ESL Sport Conversation

Sport is a good general conversation topic, and these ESL sport conversations will act as examples of natural conversations so you will know how to talk about sport.

This page gives two full example conversations about sport. You will be able to look at them and see how natural conversations progress. You can alternatively watch the two conversations as cartoons. If any of the words are difficult for you to understand you can look at the ESL sport vocabulary page. After this there are then 3 ESL sport conversation exercises.

The exercises are as follows:

• Fill in the blanks in a conversation.
• Write a conversation of your own.
• Have a conversation with your friends using some conversation topics.

Conversation 1

Situation: Andrew and Lucy go to a football match.

Andrew: Hi, how are you? Ready to go?
Lucy: Yes ready to go and really excited.
Andrew: It should be a good match and great atmosphere.
Lucy: Yes. It’s always good when the local football team plays at home.
Andrew: I love being able to walk to the stadium with all the other supporters.
Lucy: Everyone is excited and hoping that the team will win.
Andrew: It’s good to see all the scarves and football shirts.
Lucy: And then when we get here to the turnstile and get into the ground with our ticket. I just what the match to start now.
Andrew: It is also good to be able to sit in the same seats each time as we have our season tickets.
Lucy: Yes we are lucky. We have a great view from here.
Andrew: Great the referee is about to blow the whistle to start the match.
Lucy: Let’s cheer loudly to support the team so they will hopefully win.

Conversation 2

Situation: Andrew, Tui and Patrick discuss popular sport.

Tui: Did you enjoy the football match you went to at the weekend Andrew?
Andrew: Yes. I always love going to watch football.
Tui: Even when the local team loses?
Andrew: Not as much but yes I still enjoy the atmosphere in the ground and everyone singing and chanting together.
Patrick: How often do you go to watch them play?
Andrew: I go to all the home matches and a few away ones. Do you like football?
Patrick: Yes I like football – American football. I do not like soccer so much.
Tui: Do you go to American football games when you are at home Patrick?
Patrick: No. I live too far away from my team. It’s in a different state.
Tui: That’s a shame.
Patrick: Do you like American football?
Tui: No I haven’t watched it. English and Spanish football teams are very popular in Thailand.
Andrew: Why is that?
Tui: Because that is where the best players are, and everyone wants to watch them.

ESL Sport Conversation Exercises

Now do the following 3 ESL sport conversation exercises once you have read and understood the above conversation topics. By doing the conversation exercises you will be able to improve your understanding of the sport vocabulary.

Exercise 1 – Fill in the Blanks

This first ESL sport conversation needs you to fill in the gaps by choosing the correct option (A-D) form the following questions. Once finished you can check your answers by clicking the get score button.

Situation: Bob and Jane decide what sort of sport to do.

Bob: I need to get fit and lose some weight.
Jane: That’s a good idea. __________1___________?
Bob: Yes sure. What sort of sport do want to do to get exercise?
Jane: I’m not sure. I used to play tennis when I was a school.
Bob: I’ve never played tennis. ___________2___________?
Jane: At the university’s sports centre, but we have to book the time to use it.
Bob: ___________3___________? We can do that whenever we want to.
Jane: Yes we could go to the running track or just use the pavement next to the road.
Bob: Do you like cycling?
Jane: Yes it’s good and faster than running.
Bob: I have a friend ___________4____________. We could join his cycling club to meet other people interested in it.
Jane: That would be fun if we could do the sport with lots of other people.
Bob: Great. When do you want to start?
Jane: ___________5___________?
Bob: No, not tonight. It looks as if it might start to rain.
Jane: Ok. We’ll wait until it’s good weather.

ESL Sport Conversation

Choose the best option (A-D) in the following five questions to fill in the blanks in the sport conversation given above.

1) Which option is the best to fill in the first blank?

    A) Can I join you
    B) That sounds crazy
    C) Really
    D) What will you do

2) Which option is the best to fill in the second blank?

    A) What equipment will we need
    B) Were you any good
    C) Where is there a court we could use
    D) I do not like tennis

3) Which option is the best to fill in the third blank?

    A) What about playing football
    B) What about playing cricket
    C) What about playing basketball
    D) What about going running

4) Which option is the best to fill in the fourth blank?

    A) who goes cycling every weekend
    B) who is good at the long jump
    C) who never does any exercise
    D) who watches cycling on the television

5) Which option is the best to fill in the fifth blank?

    A) Do you want to start at the weekend
    B) How about going running now
    C) How often do you want to do exercise
    D) Will you help me if I get tired

Score =

Correct answers:

Exercise 2 – Write a Conversation

Now for the second ESL sport conversation exercise you need to write a conversation of your own. You can chose your own topic and situation. You will need decide on the people involved, where they are and what they say to each other. When you have finished you can find a friend and practice speaking the conversation yourselves.

Exercise 3 – Conversation Topics

In this exercise there are two sets of 5 questions each. One set is for you and the other is for your friend. Take turns to ask each other questions from the two sets. Once finished you can swap questions and have another conversation. These questions are just a starting point, you should expand on them and ask further questions if you think of them. Try to speak as much as possible.

The questions have also been made into some conversation cards for you to download by clicking the picture.

If you would like more conversation cards, then you can download my ‘80 ESL Conversation Cards’ ebook. This has 80 cards with five questions each. Half of them will never be published anywhere else.

Question set A

• Do you like to play sport?
• How often do you play sport?
• Would you like to be a professional athlete?
• Do you like to watch sport on the television?
• Who do you normally play sport with?

Question set B

• What sort of sport is your favourite?
• Why do you play sport?
• Have you ever been to a sporting event?
• What does a person have to do to become a professional athlete?
• What do you think is the most dangerous sport?

ESL 4u home › Conversation › Sport