English as a Second Language (ESL) classes often include repetitive drills and exercises. In order to get students more engaged in your ESL lessons, try introducing a few interactive games with exciting topics or a competitive angle that will encourage students to voluntarily participate and interact with their classmate.

Freeze Ball
Prepare a set of flashcards with vocabulary words your class is studying. Arrange students in a circle, and hand one student a ball. Place all of the flashcards facedown in the middle of the circle. Tell students to begin passing the ball around (like the game "Hot Potato"). When you say "Freeze!" the student holding the ball must stop. That student chooses a word from the pile and then uses it in a sentence. To make this game more challenging for advanced students, add a twist. For example, if the student chooses a verb, tell him to use it in past progressive tense. If he chooses an adjective, tell him the noun he uses in the sentence must start with a certain letter.

Password
Divide students into two teams, and arrange both teams in two straight lines. Start at one end, and give the two students on the ends a flashcard with the password (any vocabulary word of your choosing). The students whisper it from one to the next, all the way down the line, until the last students on both teams say the password aloud. The team (or both, if that happens) that says the right password wins a point. Move that student to the end of the line and begin again. The idea is to focus on good pronunciation, which can be difficult when whispering, so ask students to cover their ears until it is their turn so that speaking students can say the word more clearly.

Conversation Starter
Encourage students to talk about themselves with this interactive game. Write a set of 12 numbered questions on the board (questions may vary depending on your students' proficiency level). Examples include "What is your favorite meal?" or "What are your hobbies?" Hand the first student a set of dice, and have her roll. The number she rolls corresponds to the number of the question she must answer. To make this game more competitive, keep track on the board of which numbers each student has answered. The first student to roll and answer all 12 questions is the winner.