick 
Say “Goodbye”
to a member of your family as they are getting on an airplane
to someone who has been annoying you
to a child starting his very first day at school

19. I Spy
I spy with my little eye, something beginning with….

20. ABC Catch
Write the alphabet on the board. Throw a ball to someone and say a word begining with the letter A. This person must catch the ball, say a word begining with the letter B and then throw it to another person. This third person says a word begining with the leter C and so on.

21. Fairy Tale Board Game
This activity is an excellent way to get students to use their imaginations while developing speaking skills
Directions:
1. Take turns rolling the dice and moving the counters around the board.
2. Create a story of your own using the fairy tale characters provided on the squares.