Picture this: Your student Mahmoud has been in the country for six months. His English is pretty solid in class. He can talk about his weekend, describe his favorite foods, and a lot more.
Then one day, he needs to get bloodwork done at the hospital. He parks, walks in… and the hospital is massive. The volunteer at the information desk gives him directions: “Take the elevator to the third floor, turn right, go past radiology, and it’s the second hallway on your left. You’ll see the sign for the lab.”
He nods and smiles. Then he walks away having understood maybe “elevator” and “third floor.”
Twenty minutes later, he’s wandered past the cafeteria twice, accidentally ended up in a staff-only area, and is now completely turned around. Google maps can’t help. The signs might as well be in hieroglyphics. And he’s too embarrassed to go back and ask again…if he could even find the information desk again.
All those conversation activities about hobbies and weather? Useless when your student can’t figure out how to get from Point A to Point B.
I know; I know. Teaching directions feels basic and perhaps even boring. But here’s the thing: this is one of those skills your students will use almost immediately, and if they don’t have it, they’re stuck depending on others for everything. That GPS app? Great until the device’s battery dies or they’re talking to an actual human who’s trying to help them.
So yeah, we need to teach this. But let’s talk about why it matters more than you might think.
Four Reasons to Take Direction-Giving Seriously
Most ESL teachers treat directions like a throw-away lesson, you know, something you cover in week two and never revisit. But here’s the truth: teaching students how to ask for, give, and follow directions is one of the most practical, empowering things you can do in an adult ESL classroom. Here’s why it deserves way more attention than it gets.
1. Your Students Need to Function in Their Daily Lives
Real talk: Most of your adult students have responsibilities. They’re not just learning English for fun or to pad a resume. They need to get their kids to school. Drive to work. Find the grocery store that carries the specific ingredients they need. Take their elderly parents to doctor appointments.
When they can’t ask for or understand directions, they’re not just inconvenienced. They’re trapped. Dependent. Having to drag a bilingual friend or family member everywhere, or worse, just not going places they need to go.
Learning how to ask “How do I get to the pharmacy?” and understand “Go straight for two blocks, then turn left at the traffic light” isn’t some abstract academic goal. It’s freedom. Independence. The ability to live their life without a translator.
2. They’re Going to Talk to Actual English Speakers (Who Probably Talk Fast)
Your students are going to interact with native English speakers who give directions. The gas station attendant, the receptionist at the dentist’s office, and random helpful people on the street.
And here’s what’s going to happen: Those people are going to talk fast. If your students don’t know the vocabulary, the prepositions, the typical ways English speakers give directions? They’re going to smile, nod, walk away, and be completely lost. Then they’ll either give up or spend thirty minutes wandering around trying to figure it out.
By teaching this language explicitly, you’re giving them the tools to truly understand what people are telling them. And just as importantly, to ask follow-up questions when they don’t understand.
3. Direction Giving is Great for Critical Thinking
Here’s something I didn’t expect when I started really focusing on directions in my classes: Students got SO much better at problem-solving.
Think about it. When you’re trying to get somewhere new, you have to process complex information quickly and visualize a route you’ve never taken (not everyone can do this, by the way). Then you also need to make decisions about which way to go, adapt when you realize you made a wrong turn, and of course, figure out how to ask for help when you’re lost.
That’s a lot of cognitive work! And when students practice giving and following directions in English, they’re building all of those skills.
Think of Su-Bin, who was terrified of driving anywhere new. She’d only go to places she already knew. But after spending time on directions (with lots of practice, mistakes, and laughs), she started exploring. She later tells her classmates that learning to think through routes in English somehow made her more confident thinking through routes in general.
4. Direction-Giving Differences Are REAL
This one surprised me when I first started teaching. I assumed directions were pretty universal. You know: left, right, straight, done.
Nope.
Some people give directions based on cardinal directions (north, south, east, west). Some use landmarks exclusively. Some are incredibly precise (“walk 200 meters”), while others are wonderfully vague (“walk a little bit, then turn”).
Then you’ve got rural Americans telling you “If you see the dead cow, you’ve gone too far,” or “turn before you see the bridge over the dried-up creek”. Helpful, right?
So, how do we make this genuinely interesting?
Four ESL Activities to Practice Giving Directions
Let’s be real: worksheets about turning left and right can be super helpful and yet a snoozefest if that’s all you give them. Here are some activities to try along with those worksheets:
Activity 1. Get Them Moving (Literally)
Do navigation exercises. Set up a fake city in your classroom with desks as buildings. Have students give each other directions while walking around.
Better yet? Blindfold yourself and have students give YOU directions across the classroom. Follow their instructions TO THE LETTER, even if they accidentally send you into a wall. (Trust me on this. The first time someone tells you to “go straight” and forgets to mention “stop before the bookshelf,” everyone learns REAL fast why precision matters.) Plus, it’s fun to take them completely literally even when you know they’re about to have you fall over something.
You might end up with a few bruises, but your students will never forget that lesson.
Activity 2. Use Their Actual Neighborhood
Bring in real maps of your local area. Have students practice giving directions to the places they really need to go like the post office, the DMV, and the good grocery store, not the sketchy one.
Even better, have them bring in photos of places they go regularly and practice giving directions to those spots. Suddenly it’s not abstract. It’s their life.
Activity 3. Create Real Scenarios
Set up role-plays that mirror situations they’ll face in real life. Think mock airport with gates and terminals or a pretend train station. Oh, or how about a simulated downtown area with shops and restaurants? Maybe even move your classroom furniture around and label it with building names and street names.
Don’t have time to create all that from scratch? I made a Giving Directions role-play resource ↗ specifically for adult ESL classes that takes care of the setup for you. Because who has time to reinvent the wheel?
Activity 4. Make Technology Your Friend
Use Google Maps in class. Pull up Street View and have students navigate through an actual city. But honestly? Even just projecting a map on the board and having students talk through routes works wonders.
The key is making it active, making it relevant, and making it something where mistakes are funny, not embarrassing.
Make Room for Directions
Look, I get it. There are a million things competing for space in your curriculum, and directions can feel like something students will just “pick up” on their own. But they won’t. Not unless they’re super brave or super desperate. And even then, they’ll learn through frustration and embarrassment instead of confidence and competence. Spending real time on this topic, not as just one throwaway lesson, but with actual practice with real scenarios and meaningful feedback, gives your students something they’ll use. And isn’t that the whole point?
The Bottom Line
Teaching directions might not be the hottest topic in your curriculum. It’s certainly not going to blow anyone’s mind with linguistic complexity. But you know what? It’s one of those skills that will immediately make your students’ lives easier.
Now get out there and make someone walk into a wall. (Safely. With a blindfold. You know what I mean.)
That’s it from me. See you in the next post!
Want something ready-made you can use with your students today?
These are available in my TpT shop:
Giving Directions role play pack . . . | | | . . . Logical Order Writing Activity – GIVING DIRECTIONS
prepositions of location task cards . . . | | | . . . prepositions of location worksheets . . . | | | . . . prepositions of movement worksheets
