Transportation: Some Interactive Activities for ESL Teachers and Students

Learning vocabulary related to transportation can require a lot of time and effort. There are traffic signs, modes of transportation, how to ask for and give directions, bicycle and pedestrian safety, etc. that all go under the heading of teaching and learning about transportation in English.

Here are some sites that have either interactive online activities for or that have some partner/group activities for ESL students. The levels that these activities correspond to vary so that teachers can choose appropriate activities for their students. Some of these activities are also appropriate for the individual English language learner who wants some extra practice.

Videos:

Videos are a great way to hear different English accents and see pictures related to the material being learned. They are especially useful if students want to hear someone other than their teacher talking.

This video offers some basic vocabulary related to answering the question, "How are we going to get there?" It covers traveling by bus, motorbike, plane, etc. The narrator repeats himself after each new vocabulary word or phrase, and the pictures are very descriptive, making it easy to understand what the vocabulary means.

This video goes over some of the different modes of transportation as well. It is a little more extensive than the previous video. It does have an advertisement at the beginning of the video that will have to be waited through, unfortunately.

I would also highly recomment checking out YouTube's collection of ESL videos related to transportation. Just do a search for "ESL and transportation," and several good videos are referenced.

Games:

These games are appropriate for individual learners and small groups who can learn around one computer. If there is a computer lab available for students, some games can be played in the ESL laboratory time.

This site is an online interactive game of Memory related to transportation. Students match the word with the picture. It can be done by an individual or by a group of students who can sit around a computer.

BINGO! This game is a classic and an all-time favorite. Here is a printable worksheet for playing transportation Bingo in your classroom.

Here you can play Hangman with a transportation theme online. This is a good activity for an individual learner or a small group of students who might need some extra practice.

Partner/Group Activities:

This worksheet is good for elementary to intermediate level students who are working in pairs or in small
groups.

This worksheet is better suited to more advanced students. It covers a wider range of transportation-related vocabulary and situations than other activities listed.

Keep your ESL classroom engaged with these interactive transportation activities that will help reinforce vocabulary and concepts gone over in class. If you are an individual learning English, these activities will help vary your study regimen, and they will give you some extra practice learning about transportation.