Adult ESL Lessons: Colors (Beginner)

This is Lesson 6, “Colors,” from our book of beginner-level adult ESL lessons, “ESL Pathways: Foundations”. The lesson starts with a short story about colors, followed by a dialogue between two people and comprehension questions. Students then fill in a chart focused on the colors of various items, answer discussion questions, and complete a grammar review. This lesson is available for free download, and you can download many other adult ESL lessons like this one in our book ESL Pathways: Foundations.

ADULT ESL LESSONS: “Colors” (Beginner) – Text-Only Version

Marcia has moved into a new house.

Marcia’s new house is very colorful.  The living room has beige walls. There are 2 dark green chairs and there is a dark green sofa with a table in front of it.  There are flowers on the table and paintings on the walls.  The flowers are red.  There are plants next to the windows.  The plants are green.  There is a table in the kitchen and there are 4 chairs around the table.  The table and chairs are brown.  There are brown cupboards in the kitchen and the walls are orange.  There are 2 windows but there aren’t any plants next to them. There is a sink, toilet, and bathtub in the bathroom.  There isn’t a shower and there aren’t any windows.  The walls are red.

Marcia’s bedroom is very big.  The walls are light blue and there is a big bed with a navy blue armchair next to the bed.  There is a large closet in her bedroom.  She puts her clothes in the closet.  She has a large desk in her bedroom with her computer on it.  There are 2 tables and 2 windows.  There is a telephone on one table and a television on the other table.  The telephone is black and the table is white.  There are some small trees next to the windows but there aren’t any flowers.

There are a lot of trees, plants, and flowers in her yard.  There is a swimming pool but there isn’t a garden.  Marcia is very happy with her new house.

Dialogue:  Marcia and her mom are talking about her new house.

Marcia:  Hi Mom. What a pleasant surprise!

Linda:  Well, I was in the neighborhood and I thought I’d stop by.

Marcia:  Come on in.

Linda:  Gee Marcia, the place looks great.

Marcia:  Thanks Mom.  It was a lot of hard work but it’s all finished now.

Linda:  That’s a nice sofa. I love dark green.  Where did you buy it?

Marcia:  There is a furniture store on Main Street.  
I bought it there.

Linda:  Isn’t there a furniture store on Brown Street?

Marcia:  No, there isn’t. That store closed last year.

Linda:  Are there any red sofas at the store on Main Street?

Marcia:  There aren’t any red sofas but there are black, blue, and purple sofas.

Linda:  Maybe I’ll go over there sometime.  I want a new sofa for my living room.

Marcia:  Come and look at my kitchen.  I painted it orange.

Linda:  Eeek!  There’s a spider!

Marcia:  Oh Mom.  That isn’t a real spider.  That is Rover’s toy spider.

Linda:  There aren’t any spiders but there are ants. Look over there.

Marcia:  Oh no.  I just cleaned the kitchen a few minutes ago.

Linda:  Looks like you have more work to do.

Questions:

1. How many rooms does Marcia’s house have?
2. Does she have a yard?
3. What color are the walls in her living room?
4. Are there any pictures on the walls?
5. Is there a television in the kitchen?
6. Where are the chairs in the kitchen?
7. Is there a computer in the bedroom?
8. Is there a closet in the bedroom?
9. Are there any windows in the bathroom?
10. What does Linda think about Marcia’s house?
11. What color is Marcia’s sofa?
12. Where did Marcia buy the sofa?
13. Is there a furniture shop on Brown Street?
14. Is there a spider in Marcia’s kitchen?
15. Who is Rover?
16. Are there any cockroaches in Marcia’s kitchen?
17. What did Marcia do a few minutes ago?

Activity:  Describing Your House

Describe your house or apartment.

 Discussion Questions:  

1. Do you live in a house or in an apartment?
2. What color are the living room walls?
3. What color are the kitchen walls?
4. What colors are your bedroom walls?
5. What color is your car?
6. What color is your hair?
7. What color is chocolate?
8. What color is the sun? What things are yellow?
9. What color are carrots?  What things are orange?
10. What color are apples? What things are green?
11. What color is snow?  What things are white?
12. What are you wearing today?  What color is it?
13. What is your favorite color?
14. Which colors don’t you like?

Grammar Focus

Put the words in the correct order to make questions about houses.

1. bedroom / is / color / What / your

 ______________________________________________________________________?

2. plants / Are / in / your / any / there / bathroom

 ______________________________________________________________________?

3. kitchen / there / your / Are / pictures /any / in

 ______________________________________________________________________?

4. color / What / living room / is / your

 ______________________________________________________________________?

Answer these questions using “Yes, there is/are”,  or  “No, there isn’t/aren’t”.

1. Are there any ants in your kitchen? _____________________________________

2. Is there a telephone in your living room?  ________________________________

3. Are there any paintings in your bathroom? _______________________________

4. Is there a table in your bedroom?  ______________________________________