ESL Homework Ideas Adult Students Actually Do

Most adult students mean to do their homework. Then work, children and a full week get in the way. Homework that gets done has a few things in common: it's short, it fits on a phone, it practices what you did in class, and the tutor looks at it next time.

Five rules for homework adults do

Keep it to 10–15 minutes. A task the student can finish on the bus beats a task they plan to do on Sunday.
Make it work on a phone. Tapping an answer, typing a sentence or recording a voice message all work. Printing a worksheet doesn't.
Practice the lesson. Use the same words and the same grammar. New material at home feels like a test.
Say exactly what to do. "Write three sentences with since" is clear. "Practice the present perfect" isn't.
Look at it in the next lesson. Spend the first five minutes on it. If you never mention homework, students stop doing it.

Ten homework ideas, with examples

1. Word review

Give back the 8–10 words from the lesson as a matching task or a gap-fill. It takes five minutes and it is the homework students skip least.

Example: match homesick, settle in and adjust to their meanings, then fill each one into a sentence:

I felt ___ for the first few weeks. (homesick)
It took me a month to ___ to the new schedule. (adjust)
We've finally ___ and we love the neighborhood. (settled in)

2. Three sentences about you

Ask for three true sentences that use the lesson's grammar. Personal sentences are easier to remember than textbook ones, and they give you something to talk about next time.

Example for the present perfect with for and since:

I've worked at the same company since 2020.
I've known my best friend for twenty years.
I haven't been to the gym since March.

3. A one-minute voice message

Speaking homework is often the most useful kind, and adults are already used to voice messages. Give one question and a time limit.

Example: "Send me a one-minute voice message about a place in your city you'd recommend. Say what it is, why you like it and when to go."

Next lesson, play one part back and work on two or three things together.

4. Find the mistake

Collect five sentences with mistakes the student made in class, and ask them to correct each one. Students fix their own mistakes faster than anyone else's.

Example:

I am living here since three years. (I've lived here for three years.)
She has gone to London twice. (She has been to London twice.)
I've seen him yesterday. (I saw him yesterday.)

5. A short reading with three questions

A text of 150–200 words on the lesson's topic, with three questions. Keep at least one question open, for example "Do you agree with the writer? Why?"

6. A real-world task

Ask the student to use English outside the lesson for ten minutes. Then they report back in two sentences.

Examples:

Read the reviews of a restaurant near you and write down two useful phrases.
Watch a three-minute video about your job and write one thing you learned.
Change your phone's language to English for a day and note one word you didn't know.

7. Five minutes of flashcards a day

Vocabulary sticks better in short daily sessions than in one long one. Ask for five minutes a day with the lesson's words, not an hour on Sunday.

8. Questions for next time

Ask the student to write three questions to ask you about the next lesson's topic. This takes two minutes, it practices question forms, and the next lesson starts with real curiosity.

9. Rewrite a message

This one is good for business students. Give them a short, blunt email or chat message and ask them to make it more polite or more formal.

Example: "Send me the report today." becomes "Could you send me the report by the end of the day, please?"

10. Listen and repeat

Give the student four or five lines from the lesson's dialogue and ask them to listen and repeat each line until they can say it at the same speed. Then they record the last try.

Homework by level

The same ideas work at every level. What changes is the size of the task and how much support the student gets.

A1–A2: Keep tasks closed and short: matching, gap-fills with a word bank, and two or three sentences with a model to copy. Give an example answer for every task. A 30-second voice message about one familiar thing, such as "Tell me about your breakfast," is plenty.
B1: Mix closed tasks with one open one. Three personal sentences, a short reading with an opinion question, or a one-minute voice message all fit. Ask for reasons: "Say what you think and why."
B2–C1: Make the open task the main one. A short opinion paragraph, a two-minute voice message arguing one side, or a summary of an article in five sentences. Correct less, and comment more on how clear and natural the answer is.

How to set homework so it gets done

Send it straight after the lesson, while the lesson is fresh.
Agree on the amount together. Ask "How much time do you really have this week?" and plan for that.
Give a deadline before the next lesson, so you have time to look at it.
Reply quickly, even if it's one line: "Great sentences. Look at number 2 again."
Start the next lesson with it. Praise first, then fix one or two things.

If you teach with SnappySchool, you can send any slide from the lesson home with one tap. The student does it on their phone, and you see who handed it in and how they scored.

What to avoid

A long essay every week. Save writing for students who need it, such as students preparing for an exam.
Homework that has nothing to do with the lesson.
Worksheets that have to be printed.
Correcting every single mistake. Pick the ones that matter for this student.

Lessons with homework ready to use

Each lesson in SnappySchool's lesson library ends with a few homework tasks on its own words and grammar. Here are three examples:

Questions

How much homework should I give adult ESL students?

About 10–15 minutes per lesson, or five minutes a day if the student is learning vocabulary. Ask how much time they really have and plan for that.

Should ESL homework be graded?

A score helps with tasks that have one right answer, such as gap-fills and matching. For speaking and writing, short feedback on two or three points works better than a grade.

What if my student never does homework?

Ask why, without judging. Then make the task smaller, move it to the phone, or switch to voice messages. Some students do better with no homework and a short review at the start of each lesson.

Can students do speaking homework?

Yes. A one-minute voice message on one question is quick to make and quick to listen to. It also shows you how the student speaks when you're not there to help.

ESL homework that adult students actually do