Giving Personal Information ESL Activities, Games and Worksheets
Here is an enjoyable giving personal information speaking activity to help students practice asking and answering questions about names and addresses. The students in one group each have an identity card showing their name and address. The students in the other group are postal workers and each have a letter card. The postal workers' task is to deliver their letter to the name and address written on their card. All the names and addresses are very similar, so the postal workers need to listen and check the information carefully. The postal workers then go around the class asking for the names and addresses of the other students until they find the person with a matching name and address. When this happens, the postal worker gives the student the letter. When all the postal workers have delivered their letters, students swap roles and repeat the activity.
In this engaging personal information questions activity, students complete personal information questions with question words and use them to interview a partner. This activity can also be used on the first day of class to help students get to know each other. In two groups, students complete personal information questions with question words from a box. Next, students pair up with someone from the other group. Students then take turns asking their partner the personal information questions and writing down their answers in the spaces provided. Afterwards, students tell the class what they found out about their partner.
In this productive giving personal information role-play activity, students take on a new identity and practice asking and answering personal information questions. First, students write the questions they need to ask to find out the personal information on the worksheet. Next, in groups, students take on the role of a person on an identity card and ask and answer the personal information questions with the people in their group, completing the worksheet with the information about the other students' identities. Finally, students compare identity cards and worksheets to check they have written the information correctly.
This free personal information worksheet helps students learn and practice ways to ask for and give personal information. First, students match personal information questions with suitable answers. Students then use words and phrases from a box to complete a conversation at a doctor's surgery where a receptionist is asking a patient for personal information. Next, students role-play the conversation with a partner and then practice the conversation again using their own personal information. After that, students answer comprehension questions about the conversation. Lastly, students write personal information questions from prompts and then ask and answer the questions with a partner.
In this yes/no personal information questions speaking activity, students ask and answer questions about friends and family. First, students think of four friends or family members they know well, two males and two females. Students then write the names of the four people at the top of the worksheet next to numbers. Next, students write the age of each person, their job, where they are from, where they live and their hobbies in a random order in boxes on the worksheet. After that, students swap their worksheet with a partner and take turns asking and answering yes/no personal information questions in order to complete the details for each person, e.g. 'Is Isabella 26 years old?' When a student asks the right yes/no question for a person, they write it in the corresponding place at the bottom of the worksheet. This continues until all the personal information for each person has been completed. Finally, students tell the class about one of their partner's friends or family members.
In this personal details information gap activity, students ask and answer yes/no and Wh personal information questions in order to complete missing information in a chart. First, students take on the identity of the person on their card and complete their personal details in the chart. The chart also shows one piece of information for each of the other identities. Students then go around the class and complete the missing details for the other identities by asking and answering personal information questions. Students begin by asking yes/no questions to find out which information in the chart corresponds to the person they are speaking with, e.g. 'Are you 26?' When a classmate replies 'yes', the student asks personal information questions to complete the other information about the person's identity. This continues until students have completed the chart. Afterwards, review the correct answers with the class.
In this fun personal information questions game, students form, ask and answer questions about personal information. The first player tries to make a personal information question by placing a domino down either before or after the domino on the table. If the player forms a grammatically correct and logical question, they ask the question to the next player. If the next player answers correctly, they put down one of their dominoes at either end of the domino chain and ask a question to the next player. If a player answers a question incorrectly, they miss a turn and the question passes to the next player to try to answer. The first player to get rid of all their dominoes wins the game.
Here is a creative giving personal information activity for the first day of class. In the activity, students write personal information questions, ask them to a partner and then use the information to introduce them to the class. First, in groups, students use their own ideas to write one or two personal information questions for each category. For example, in the category about studying, students might write 'How long have you studied English?' and 'How often do you study English?' Next, each student pairs up with someone from another group. Students then take turns asking their partner the personal information questions and writing down their answers. After that, each pair joins with another pair. Students then use their partner's information to introduce them to the other pair. Finally, pairs stand up and introduce their partner to the class, who asks follow-up questions to the person being introduced.
In this free networking role-play activity, students practice exchanging personal and company information at a networking event. The aim of the activity is to find out about people in hopes of building new business partnerships or finding new customers. First, students complete a text about themselves and their company with real or imaginary information. Students then begin the role-play using the information in their text to socialise with other people at the networking event, making introductions with as many people as possible and giving information about themselves and their company. When a student finds someone they think could be a possible customer or business partner, they note down the person's information in a chart. Afterwards, students tell the class if they found any customers for their business or someone they could possibly build a business relationship with.
In this asking for and giving personal information activity, students write Wh personal information questions and then use them to interview a partner. This activity is suitable for older students. Students begin by writing the questions they need to ask to find out the personal information on the worksheet. Students also create one more question of their own at the end. Next, in pairs, students take turns asking their partner the questions and writing down their answers. Afterwards, students tell the class a few things they found out about their partner.
In this insightful giving personal information activity, students discuss personal information related to numbers, names and places with a partner. First, students write down a number, name or place for each item on their worksheet. Next, students cut the worksheet into cards and then give them to a partner, who spreads them out face-up on the desk. Students then take turns picking up a card and asking their partner about the number, name or place written on the card using 'What's...?' for numbers and places and 'Who's...?' for people. Their partner then explains what the personal information refers to, and the two students develop a short conversation about the topic. Afterwards, students share what they found out about their partner with the class.
In this fun giving personal information game, students complete sentences with personal information and then race to find out who wrote other sentences by asking questions. First, in groups, students complete sentences on strips with true personal information about themselves, e.g. 'I was brought up in New York City by my mum.' Next, all the students fold up their completed sentences and put them in a box. Students then take one strip from the box and go around the class finding out who wrote the sentence on their strip by asking yes/no questions, e.g. 'Were you brought up in New York City by your mum?' When a student finds the person who wrote the sentence, they ask a follow-up question to gain more details, e.g. 'How long did you live in New York City?' Students then write down the person's name and their answer to the follow-up question on the back of the strip, keep it, and take another one from the box. The student with the most sentences at the end of the game is the winner. Afterwards, students report back to the class on what they found out about their classmates.
