Practise and improve your speaking skills with these activities.

a woman speaking with her friend

When do people queue?

People in the UK like to queue when they are waiting in places like the bank and post office. Watch the video, which focuses on how and why people queue in the UK and practise your speaking skills as you complete the activities.

The school run

a mother pushing a pram and walking home with her son

When you describe a photo it is important to say where the people are and what the people are doing. These activities help you to practise using the present continuous to say what someone is doing in a photo. You will also learn new words about school. Listen to a description of the photograph above. 

In a hospital ward

doctors and nurses speaking with a patient

When you are describing a place it is useful to use relative clauses to add details to your description. These activities will help you to give a detailed description of a hospital scene, using relative clauses and a wider range of specialist vocabulary connected to hospitals. You will also practise asking questions in hospital. 

At work

mechanic apprentices

Would you like to learn how to describe a picture? These activities will help you to speak about what you see in a photograph, in this case a photo of people at work. Listen to someone describing the picture.

Describing a picture: a formal conversation

In this description of a photo of a formal conversation, you will hear language to speculate about how people are feeling and what they might be saying to each other. Use these activities to build your range of feelings adjectives, practise modals for speculating and practise word order in indirect questions.

Describing a picture: market stall

Would you like to learn how to describe a picture? These activities will help you to speak about what you see in a photograph, in this case a photo of a market.

Relaxing in the park

people sat on a bench in a park

Would you like to learn how to describe a picture? These activities will help you to speak about what you see in a photograph, in this case a photo of people in a park.

At the dentist’s

a small boy at the dentists

Would you like to learn how to describe a picture? These activities will help you to speak about what you see in a photograph, in this case a photo of someone at the dentist’s.

Waiting in a queue

people waiting at a bus stop

When you describe a picture with people in it, you sometimes need words to say where the people are. These activities will help you to practise describing where people are in a queue, what they are wearing and what they are doing. Listen to the description of people standing in a queue at a bus stop.

Describing a winter scene

a father playing with his child in the snow

In these activities you will learn a range of adjectives for describing a picture that has been taken outside, such as a winter scene. You will also practise the present perfect so that you can say what has happened before the photo was taken. Listen to a description of a photograph of a winter’s day.

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