Board games are a great way to enliven an ESL (English as a Second Language) class. Older students as well as younger ones can enjoy them and strengthen their English skills in the process. Games reinforce what students have learned in their lessons by giving them a chance to practice. As part of a wide range of activities, a good selection of board games will diversify an ESL course, benefiting students of all levels and ages.

Snakes and Ladders
A variation of the traditional game Snakes and Ladders (the British version of Chutes and Ladders) lends itself well to the ESL classroom. In this game, students try to avoid snakes; if they land on them, they have to slide down them. Ladders allow them to move up, getting closer to the finish. Along the way, they have to correctly answer questions or identify errors, or they have to move back several spaces. This game can be modified for different purposes. ESL-lounge.com offers printout sheets that teachers can use to make up their own boards. For instance, it can be used to reinforce new vocabulary. The teacher writes new terms on some of the spaces, which students must identify when they land on these spaces. Or the teacher can write phrases with errors in some of the spaces, along with phrases that have no errors. Players have to find the errors.

Word Up
In this game, produced by TEFL Games Co., players move around the board, answering questions about English grammar and vocabulary, says Alex Case in a review on TEFL.net. It has many similarities to Monopoly, he says. For instance, when they land on certain spaces, students must draw cards that challenge their knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. They answer questions in four different categories related to grammar and vocabulary, and they attempt to collect two scoring tokens for each category. The first player to do this wins the game. The game can be played at five different levels, and students of different levels can play together.

Present Perfect
This game, found on ESL-Lounge.com, is a great "get to know you" activity for ESL students and their teacher, as well as a great way to practice using the present perfect tense. When a student lands on a space that says something like, "a compliment you've received recently," or "a film you've watched recently," they answer in present perfect tense.

Say Two Things About the Picture
This is a simple game meant mainly for younger students or beginners, found on ESL-Galaxy.com. Players must say two things about each picture they land on as they move around the board. The pictures focus on weather, so it's a great way for students to practice words related to weather and the seasons. ESL-Galaxy.com offers other simple games about countries, different tenses and other topics as well.

Other Games
If a teacher is feeling creative, she can adapt many other board games for the ESL classroom. Many games come with a set or two of cards that players must draw from when prompted. The ESL teacher could replace the traditional cards with cards of her own, which pose challenges for ESL students, just as the creators of Word Up did. Students could play some word-based games such as Taboo without even adapting them, or with a modified version tailored to what they've been learning in class.