This Intermediate Speaking Unit is designed for ESL learners of all ages—youth, teens, and adults—who want engaging, real-world speaking practice. Teachers will find this unit ideal for building conversational fluency around a topic everyone enjoys: travel. Full of relatable texts, guided discussion questions, humor-filled dialogues, and vocabulary tasks, the unit supports learners in expressing opinions, describing experiences, and speaking with greater accuracy and confidence.
Whether you teach in a classroom, tutoring center, or adult ESL program, this unit functions as a plug-and-play speaking module. It works as a stand-alone mini-course or as a supplemental component within any ESL speaking curriculum, conversation class, or ESL travel-themed course. Learners practice spontaneous speaking, listening comprehension, academic vocabulary, and functional communication—without needing the broader core curriculum.
This Travel Unit offers a complete set of four speaking lessons built around high-interest global topics:
Why people travel, famous landmarks, ways we travel, and adventure vacations.
Throughout the lessons, students explore both everyday travel topics (vacations, food, packing, memories) and sophisticated global themes (eco-tourism, engineering innovations, cultural heritage).
Each lesson includes:
Guided speaking warm-ups
Short, level-appropriate reading passages for discussion
Target vocabulary with definitions and usage tasks
Funny, conversational dialogues for listening & fluency
Ranking and critical-thinking activities
Open-ended speaking tasks for personal expression
Because this is an Intermediate Speaking Unit (CEFR B1–B1+), learners practice:
Sustaining longer conversations
Giving opinions and explanations
Using travel and culture-based vocabulary
Responding naturally to prompts
Developing fluency through communicative routines
This unit works perfectly for mixed-age classrooms, adult ESL, teen classes, conversation clubs, and ESL travel courses.
By the end of the unit, students will be able to:
(e.g., vacations vs. work trips, comfort vs. adventure)
independent, lift your mood, study abroad, open your mind
structure, icon, skyline, tilted
biodiversity, ruins, eco-tourism, peak
autonomous, reliable, remote, atmosphere, levitate
Spontaneous speaking
Giving opinions
Asking follow-up questions
Narrating experiences
Agreeing/disagreeing politely
Comprehending short humorous dialogues
Listening for details and tone
Responding to situational cues
Understanding short informational texts
Explaining vocabulary in context
Engaging with culturally rich content
Travel vocabulary
Cultural descriptors
Description adjectives
High-utility phrases for communication
Ranking activities
Personal reflection
Real-world decision-making scenarios
This unit incorporates modern ESL methodologies that support strong speaking outcomes:
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) – conversation-based, student-centered tasks
Task-Based Learning – ranking tasks, travel scenarios, problem-solving
Scaffolding – from warm-ups → readings → guided Q&A → independent speaking
Differentiation – allows simple or advanced responses depending on learner level
Visual and contextual support – photos, vocabulary tasks, examples
Fluency development – humorous dialogues, rapid-response questions
Because the content is accessible and relevant for all ages, it works especially well for mixed-age and adult classrooms, where learners bring different backgrounds and travel experiences.
Although this unit is not part of the main curriculum, it can be placed flexibly within:
Any Intermediate ESL speaking course
A supplemental travel-themed elective
A conversation club or adult ESL workshop
A summer intensive or standalone mini-course
Units focusing on culture, global citizenship, or real-world communication
It strengthens the speaking foundation before more advanced conversation units such as:
Global Issues
Storytelling and Personal Narratives
Debates and Opinions
Future Technology
Culture & Society
Objective:
Learners explore the many reasons people travel—fun, work, school, culture, relaxation—and discuss personal preferences.
Key Vocabulary:
independent, study abroad, lift your mood, make memories, clear your head, open your mind
Grammar/Language Focus:
Expressing feelings, preferences, and motivations
Activities Summary:
Warm-up questions about travel habits
Readings about fun travel, cultural discovery, and escaping stress
Vocabulary matching + sentence completion
Humorous dialogues (vacations gone wrong, studying abroad, culture shock)
Ranking tasks: ideal activities, dream vacations
Discussion prompts for deep speaking practice
Benefits for Students:
Builds comfort sharing personal experiences; introduces essential travel vocabulary; supports fluency through relatable scenarios.
Objective:
Students learn to describe global landmarks and express opinions about art, architecture, and world wonders.
Key Vocabulary:
structure, icon, skyline, harbor, guard, tilted
Language Focus:
Describing places; asking/answering “why?”
Activities Summary:
Readings on the Leaning Tower, Pyramids, Statue of Liberty, Taj Mahal, Great Wall
Vocabulary practice with real-world contexts
Role-play dialogues (selfies, disappointing landmarks, ancient mysteries)
Ranking famous sites
Reflection questions on culture and history
Benefits for Students:
Strengthens descriptive language, cultural knowledge, and comparative speaking.
Objective:
Students compare ancient, modern, and future transportation methods.
Key Vocabulary:
remote, reliable, atmosphere, experimental, autonomous, levitate
Language Focus:
Comparisons, pros/cons, hypothetical questions (Would you…?)
Activities Summary:
Readings on camels, canoes, maglev trains, hot air balloons, jetpacks, ice roads
Vocabulary development
Dialogues about technology, fear, and funny travel situations
Ranking transportation types
Open discussion about future travel
Benefits for Students:
Great for mixed-age groups—supports curiosity, critical thinking, and tech-focused conversation.
Objective:
Learners explore extreme travel experiences and practice opinion-based speaking.
Key Vocabulary:
biodiversity, ruins, eco-tourism, peak, mysterious, the point
Language Focus:
Opinions, expressing challenge, comparing difficulty
Activities Summary:
Readings about Antarctica, Machu Picchu, Kilimanjaro, Costa Rica, Mont Blanc
Vocabulary tasks tied to geography and adventure themes
Dialogues with humor about danger, effort, and excitement
Ranking outdoor activities
Reflection on fears, memories, and meaningful experiences
Benefits for Students:
Encourages deeper conversation; excellent for adults and teens; builds academic vocabulary around nature and culture.
Encourage students to expand each answer with because… to build extended responses.
Have learners practice the dialogues twice—first naturally, then with changed roles or added details.
Use ranking tasks as pair debates to build spontaneous speaking.
For adults, add reflection: “How has travel changed you?”
For younger learners, focus on imagination: “Invent a new way to travel!”
Allow multilingual brainstorming to support lower-intermediate learners before speaking in English.
Use any of the following for informal speaking assessment:
2–3 minute pair conversations
Short presentations about a landmark or dream vacation
Vocabulary use in free speaking
Group debates (e.g., “Adventure vs. Relaxation”)
Reflection questions at the end of each lesson