Upper Beginner ESL Speaking - Travel 1

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A Real-World ESL Speaking Unit About Travel

Unit 6, Travel, is a highly practical ESL speaking unit designed for A1–A2 multilingual learners ages 6–18. Students practice real travel communication skills they will use in transportation, airports, and vacations—making this one of the most essential speaking units in the full K–12 ESL curriculum.

Teachers searching for:

  • Travel ESL speaking lessons

  • Transportation conversation worksheets

  • Airport speaking activities

  • Vacation ESL lessons

  • A1–A2 oral communication practice

  • Speaking lessons for kids and teens

…will find this unit ideal for building strong speaking fluency.

Students learn to talk about transportation, planning trips, airport steps, and different types of vacations—all through structured, guided, and engaging conversation tasks.


🧭 Unit Overview: A Speaking-First Exploration of Travel

This unit helps students speak confidently about:

  • Bicycles, buses, trains, taxis, and ferry boats

  • How to pack, plan, and book a trip

  • Airport steps (check-in, security, gate, boarding, baggage claim)

  • Beach, mountain, city, winter, and cruise vacations

Every lesson follows a speaking-first design:

Chat-a-Bit warm-up conversation
✔ Short, accessible readings to introduce speaking vocabulary
Oral Q&A after each reading
Speaking-focused vocabulary practice
Four guided dialogues to build fluency
✔ Pair & whole-class conversation tasks
“Would you rather…?” speaking choices
✔ End-of-lesson speaking reflection questions

This ensures students practice real conversation—not silent worksheets.


🗣️ Speaking Skills Developed

✔ Speaking Fluency & Confidence

Students practice:

  • Asking and answering travel questions

  • Expressing preferences

  • Talking about experiences and plans

  • Using descriptive language about places

  • Sharing opinions (“I think…,” “I prefer…”)

  • Making comparisons

  • Giving reasons (“because…”)

✔ Listening Skills

Students learn to:

  • Listen to their conversation partners

  • Understand real travel vocabulary

  • Respond appropriately in dialogues

✔ Vocabulary for Speaking

Students use travel vocabulary such as:

  • Transportation: traffic, schedule, crowded, cheap, journey

  • Trip planning: luggage, reservation, explore, destination, online

  • Airport: passport, security, scanner, gate, boarding, check-in

  • Vacations: view, culture, freezing, sail, glow, perfect

Vocabulary is introduced through speaking, not memorization.

✔ Grammar for Conversation

  • Present simple (“I take the bus…”)

  • Future forms (“I’ll pack…” “We’ll go…”)

  • Preference language (“I’d rather…”)

  • Comparative speech (“faster,” “cheaper,” “safer”)


🎓 Teaching Approaches Centered on Speaking

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

Real conversation drives every activity.

Task-Based Learning

Students complete speaking tasks like:

  • Planning a trip

  • Comparing vacation types

  • Role-playing airport steps

  • Choosing transportation for a journey

Differentiation for Ages 6–18

  • Young learners: sentence frames, visuals, simple questions

  • Teens: longer answers, deeper reasoning, personal experiences

Multilingual-Friendly Support

Encourages students to compare travel in their home countries with travel in their new environment.


📘 How Unit 6 Fits Within the Speaking Curriculum

This unit builds on earlier speaking units:

  • Unit 1: Daily Life Speaking

  • Unit 2: Neighborhood Speaking

  • Unit 3: Animals Speaking

  • Unit 4: Food Speaking

  • Unit 5: Hobbies Speaking

Unit 6 deepens students’ ability to speak about real-life situations, including movement, plans, choices, and travel experiences.

It also prepares learners for future units on:

  • Geography

  • Cultures

  • Outdoor adventures

  • Weather and seasons


✈️ Detailed Speaking-Centered Lesson Descriptions


Lesson 1 — Transport (ESL Speaking Lesson: Getting Around)

Speaking Objective: Students describe different ways to travel and compare transportation options.
Speaking Vocabulary: journey, traffic, schedule, crowded, cheap, wave
Speaking Activities:

  • Warm-up questions about going out

  • Oral Q&A after each reading (bike, bus, train, taxi, ferry)

  • Partner speaking tasks about safety, comfort, and choices

  • 4 guided dialogues (bus, train, taxi, ferry)

  • “Would you rather…?” transportation choices
    Speaking Benefit: Builds everyday communication skills for moving around a city.


Lesson 2 — Taking a Trip (ESL Speaking Lesson: Planning & Packing)

Speaking Objective: Students talk about planning trips, packing, booking rooms, and buying tickets.
Speaking Vocabulary: luggage, reservation, online, digital, explore, destination
Speaking Activities:

  • Warm-up about maps and hotel beds

  • Reading-based speaking questions

  • Vocabulary used immediately in oral practice

  • Partner dialogues about packing, reservations, ticket troubles, and destinations

  • “Would you rather…?” travel planning questions
    Speaking Benefit: Helps students talk confidently about real travel routines.


Lesson 3 — At the Airport (ESL Speaking Lesson: Airport Steps & Conversations)

Speaking Objective: Students describe check-in, security, finding the gate, boarding, and baggage claim.
Speaking Vocabulary: passport, check-in, security, scanner, gate, board
Speaking Activities:

  • Oral warm-up about airports

  • Short reading sections with WH speaking questions

  • 4 functional airport dialogues

  • Pair practice using airport vocabulary in conversation

  • “Would you rather…?” airport situation questions
    Speaking Benefit: Essential oral English for newcomers and international travelers.


Lesson 4 — Types of Vacations (ESL Speaking Lesson: Choosing & Comparing Trips)

Speaking Objective: Students compare beach, mountain, city, winter, and cruise vacations.
Speaking Vocabulary: perfect, view, culture, freezing, sail, glow
Speaking Activities:

  • Warm-up about weather and relaxation

  • Speaking questions after each vacation type

  • Dialogues for beach, mountain, city, winter, and cruise trips

  • Discussion about what to pack & what to do

  • “Would you rather…?” vacation choice challenges
    Speaking Benefit: Encourages descriptive speaking, comparisons, and personal preferences.


🍎 Teacher Tips (Speaking-Focused)

  • Use maps, pictures, or travel photos to spark conversation.

  • Have students role-play airport staff, taxi drivers, or travel partners.

  • Encourage students to describe trips from their home country.

  • Provide sentence starters for beginners (“I usually…,” “I prefer…”)

  • Create speaking stations: transport, packing, airport, vacations.


📝 Speaking-Based Assessment

  • Role-play: booking a hotel or buying a ticket

  • Oral description of a vacation

  • Dialogue performance (pair)

  • Speaking interview about favorite transportation

  • “Plan a trip” speaking presentation