Using Pictures in Language Teaching

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I love using pictures for speaking and writing practice with my students. For more advanced students, I have them pick out a picture to write a descriptive paragraph about. For beginners, I tend to use the pictures to guide students in verbally describing the scene. I have found that if I can get my students talking and develop their fluency in the language orally I can then get them writing about different pictures.

Here is my Pinterest board filled with pictures you can use with your students. Follow this board as I add to it periodically.

Follow Debbie in AK's board Pictures for writing and speaking on Pinterest.

There are also books out there that you can use for this same type of activity. Picture dictionaries work well like these...

Let's Learn Spanish-Picture Dictionary

First Thousand Words in Spanish

or books with hidden pictures...

Hidden Pictures In the Wild

or these cards...



Spot the Difference Card Game

I love listening to and reading what my students come up with. It is exciting to see them work with the knowledge and skills they have AND to learn to communicate when they don't always have the words. The more I have them describing scenes the more they learn.

Need more teaching tips?