ESOL Listening Practice for Pre-Entry Beginners

ESOL listening practice for useful everyday English.

Free ESOL listening practice with transcripts and worksheets

These free ESOL listening practice activities help adult Pre-Entry learners understand simple English for everyday life. Each short topic uses clear language and a familiar situation, such as a birthday party, an airport, a bank, a restaurant, a doctor’s appointment or an ESOL class. Therefore, learners can build confidence while practising useful words and phrases at a comfortable pace.

Every activity includes an audio recording, a printable transcript and a worksheet. First, look at the picture and read the topic title. Next, play the audio once without stopping and listen for the main idea. Then, open the transcript and listen again while following the words. Finally, complete the worksheet to check understanding. You can pause, replay and repeat the recording as many times as you need.

How to use the listening practice

1. Choose one topic that looks familiar or interesting.
2. Listen once and notice any words you already know.
3. Open the transcript and listen again while reading.
4. Repeat useful words and short sentences aloud.
5. Complete the worksheet and check the audio once more.

Tips for learners, teachers and helpers

For learners, short and regular practice is best. Try one audio activity at a time and repeat it on another day. For teachers, volunteers and family members, introduce the picture first, pre-teach two or three important words and pause after short sections. In addition, ask simple questions such as “Who is speaking?”, “Where are they?” and “What happened?” This approach supports listening, pronunciation, reading and speaking together.

The transcript and worksheet PDFs open in a separate tab, so this page stays available for the audio. You can also continue with our Pre-Entry reading and writing resources or visit the ESOLish YouTube channel for more free English practice.

Choose a listening topic