PERSONALITY TRAITS esl lesson

With this lesson, students will master essential personality adjectives and idiomatic expressions to describe people vividly and naturally. They’ll expand their vocabulary with words like stubborn, ambitious, compassionate, and idioms like heart of gold and bundle of nerves, and many more, all while building fluency through discussions, role-plays, and video analysis.

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lesson overview

This B1–B2 ESL lesson focuses on personality traits and idiomatic expressions that help learners describe themselves and others with confidence. Learners practice vocabulary such as easy-going, stubborn, compassionate, ambitious, moody, and arrogant alongside colorful idioms like life of the party, lone wolf, bundle of nerves, tough cookie, and heart of gold. The lesson is available in both printable format for traditional classrooms and an online presentation. The user-friendly digital format allows easy navigation in presentation mode with just a click of the spacebar, requiring no additional software.

Target Audience:

  • Level: B1–B2 (Intermediate to Upper-intermediate)
  • Best for: Adults and teens

Content Breakdown:

  • Before Class: WordSearch Activity
  • Warm-Up Activity: Watch a Video and Reflect
  • Vocabulary Focus
  • Idioms Practice: Categorize Expressions
  • Choose Correct Phrase
  • Describe Yourself and Your Partner
  • Personality Brainstorming
  • Describe Character from the List
  • Discussion Questions

HOMEWORK (Extra Language Immersion):

Watch & Reflect 

Watch a video about the Myers–Briggs personality (16 personalities) test and complete comprehension questions followed by reflection prompts.