People all over the world are learning English as a second language. Some need to study English because they are moving to the United States. Many developing countries such as China are also emphasizing English to make their workers more competitive. Teaching English to non-native speakers can be challenging, but there are a variety of exercises that can help.

Alphabetical Order
This exercise is designed for beginners. Provide the students with a list of 20 first and last names along with a sheet of paper containing 20 blank spaces. Then have them write the names in alphabetical order. This will help them learn the order of letters and how to write common names.

Conjunctions
Another exercise for beginners is to give the students a worksheet with the first part of 15-20 sentences. End the sentences after a conjunction and have the students finish the sentence. For example, a sentence could be "I am studying English, but . . ." Students will learn how conjunctions are used to join different ideas.

Agreeing and Disagreeing
Designed for intermediate students, this exercise helps students determine when the writer of a sentence is agreeing with a statement or disagreeing. Write an equal number of agreeing and disagreeing sentences or sentence fragments. Examples would be "I still have some doubts, but . . ." or "I agree up to a point, however . . ." Then divide the students into groups and have them place each sentence or fragment into a disagree or agree pile. When they are done, go over each sentence or fragment with the class.

History Vocabulary
Another intermediate exercise is to pick a historical topic such as the Middle Ages. Then break the topic down even more into categories such as jousting and the Crusades. Under each topic place several words that fit the era and at least one, like rifle, that does not. Have the students cross out the words that do not belong.

Adverbs of Frequency
This is an advanced level exercise. Pair off students and have them add frequencies to hypothetical gender policies. They will decide the appropriate number of times an employee should be allowed to do something before being fired. The answer choices can include once a week, almost always, never or any other frequencies. A possible policy statement would be "a male employee asks females to make coffee for guests."

Rhyming Words
Another advanced level exercise is to provide the students with a list of words and have them pair the words that rhyme, such as "night" and "sight." Then provide them with sentences containing one missing word and have the students fill in the blank by writing the appropriate word.