I’m standing outside my classroom door, pretending to check my phone while I eavesdrop on my adult ESL students, and I hear Subin telling Ahmed, “This class is so fun! I learn so much, and we talk the whole time.” And then Ahmed agrees! “Better than my last grammar class. We just did exercises out of the book.”
Excuse me…make way…trying to fit my head through the doorway.
Here’s the thing. I LOVE grammar. The patterns, the logic, the way everything clicks into place when you finally get it. My students though? Ehhh, not so much. They tolerate grammar because they know they need it. But fun? Yeah, that’s not the word most adult ESL students associate with grammar classes.
So when I overhear conversations like that one, I know I’m doing something right.
Why Most Adult ESL Grammar Practice Falls Flat
We assign students an exercise in their grammar book. They fill in blanks. They circle correct answers. But then what? They can’t use it.
They freeze up in conversation, and they second, third, and fourth-guess themselves. They know the rule when they see it on paper, but put them on the spot to actually SPEAK using that grammar point, and suddenly their brain goes blank.
It’s like learning to swim by reading about swimming. You might understand the mechanics, but you’re still going to panic when someone pushes you in the pool.
Our adult ESL students need opportunities to USE the grammar they’ve learned. Not just recognize it or write it, but actually speak it, in real time, with the pressure on and their classmates listening. And then at some point they’re going to have to use it outside the classroom. Oooh. Scary.
That’s where these games come in.
What Makes These Grammar Games Different?
I’m not talking about those forced “fun” activities where everyone can tell you’re just trying to trick them into learning. You know the ones. Where students play along politely but you can see in their eyes that they’d rather be doing literally anything else. Possibly even a worksheet.
These games, however, get competitive. Students get so focused on winning points and catching their partners making mistakes that they forget to be nervous about speaking. They’re too busy paying attention to what everyone’s saying to worry about their own accents or whether they sound smart.
Plus, here’s something I love: students can earn points for their OWN answers AND for catching other people’s errors. Nothing makes people listen more carefully than the possibility of stealing a point.
Grammar Game #1: Late for Work
I’m not saying this is preparing them to bend the truth in the future, but it could help that way. 😉
The Setup
You need pairs. One supervisor and one employee who just walked in late. (If you’ve got an odd number, make it two employees who carpooled together and both showed up late.)
The supervisor is suspicious. The employee is… creative with the truth.
Here’s How It Goes: The supervisor asks information questions to figure out why this employee is late. “What happened on your way to work?” “Where were you at 8:30 this morning?” “Why didn’t you call?”
The employee answers every question with a full sentence. Not “Traffic.” Not “Flat tire.” Full detailed sentences. “I got stuck in terrible traffic on the highway.” “I was waiting for a tow truck on the side of the road.”
The supervisor keeps asking questions, trying to catch the employee in a lie. More questions mean more points.
The Point System (This is where it gets good!)
Supervisors earn one point for each information question they ask. They also earn a bonus point every time the employee answers with a fragment instead of a full sentence…IF they catch them at it.
Employees earn one point for each full-sentence answer. They earn a bonus point every time the supervisor slips up and asks a yes/no question instead of an information question…IF they catch it and point it out before starting to answer.
See what I’m doing here? Students are so focused on earning points and catching each other’s mistakes that they’re speaking in complete sentences without even thinking “oh, what a drag”.
The Catch for Upper Levels
With advanced students, I don’t give them the point if there’s a grammatical error. Sounds harsh, but it makes them self-correct like crazy. They’ll stop mid-sentence and fix their own mistakes because they want that point.
For lower levels, I let them ask neighboring classmates for help. I want them practicing, not paralyzed by fear of making mistakes.
My Favorite Part
The stories students come up with are WILD.
Last semester, “Dmitri” told his supervisor he was late because he stopped to help an old woman carry her groceries, but then she invited him in for tea, and it would have been rude to refuse, and then she wanted to show him photos of her grandchildren, and by the time he escaped it was 10 a.m.
His supervisor kept asking follow-up questions. “What kind of tea?” “How many grandchildren did she have?” “What color was her house?”
Dmitri answered every single one in a full sentence with correct past tense. He earned 23 points. His supervisor earned 19.
Did I care that the story was obviously fabricated? Not even a little. He used past tense correctly 23 times in a row under pressure. Besides, this is a game, not an exercise in plausible truth telling.
Extension: Flip It
After the dialogue, have supervisors share whether they believed the story or not. Then the employees get to ask information questions: “What made you think I was lying?” “Which part didn’t make sense?”
More speaking, more question formation, and everyone’s still practicing.
Grammar Game #2: Speed Fortune-Telling
Again, truthfulness has no place here.
The Grammar Target
Future tense. All of it. Simple future for beginners and future progressive, future perfect, heck, even future perfect progressive for advanced students who think they’re too close to passing the TOEFL to mess with games.
The Preparation (This part matters, so don’t skip it!)
Before you play, have students write 10-15 information questions using future tense that they will be asking a classmate. (So, make sure that the subject is always “I”.) Give them time and encourage them to get them to be creative. (Maybe write a couple on the board to demonstrate how not to use dry as dirt questions.)
Lower levels might stick to basics: “When will I get married?” “Where will I live in ten years?” That’s fine. They’re beginners. It’s hard to be creative AND use English at the same time when you’re just starting out.
Higher levels can get weird: “How long will I have been working at my job when I finally quit?” “What will I be doing to the teacher’s car this time tomorrow?”
The weirder the questions, the better the game.
Setting the Stage
Divide your class in half. Line up all your fortune tellers in a row (or in a circle facing outward if your classroom allows it). Put a chair in front of each fortune teller.
Fortune seekers sit facing the fortune tellers.
How to Play
You give them 30 seconds to one minute. In that time, the fortune seeker asks as many questions as possible, and the fortune teller answers as many as possible.
When time’s up, all fortune seekers move one seat to the left. Fortune seekers ask any questions that didn’t get answered before, or ask the same ones again if the previous fortune teller happened to think fast and answer faster.
The goal? Ask and answer as many questions as you can before time runs out.
The Assistant Role
If you’ve got an odd number of students, pick someone with strong English skills and make them the “assistant.” They float around helping fortune tellers who get stuck on an answer.
This keeps the game moving and gives your stronger student a leadership role without making them feel like they’re sitting out.
What I Love About This One
The answers students come up with are absolutely ridiculous.
“Kenji” asked “Fatima” when he would retire.
She told him, “You will retire when you’re 95 years old, and you will have been working as a professional dancer for 70 years.”
Kenji’s follow-up question: “Where will I be dancing when I’m 50?”
Fatima didn’t miss a beat. “You will be dancing ballet on the moon.”
Fortune tellers on either side of her laughed, but you know what? Perfect future tense while under pressure with a timer ticking.
Extension: Capture the Best Answers
Have students write down their favorite answer to each question. They might need to go back and ask their fortune teller to repeat it (more speaking practice right there).
Then share the best ones with the class. I guarantee you’ll get even more laughter.
Grammar Game #3: The Hot Seat
Okay, so now they have to be honest.
What You’re Targeting
Yes/no questions and information answers using present tenses.
Level 1: Simple present only
Level 2: Simple present and present progressive
Level 3: All three (simple present, present progressive, present perfect)
The Preparation (Do This in Advance or for Homework)
Students create as many yes/no questions as they possibly can. The weirder and funnier, the better, but they should also have some ordinary ones.
“Do you ever brush your hair with your toothbrush?”
“Are you sweating right now?”
“Have you ever lied about being late for class?”
Give them time to get creative. The questions are what make this game fun.
The Setup: Put one chair at the front of the room. That’s the hot seat. One student sits in it, facing the rest of the class.
The Catch (This Is What Makes It Hard)
The student in the hot seat must answer every question WITHOUT using the words “yes” or “no.”
Not “No, I don’t brush my hair with my toothbrush.”
Not “No, I don’t.”
Full information answers only.
“I never brush my hair with my toothbrush.”
“I am sweating right now.”
“I have lied about being late for class.”
The Point System
Every answer that doesn’t include yes or no: the class earns one point.
Every answer that starts with yes or no (even if the student catches themselves): I (okay, or you, the teacher) earn one point.
But here’s where I’m generous. If they START with yes/no and then immediately correct themselves and finish with a proper answer, I usually give them the point anyway. It evens out, and it keeps them motivated to self-correct.
Why This One Gets Them
Students are SO used to answering yes/no questions with… yes or no. Breaking that habit takes serious concentration.
The ticking clock doesn’t help. You give each person one to two minutes in the hot seat, and classmates fire questions as fast as they can.
I’ve watched students literally clap their hand over their mouth when they realize they’re about to say “yes.” Then they take a breath and rephrase. “I have been to Paris.”
That’s the moment. That’s when they’re really thinking about how English sounds in information answers.
What I Hear from the Hot Seat
- “Yes… I mean… I do like pizza!”
- “No… wait… I have never stolen anything!”
- “Ye… I am tired right now!”
Every single time they catch themselves, they’re reinforcing the correct pattern. They’re training their brain to default to information answers instead of just yes/no.
And the class? They’re listening like hawks, tense with the possibility that I’m going to get that sweet, sweet point instead of them.
My Favorite Extension
Put yourself in the hot seat. This time, if you get it right, you get the point. If you screw it up, they get the point.
Let them attack you with their questions.
They go WILD. They’ll ask you everything they’ve been dying to know. They’ll try their hardest to make you slip up and say yes or no.
Last time I did this, “Rani” asked me, “Have you ever forgotten a student’s name?”
I almost said “Yes”, but I caught myself. “I have definitely forgotten students’ names.”
The class erupted. They could see I almost slipped. I didn’t earn them a point, but I came close, and that made their day.
Why These Games Are Evergreen
These aren’t just fun time-fillers. They’re structured practice that forces students to use specific grammar points in speaking, under pressure, in front of their peers.
That’s the real test. Not whether they can circle the right answer in an exercise in their grammar book. It’s whether they can pull it out of their brain and use it when they need it.
All three of these games create that moment. The moment where students are so focused on the game, they forget to be nervous about speaking English.
That’s when the learning happens.
Making These Games Fit Your Class
You know your students. You know who needs more support, who needs more challenge, and who will monopolize the conversation if you let them.
Adjust the point systems. Change the time limits. Add or remove grammar requirements based on what your students can handle.
The core structure holds up. Competition, points, catching mistakes. Those elements keep students engaged regardless of level.
But the specifics? Make them yours.
If your students struggle with full-sentence answers, let them appoint a classmate as a supporter to help them. If they’re advanced and getting bored, add more complex grammar requirements. If they’re too nervous to play in front of the whole class, let them practice in small groups first.
The Bottom Line
The goal isn’t perfection, you’ll find it never is with me. It’s getting them to speak using the grammar they’ve learned.
These games do that, consistently, and with actual enthusiasm.
Try one this week. See what happens. I bet they’ll have fun.
That’s it from me. See you in the next post!
Read more about teaching adult ESL grammar!
2 Fun Activities for Reviewing Prepositions of Time
How to Teach Coordinating Conjunctions to Adult ESL Students (Discovery Lesson Method)
Conditionals Worksheets: 6 Quick Ways to Make Them FUN!
Find grammar activities and more in my TpT store!
