ESL 100 - Level 1 for Beginners (CEFR level A1-A2) –
Updated 7/15/18
Please note that if you do not finish the questions for the week, you can always make a note
and continue from the question you left off at the week before during your next week’s lesson
with the same student. This should help buy you some time sometimes.
Each week of course you should ask your student the standard questions of “How are you?”
and “What’s new?”. Let them ramble on for as long as possible and talk about real life events
when possible. With low level students it is often hard to keep them talking but do what you
can.
Week 1 Questions – Basic questions for introductions
1. How are you?/How are you doing?
2. What’s your full name and how do you spell that?
3. Where were you born?
4. Do you have any brothers or sisters?
5. Are you married?
6. Do you have any children?
7. Do you have any pets?
8. What do you do? (job)
9. Do you have a favorite color?
10. Do you have a favorite number?
11. Do you have a favorite season?
12. What kind of music do you listen to?
13. Do you have a favorite singer or group?
14. What’s your favorite sport?
15. What are your hobbies?
16. How long have you studied English?
17. Do you speak any other languages?
18. What kind of food do you like?
19. What do you like to drink?
20. What will you do tomorrow?
21. What will you do this weekend?
22. Do you like to travel?
23. Where have you travelled in your life?
24. What is your favorite country? (outside of their home country)
25. How old are you?
Week 2 Questions – Talking about school and English learning
1. Do you still talk to your old school friends? (if yes, how do you keep in touch?)
2. Where did you first hear English?
3. What English words has your native language adopted?
4. Where is English used most in your country?
5. What is your favorite English word or expression?
6. Do you use or practice English every day?
7. Do you have any English-speaking friends?
8. Do you watch many American films? (if yes, do you use subtitles or is the movie dubbed
into your own language?)
9. Do you think English should be the only world language? Why/why not?
10. Why do you want to learn English?
11. Does anyone in your family speak English?
12. Do you use English in your job?
13. What do you like about the English language?
14. What do you dislike about the English language?
15. Do you think English will be important for your future?
16. How important is the English language? (1-10 – 10 is most important)
17. Do you think English is a difficult language to learn? Why/Why not?
18. Which country is the best place to study English?
19. How do you use the Internet to learn English?
20. What do you think you will be able to do in English in the future?
Week 3 Questions – Talking about food and restaurants
1. What is your favorite fruit?
2. What is your favorite vegetable?
3. Do you eat meat? (if yes, what is your favorite kind of meat?)
4. Where do you normally shop for food and why?
5. What did you eat yesterday?
6. Do you like salty or sweet snacks?
7. What are your 3 most favorite American dishes to eat?
8. What dishes from your country would you recommend to a tourist?
9. Are you a good cook? (if yes, what do you like to cook?)
10. How often do you go to restaurants?
11. Which types of food do you like and which is your favorite? (Italian, Chinese, etc.)
12. Do you eat fast food?
13. Have you ever worked in a restaurant? (if no, do you think you would like to work in a
restaurant? Why/Why not?)
14. Do you have any food allergies?
15. Have you ever gotten sick from a restaurant?
16. How much do you tip waiters/waitresses?
17. If you must choose 1 dish to eat every day the rest of your life, which dish would you
choose? (examples: pizza, apple pie, steak, etc.)
18. What's the worst experience you ever had at a restaurant?
19. What's the most disgusting food you ever ate in a restaurant?
20. Do you like eating at buffets? Why or why not?
21. Would you send a dish back if it did not taste good or if you received the wrong food?
22. Have you ever had a restaurant cater a party at your house?
23. Do you like to try new restaurants or go to those you have already been to? Why?
24. Who pays when you go out for dinner?
25. Do you usually leave a tip at the restaurant? If yes, how much?
26. Is tipping common in your country?
27. Can you think of some places where tipping is required?
28. Can you think of some places where tipping is optional?
29. Can you think of some places where tipping is not necessary?
30. What is the largest tip you have ever left?
Week 4 Questions – Daily routine
1. What time do you normally wake up?
2. Do you hit the “snooze” button often when you wake up in the morning?
3. After you wake up, what do you do? Describe your typical morning routine.
4. How long have you had your morning routine?
5. What are your most important tasks in the morning?
6. How many hours of sleep do you normally get each night?
7. What time do you normally go to sleep each evening?
8. What do you normally eat and drink for breakfast in the morning?
9. Do you work out in the morning?
10. How soon do you check your phone in the morning?
11. Do you answer emails first thing in the morning?
12. How does your partner fit into your morning routine?
13. Do you eat at the same times every day?
14. What is your typically work day like?
15. Do you have a different routine for the weekend?
16. What is your favorite time of day?
17. Are you lazy in any way?
18. Do you think your daily routine is healthy?
19. Do you have any healthy habits?
20. Do you have any unhealthy habits?
21. Which bad habit is the hardest to get rid of? Why?
22. Have you been successful in getting rid of a bad habit?
23. Which good habit is hardest to start? Why?
24. How often do you use a computer?
25. How often do you watch TV?
26. Do you do things at the last minute often?
27. Is your daily routine stressful?
28. Are you often late to meetings?
29. Do you smoke? If yes, how often/how much?
30. Do you drink? If yes, how often/how much?
Week 5 Questions – Family
1. Describe the perfect family.
2. Do you have a large, medium or small family? How many people are in your family?
(estimate)
3. What are your parents’ names and how do you spell their names?
4. Where were your parents born?
5. How old were your parents when they got married?
6. Are your parents still married? If yes, how long have they been married?
7. How many aunts and uncles do you have? Who is your favorite and why?
8. Who gives the best gifts in your family?
9. What do you like and dislike about your family?
10. Who are you closest to in your family?
11. How do you keep in touch with your relatives?
12. How many times has your family moved?
13. Does your family have reunions?
14. Who do you respect the most in your family and why?
15. What are the 3 most important events in your family’s history?
16. What is the perfect number of children to have?
17. What do you and your family like to do together?
18. What do you think of married couples who decide not to have any child?
19. What do/did your mother and father look like? How about your grandparents?
20. What are/were the occupations of your family members?
21. What does/did your father do? (What is/was his job?)
22. What does/did your mother do?
23. What is the best memory you have of your family doing something together?
24. Where do/did your grandparents live? Did you visit them often?
25. Where does/did your father's father and mother live? Do you visit them often now?
26. Who do you get along better with, your mother or your father?
27. Who is the black sheep (odd ball) in your family?
28. Where is the best place to raise a family?
29. If you could how many siblings you could have, what number would it be?
30. What can make you most happy in the long term / short term? Consider the following:
job satisfaction, a loving family, good health, plenty of money, strong religious beliefs
Week 6 Questions – Your home
1. Do you live in a house or an apartment?
2. How long have you lived in the place you do now?
3. What is your favorite room where you live?
4. What do you like about where you live?
5. What do you dislike about where you live?
6. What changes have you made to you home?
7. What changes would you like to make to your home?
8. Does your home have a garden?
9. Do you have a swimming pool at home where you live?
10. Would you rather live in the city, suburb, small town or in a village? Why?
11. What is your dream residence?
12. Make a list of the 5 most important things you would look for when choosing a house to
live in.
13. Is it better to rent or buy a home?
14. Do you allow pets in your home?
15. What is the biggest city in your native country? Describe it.
16. Are people active in your home country?
17. What are the most interesting things to do in your country?
18. Do you often use mass transportation in your home country?
19. Is your country safe?
20. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? Why?
21. Do you enjoy sightseeing or museums?
22. Describe the night life where you live.
23. Which countries have you travelled to in your life and which was your favorite?
24. How old were you when you first saw the ocean?
25. Do you like to buy souvenirs on holiday?
26. Where is the most beautiful place you have ever seen? Describe it.
27. How many people live in your country?
28. Do you have a lot of immigrants in your country?
29. Why do tourists come to your country?
30. Where would you recommend a tourist to go in your country and why?
Week 7 – Games – Leisure activities
1. What do you normally do after work?
2. Do you like to read?
3. Do you like to work in the garden?
4. Do you enjoy going to the beach?
5. Do you like to gamble?
6. Do you enjoy shopping?
7. Do you enjoy exercising?
8. What do you like to do with your children?
9. Do you enjoy driving?
10. What kind of music do you like?
11. Where do you go to relax?
12. What is your hobby?
13. How much free time do you need in your life?
14. How much free time do you spend on the internet?
15. Do you like to spend your “free time” working or with friends/family?
Sentence starters
The students need to continue the sentences with their own ideas.
1. Being old is…
2. Boredom is…
3. Love is…
4. A friend is…
5. Without you…
6. I remember…
7. I’ve forgotten…
8. I wish I…
9. If I could…then I would…
10. When I am 64 years old, I will…
Odd one out
The student needs to recognize the “odd” or different word from the other words in the group. It
is a fairly simple game but fun for testing their vocabulary a little.
1. butcher/chemist/clerk/football player/photographer/mother (answer: mother –
technically not a paid job)
2. cap/jersey/blouse/purse/suit/tracksuit (answer: purse- it’s not something you wear)
3. bakery/café/cinema/bank/supermarket/grocery store (answer: bank – there is no food
for sale in a bank – the cinema has refreshments if you were thinking it is the odd
one out)
4. skipping/sliding/swimming/roller skating/reading/running (answer: reading – not a
physical activity)
5. goat/horse/cow/goose/tiger/gorilla (answer: goose – doesn’t have “all fours” as we can
say, only 2 legs and 2 wings but not legs and arms)
6. ball/goal/ski/bicycle/racket/trainers (answer: goal – it is used by us but not in an active
way like the other sports equipment)
7. kind/big/fast/beautiful/old/valuable (answer: kind – it’s a noun)
8. street/traffic lights/car/bus/train/market (answer: market – it has nothing to do with
transportation)
9. field/road/wood/mountain/river/farm (answer: road – it is not part of the natural
landscape)
10. along/under/up/behind/into/on (answer: into – it is not both an adverb and preposition
like the others in the group)
Week 8 - Game
Spelling bee
Many students hate spelling but at this level it is quite important. Ask your students to spell the
following words correctly and keep track of how many they spell right and wrong to give them a
bit of feedback to see if this is an area that really needs to be worked on. There is 39 words here
for the spelling bee. It is probably enough for the 30 minutes with low level students. If not, ask
them about their course and see if there is anything you can help them with since this is the last
week of the course. Review something with them if they need it. Show concern for them and try to
help them. If they have no worries or questions, you can always continue with the spelling bee
and use your own choice of words. If you have another game, try it as well if you have time.
Quiet Address Water
Altogether Beginning Write
Chocolate Bicycle Always
Two Eye Right
Young Answer Believe
House Fruit Clothes
Where Almost Question
Friend Beautiful Daughter
Sea Enough People
Business Color Thief
Already Vegetable Because
Chief Money Cupboard
Light Knee Running
