Atividades de conversação em inglês para iniciantes | 8 jogos fáceis que seus alunos vão adorar

Getting beginner ESL students to speak English can feel like pulling teeth. They’re nervous. They don’t want to make mistakes. And sometimes they just stare at you like you asked them to give a TED talk.

Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Speaking is the hardest skill for most beginners because it feels so personal. But here’s the good news: with the right ESL speaking activities, even your quietest students will start talking — and maybe even enjoy it.

These 8 speaking activities for beginners are low-prep, easy to explain, and work with students of all ages. Let’s get into it.

1. The Question Ball

Time: 5–10 minutes | Best for: Warm-ups

Write simple questions all over a beach ball or soft ball with a marker. Things like “What’s your favorite food?” or “Do you have a pet?” Students stand in a circle and toss the ball. When you catch it, whatever question is closest to your right thumb — that’s your question to answer.

This is one of the best ESL speaking activities for beginners because it adds a physical element. Students focus on catching the ball instead of worrying about their English. The random question also means nobody can over-prepare and freeze up.

Teacher tip: Start with yes/no questions for true beginners. Add “Why?” follow-ups as they get more comfortable.

2. Two Truths and a Lie

Time: 10–15 minutes | Best for: Getting to know you / first week

Each student writes three sentences about themselves. Two are true, one is a lie. They read their sentences out loud, and the class guesses which one is the lie.

Example:

• I have two brothers.
• I can play the piano.
• I ate pizza for breakfast.

This works so well with beginners because they only need to produce three short sentences. The guessing part creates natural conversation: “I think number 3 is the lie because…” Students practice speaking without even thinking about it.

3. Picture Describe and Draw

Time: 15–20 minutes | Best for: Pair work

Student A gets a simple picture (a house, an animal, a scene). Student B has a blank piece of paper. Student A describes the picture using only English, and Student B tries to draw it without seeing the original.

When they finish, they compare the two pictures. The results are usually hilarious, which keeps the energy high.

This ESL pair work speaking activity forces students to use descriptive language: “There is a big tree on the left side. The cat is sitting under the tree.” It builds both speaking fluency and vocabulary in a natural way.

Teacher tip: Give beginners a word bank on the board (left, right, big, small, next to, between) so they have support.

4. Find Someone Who…

Time: 10–15 minutes | Best for: Whole class mingles

Give each student a worksheet with prompts like:

• Find someone who likes chocolate ice cream.
• Find someone who can swim.
• Find someone who has been to Japan.

Students walk around the room and ask each other questions to fill in names: “Do you like chocolate ice cream?” When someone says yes, they write that person’s name down.

This is a classic ESL speaking activity that works every time. The movement keeps energy up, and students repeat the same question patterns multiple times — which is exactly how beginners build confidence. According to Cambridge University Press, repeated practice with meaningful interaction is one of the most effective ways to develop speaking skills.

5. Story Chain

Time: 10 minutes | Best for: Small groups

Students sit in a circle. The first person says one sentence to start a story: “A boy walked into a forest.” The next person adds a sentence: “He saw a big bear.” Each person adds one sentence, and the story keeps growing.

Rules: No repeating what the person before you said, and you must connect to the previous sentence.

Beginners love this because there’s no wrong answer. The stories get weird and funny fast, which keeps everyone engaged. It also practices past tense in a natural, low-pressure way.

Teacher tip: Write a sentence starter on the board if students are stuck. “Once upon a time…” or “Last weekend…” works great.

6. Role Play with Cue Cards

Time: 15–20 minutes | Best for: Practical English

Create simple role-play scenarios on cards:

• Card A: You are at a restaurant. Order food from the waiter.
• Card B: You are the waiter. Take the customer’s order.

Other scenarios: buying a bus ticket, asking for directions, checking into a hotel, making a doctor’s appointment.

Role plays give beginner ESL students a safe space to practice real-world English. They know it’s pretend, so mistakes feel less scary. Plus, they practice conversation patterns they’ll actually need outside the classroom.

Teacher tip: Model the role play with a strong student first so everyone knows what to do. Provide useful phrases on the board.

7. Would You Rather?

Time: 10 minutes | Best for: Warm-ups or fillers

Ask students fun “Would you rather” questions:

• Would you rather be able to fly or be invisible?
• Would you rather live in the mountains or on the beach?
• Would you rather eat only pizza or only noodles for a month?

Students pick one option and explain why. Start with a simple “I would rather… because…” sentence frame on the board.

This ESL conversation practice activity is gold for beginners because every question has only two choices. Students don’t have to come up with ideas from nothing — they just pick and explain. It naturally pushes them into giving reasons, which is where real speaking practice happens.

8. Survey and Report

Time: 15–20 minutes | Best for: Speaking + data skills

Give students a survey question: “What is your favorite season?” or “How do you get to school?” Students interview 5–8 classmates and record the answers. Then they report back to the class: “Three people like summer. Two people like winter. Nobody likes Monday.”

This activity hits speaking from two angles. First, students practice asking questions. Then they practice reporting information. That second part — turning data into spoken sentences — is a skill many teachers overlook but it’s incredibly useful.

Teacher tip: Give beginners a reporting template: “___ people said ___. The most popular answer was ___.”

Making These Activities Work

All 8 of these ESL speaking activities for beginners share something important: they give students a reason to talk. Nobody wants to speak English “just because.” But catching a ball, drawing a funny picture, or debating pizza vs. noodles? That’s a reason.

Here are three things to keep in mind when you use them:

1. Model first. Always demonstrate the activity before asking students to do it. Beginners need to see what success looks like.
2. Provide language support. Put useful words and sentence frames on the board. This isn’t cheating — it’s scaffolding.
3. Celebrate effort, not perfection. Beginners will make mistakes. That’s fine. The goal is to get them talking, not to get them talking perfectly.

Try one of these activities in your next class. Pick the one that fits your students best and watch what happens when you give beginners a fun reason to open their mouths and speak.

References

Cambridge University Press. (2020). The Importance of Speaking Activities. https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2020/01/15/importance-speaking-activities/