Difficulty: Easy
Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) can be a fun and rewarding career with great opportunities to travel, explore other cultures and learn new languages. Like many other teaching jobs, a great feeling of fulfillment comes from watching a beginner, with little or no knowledge, grow into an advanced student who is able to use his skills outside of the classroom. Keeping language students interested in moving through the levels of novice to advance requires dedication from the teacher,dynamic teaching techniques, and many fresh ideas for ESL lessons.

Charades
The charades game is known around the world and is easy and fun for students. First, cut out small cards. Write a verb or phrase on each card such as "driving a car." Divide the students into two teams.Each team chooses a person to go first. The chosen student must pull a card from a bag and act out the word for his teammates. If the team gets it right, give one point. If they answer incorrectly, give the opposing team a chance to answer. According to time restrictions, perhaps the first to reach 10 point swins.

Describe it!
Game Show students a picture or draw one on the whiteboard. Ask the students to describe the picture using correct grammar. Example, "It has a tail, it has 4 legs...." For kids classes, award a sticker or other fun item. For adults, points are good.

Create a Story Exercise
Hand out a worksheet with a picture of a person, place or thing. Ask the students to write a story about the picture using a guideline like the one below. What is this woman's occupation? Write a story from her point of view. My name is _____ (make up a name for her).
Write the story in the first-person singular ("I"). Please write a beginning, middle and an end. The story must answer who, what, where,when, why when she is telling the story.

Unscramble the Sentences
Get students to work together while learning sentence structure. Write scrambled sentences on the board. Divide the class into teams or pairs. Give the students an example of a correct sentence. Ask them to unscramble the words with their team to make a proper sentence. The team to say the correct sentence aloud first receives one point.

Compound Word Game
Give students a list of words that can be used to form compound words. The words should be in sets of threes (nail, print, tip). Divide the class into two teams. Have the students to select one person to write the words on the board. The team must guess the "common" word that can be used to form a compound word with each of the base words (finger - nail, finger - print, finger -- tip). Here are some more examples: shoe, storm, man (common word = snow), light, break, time (common word = day), etc.