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ESL Speaking Activities · CEFR A2-B1

20 ESL Speaking Activities for Teenagers

Twenty speaking activities that work with teenagers: competitive where competition helps, safe where a teenager would rather die than look foolish, and short enough to hold a class that has already had five lessons that day.

  • CEFR A2-B1
  • Speaking
  • No materials needed
  • Large classes
  • 20 activities

About these activities

Each activity gives the language it practises, numbered steps, a variation and a note for large classes. Most need nothing at all.

What is different about a teenage class

  • Fear of looking foolish beats willingness to try. A teenager who would happily answer you alone will say nothing in front of thirty classmates. Almost everything here starts in pairs or small groups, where the audience is two people, not the room.
  • Give them something to hide behind. A role, a card, a character, a team - anything that means a mistake belongs to the part and not to them personally. It is the single most useful trick with this age group.
  • Competition works, but keep it short and team-based. Individual competition in front of the class humiliates the weakest learner; team competition over three minutes energises everyone.
  • Their own lives are the best content, on their terms. Music, food, phones, sport, what they would change about school. Avoid anything that forces a teenager to reveal family circumstances or money.
  • Set a visible time limit. "Three minutes" written on the board with a countdown focuses a teenage class far better than "when you finish".
  • Do not correct in front of the class during speaking. Note it, and deal with it at the end without naming anyone. At this age, public correction stops the speaking for a week, not a lesson.

Openers: five minutes, no preparation

For the start of a lesson, especially a lesson after lunch or last thing in the afternoon.

1 Would you rather

  • Time 5 minutes
  • Learners work Pairs, then whole class
  • You need None

Language Giving opinions and reasons; I'd rather ... because ...

  1. Write one choice on the board: Would you rather be able to fly or to be invisible?
  2. Pairs choose and give one reason each. Thirty seconds, no more.
  3. Take a show of hands, then hear two reasons from each side.
  4. Learners write the next choice for the class.

Variation Keep a class list of the questions they invent, and use one at the start of every lesson.

Large class The hands do the counting for you. Hear four learners, not forty.

2 Three emojis

  • Time 5 minutes
  • Learners work Pairs
  • You need None

Language Past simple; describing feelings and events

  1. Draw three emojis on the board that describe your weekend, and let the class guess the story.
  2. Learners draw three for their own weekend.
  3. In pairs, they swap papers and guess; then the owner tells the real story in three sentences.

Variation Three emojis for a film, a match or a holiday instead.

Large class No change needed. Ask two pairs to share the funniest guess.

3 The lie detector

  • Time 6 minutes
  • Learners work Groups of four
  • You need None

Language Question forms; past simple; short answers

  1. One learner in each group says something they did last year. It may be true or false.
  2. The group has one minute to ask questions and decide.
  3. The speaker admits the truth. A group that guesses right wins a point.
  4. Rotate until everyone has spoken once.

Variation Give the sentence stems for weaker classes: Last year I went to ..., I met ..., I tried ...

Large class All groups play at the same time; keep the scores in the groups, not on the board.

4 Two-minute expert

  • Time 5 minutes
  • Learners work Pairs
  • You need None

Language Explaining; present simple; sequencing words

  1. Each learner chooses something they can genuinely do: a game, a recipe, a skill on a phone.
  2. They explain it to their partner in one minute, and the partner must then explain it back in thirty seconds.
  3. Swap roles.

Variation The listener has to spot one step that was missed - it turns listening into a task.

Large class No change needed.

5 Rank these five

  • Time 5 minutes
  • Learners work Groups of three
  • You need None

Language Comparatives and superlatives; agreeing and disagreeing

  1. Write five things on the board: five ways to travel, five school subjects, five jobs.
  2. Groups must agree an order from best to worst in three minutes. Agreement is the task, not the order.
  3. Two groups read their order and defend the top one.

Variation Hand the choosing over: each group writes the five items for another group to rank.

Large class Every group works at once; hear two.

Games with a language point

Competitive, fast, and pointed at one piece of language rather than at general fun.

6 Back to the board

  • Time 10 minutes
  • Learners work Two teams
  • You need None

Language Defining and describing; It's a thing that ...

  1. One learner from each team sits with their back to the board.
  2. Write a word. Their team describes it without saying the word or any part of it.
  3. The first of the two to say the word wins the point. Change the sitter every round.
  4. Board the phrases they need first: It's a place where ... You use it to ...

Variation Use only words from the last two units, and the game becomes revision.

Large class Four teams, four sitters, one word: the first to say it wins. It works with any class size.

7 Just a minute

  • Time 10 minutes
  • Learners work Groups of four
  • You need A watch or phone timer

Language Fluency; any known vocabulary; hesitation devices

  1. A learner speaks on an easy topic for sixty seconds without long pauses.
  2. The group counts the pauses rather than interrupting.
  3. Teach two fillers first - Well, let me think, the thing is - and they will notice the difference immediately.
  4. Everyone takes a turn; the group's best time goes on the board.

Variation Thirty seconds for A2 classes; ninety for confident B1.

Large class Groups of four run at once, so twenty-four learners each speak in ten minutes.

8 Find the connection

  • Time 10 minutes
  • Learners work Groups of three
  • You need None

Language Explaining and reasoning; because, which means, they are both ...

  1. Write three unconnected words on the board: a train, a wedding, rice.
  2. Groups have three minutes to argue a connection between all three. Any connection is allowed if they can defend it.
  3. Each group gives its connection in one sentence; the class judges which is the most convincing, not the most likely.
  4. Play a second round with words the groups write for each other.

Variation Two words for a weaker class; four for a strong one.

Large class Groups work at the same time; hear four and let the class vote by hands.

9 Taboo topics

  • Time 10 minutes
  • Learners work Pairs
  • You need None, or word cards if you have them

Language Circumlocution: saying something when you do not know the word

  1. Learner A must describe a word without using it or three other obvious words you name.
  2. B guesses. Swap after each word.
  3. Point out that this is the most useful real-life skill in the lesson: explaining around a word you have forgotten.

Variation Learners write the cards for the other half of the class.

Large class Every pair plays at once from the same list on the board.

10 Story dice, without dice

  • Time 12 minutes
  • Learners work Groups of four
  • You need None

Language Past tenses; sequencing; invention

  1. Each learner writes one noun on a slip and puts it face down in the middle.
  2. The group turns them over and must build one story that uses all four words.
  3. Three minutes to agree the story, then one learner tells it to another group.
  4. The best story goes to the class.

Variation Add a rule: the story must end with a question for the listeners.

Large class No change needed - the groups never need to hear each other.

Opinions and discussion

For classes that can hold a short conversation, on subjects teenagers actually argue about.

11 Four corners

  • Time 10 minutes
  • Learners work Whole class, moving
  • You need Four signs, or four named corners

Language Agreeing and disagreeing; giving reasons

  1. Name the corners: strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree.
  2. Read a statement: Phones should be allowed in class. Learners stand in the corner that fits them.
  3. Each corner agrees one reason and says it. Anyone may change corner afterwards, and should say why.
  4. Three statements are enough.

Variation Learners write the statements. They are better at it than we are.

Large class Rows instead of corners: stand up, sit down, or raise one hand for each level of agreement.

12 The interview chair

  • Time 12 minutes
  • Learners work Whole class, then pairs
  • You need None

Language Question forms; present and past simple

  1. One learner sits at the front as a character of their choice - a famous person, a character from a film, an older version of themselves.
  2. The class asks questions in role; the learner answers as the character.
  3. After one round, everyone does it in pairs so that everybody speaks.
  4. Give three question stems on the board for anyone stuck.

Variation Nobody sits at the front: pairs interview each other from the start, and two volunteer to repeat theirs for the class.

Large class Do the pair version; it needs no space and everyone speaks.

13 Change one rule

  • Time 12 minutes
  • Learners work Groups of four
  • You need None

Language Should; would; reasons and consequences

  1. Each group may change one school rule. They must agree which, and give three reasons.
  2. Each group presents in one minute; the class asks one hard question.
  3. Vote for the most convincing change.

Variation Change a rule at home, in the town, or in a sport instead.

Large class Only four groups present; the rest hand in their three reasons in writing.

14 Balloon debate

  • Time 15 minutes
  • Learners work Groups of five
  • You need None

Language Persuading; comparatives; because, so, that's why

  1. Each learner in a group takes the role of a person or a job: a doctor, a farmer, a teacher, a footballer, an engineer.
  2. The balloon is falling; one must go. Each speaks for thirty seconds on why they should stay.
  3. The group votes - not for themselves - and one is out. Repeat until two remain.
  4. The survivors from each group face the class.

Variation Objects instead of people: which five things would you keep if you had to give up the rest?

Large class Groups of five run simultaneously; one finalist from each of four groups takes the class round.

15 Agree or disagree lines

  • Time 10 minutes
  • Learners work Two lines facing each other
  • You need None

Language Opinions; I think ... What about you?

  1. Two lines face each other. One line argues for, the other against, whatever they privately think.
  2. Say a statement; pairs argue for forty seconds.
  3. One line moves one place; new partner, new statement.
  4. After three rounds, lines swap sides and argue the opposite.

Variation The last round is free: argue what you actually believe.

Large class Make four short lines rather than two long ones.

Longer tasks: one lesson or two

When speaking needs a purpose beyond practice, and a product at the end.

16 Pitch it

  • Time 20 minutes
  • Learners work Groups of three
  • You need None

Language Presenting; persuading; it helps you to ...

  1. Each group invents a product that solves a problem teenagers actually have.
  2. They prepare a sixty-second pitch: what it is, who it is for, why it is better.
  3. Groups pitch; the class scores each on usefulness and clarity, not on English.
  4. The winning pitch is repeated to another class if you can arrange it.

Variation Pitch an app, a club, a school trip or a charity event instead.

Large class Groups pitch to two other groups rather than to the whole class; only the best two reach the front.

17 The news team

  • Time 25 minutes
  • Learners work Groups of four
  • You need None

Language Past simple and present perfect; reporting

  1. Each group is a news team covering something that happened in the school or town this month.
  2. Roles: presenter, reporter, two people interviewed.
  3. They prepare a two-minute bulletin with at least two interview questions.
  4. Perform to the class or record on a phone.

Variation Invent the news: a story from the year 2050.

Large class Half the groups perform this lesson, half the next.

18 Design the perfect school day

  • Time 20 minutes
  • Learners work Groups of four
  • You need None

Language Times; we would start at ...; giving reasons

  1. Groups design a school day from start to finish, with times, and must justify three decisions.
  2. They write the timetable on a sheet and display it.
  3. The class walks round, reads them, and asks one question of each group.
  4. Vote for the day most learners would choose.

Variation Design a school week, or a perfect classroom instead.

Large class Displaying on the wall means nobody has to present from the front.

19 The advice column

  • Time 20 minutes
  • Learners work Pairs, then new pairs
  • You need None

Language Should; suggestions; sympathising

  1. Pairs write a short problem for a teenage advice page - a safe, everyday one: too much homework, a lost phone, an argument with a friend.
  2. Problems are swapped with another pair, who prepare spoken advice with three suggestions.
  3. The two pairs meet: one reads the problem aloud, the other gives the advice.
  4. The class hears the two best.

Variation You supply the problems if the class would rather not write their own.

Large class Pairs work simultaneously; problems are swapped within a row.

20 Teach the class something

  • Time 25 minutes
  • Learners work Individual, then groups
  • You need Learners may bring one object or picture

Language Explaining; imperatives; sequencing

  1. Each learner prepares a two-minute lesson on something they know that others do not.
  2. Give the language of instruction: First, take ... Next, you need to ... Be careful not to ...
  3. In groups of four, each teaches their two minutes; the group must ask two questions.
  4. Two volunteers teach the whole class.

Variation Everyone teaches something from the same field - a sport, a dish, a phone trick - so the language repeats.

Large class Groups of four means every learner teaches within ten minutes, whatever the class size.

Questions teachers ask

My teenagers just will not speak. Where do I start?

Pairs, a role, and a visible time limit. Start with Three emojis or Would you rather, where the answer cannot be wrong and the audience is one person. Whole-class speaking is the last step, not the first.

They speak, but in their own language.

Give a short window - "English only for three minutes" - and put the exact phrases they need on the board first. Most first-language use at this age is a missing phrase, not defiance. Team points for English-only minutes work better than telling off.

A few loud learners dominate every activity.

Use activities with a fixed turn: Just a minute, the balloon debate, the lie detector. When everybody has a numbered turn, the quiet ones speak and the loud ones wait, without you having to say so.

Are games not a waste of a lesson?

A game with a language point is practice with attention on the meaning, which is when language sticks. Back to the board drills defining language harder than any exercise. A game without a language point is the waste.

How do I mark or assess speaking activities?

Do not mark most of them. Choose one activity a month, listen to four or five learners against three criteria you have shown the class beforehand, and keep a note. Trying to assess everyone every time is why speaking gets dropped.

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About this collection

Written by RCF English to the RCF English international standard: levelled by the CEFR, original throughout, and suitable for classrooms in any country. Last reviewed 22 September 2026.

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