ESL Driving Listening

Most English communication is by speaking and listening, and these ESL driving listening exercises will help you get experience of listening to spoken driving vocabulary so you will be able to understand it.

ESL driving listening is a very important skill to help you communicate in English.

To be able to have a real conversation with someone you need to be able to understand them when they speak to you. You need to be able to listen to them. This page has 4 activities that you can do that will help you get better at listening to spoken English. If you need any help with the words used you can go to the ESL driving vocabulary page where there is a recording of the driving vocabulary being spoken by a native English speaker.

The 4 exercises are as follows:

  • Identification of the order of a list of spoken words.
  • Identification of the meaning of a definition that has been spoken.
  • A listening comprehension passage.
  • A dictation passage.

ESL Driving Listening Exercises

Exercise 1 – Identification of Spoken Word Order

This first ESL driving listening exercise has a recording of 5 groups of words. In each group there are 5 words and you need to decide which option (A-D) in each of the 5 questions has the order the same as in the recording. Click the get score button at the end to see how many you got correct.



ESL Driving Identification of Spoken Word Order


Listen to the recording of the five groups of five words each given above and decide which option (A-D) in the five questions in this test has the correct order.

1) Which is the correct order for group of words one?
        A) Speed bump, Passenger, Traffic light, Steer, Motorcycle
        B) Steer, Motorcycle, Passenger, Traffic light, Speed bump
        C) Motorcycle, Traffic light, Passenger, Speed bump, Steer
        D) Speed bump, Motorcycle, Passenger, Traffic light, Steer
2) Which is the correct order for group of words two?
        A) Road, Destination, Yield, Park, Steering wheel
        B) Park, Steering wheel, Destination, Yield, Road
        C) Steering wheel, Yield, Destination, Road, Park
        D) Road, Steering wheel, Destination, Yield, Park
3) Which is the correct order for group of words three?
        A) Fire truck, Driver, Interstate, Ambulance, Rush hour
        B) Ambulance, Rush hour, Driver, Interstate, Fire truck
        C) Rush hour, Interstate, Driver, Fire truck, Ambulance
        D) Fire truck, Rush hour, Driver, Interstate, Ambulance
4) Which is the correct order for group of words four?
        A) Tires, Decelerate, Lanes, Steering wheel, Speeding
        B) Steering wheel, Speeding, Decelerate, Lanes, Tires
        C) Speeding, Lanes, Decelerate, Tires, Steering wheel
        D) Tires, Speeding, Decelerate, Lanes, Steering wheel
5) Which is the correct order for group of words five?
        A) Blinker, Slow down, Horn, Speed limit, Speed bump
        B) Speed limit, Speed bump, Slow down, Horn, Blinker
        C) Speed bump, Horn, Slow down, Blinker, Speed limit
        D) Blinker, Speed bump, Slow down, Horn, Speed limit

Score =

Correct answers:

Exercise 2 – Identification of Spoken Definition

The second ESL driving exercise has the definitions of some words being spoken, and in each question you need to decide which of the given options (A-D) corresponds to the spoken definition. Once you have finished, again click the get score button to see how you did.



ESL Driving Listening Identification of Vocabulary Meaning


Listen to the recording of the meanings of the five vocabulary words given above and decide which word out of the options (A-D) in each question matches the meaning.

1) What is the meaning of the first definition in the recording?
        A) Speed limit
        B) Accident
        C) Horn
        D) Intersection
2) What is the meaning of the second definition in the recording?
        A) Speeding
        B) Toll road
        C) Yield
        D) Hazard light
3) What is the meaning of the third definition in the recording?
        A) Blinker
        B) Steer
        C) Stop
        D) Back seat
4) What is the meaning of the fourth definition in the recording?
        A) Motorcycle
        B) Crosswalk
        C) Boot
        D) Tires
5) What is the meaning of the fifth definition in the recording?
        A) Driver’s license
        B) Trunk
        C) Traffic jam
        D) Decelerate

Score =

Correct answers:

Exercise 3 – Listening Comprehension

This third ESL driving listening exercise is a comprehension activity. Listen to the recording of the passage and then answer the 5 question in this task. Listen several times if you need to. Once you have finished you can reveal the correct answers by clicking the get score button.

At the end of the page there is a link that you can click to show the full text of the passage so you can check your understanding of it.



ESL Driving Listening Comprehension


Listen to the recording of the passage about driving above and answer the following five questions.

1) How does tailgating make other drivers feel?
        A) It makes them feel happy or nervous.
        B) It makes them feel uncomfortable or angry.
        C) It makes them feel sad or angry.
        D) It makes them feel uncomfortable or disrespected.
2) What is one thing that driving a vehicle requires?
        A) It requires focus.
        B) It requires a good attitude.
        C) It requires distractions.
        D) It requires special courses.
3) Every time that a person operates a vehicle, what must he or she consider?
        A) He or she must consider everyone’s safety.
        B) He or she must consider their direction.
        C) He or she must consider angry drivers.
        D) He or she must consider their safety.
4) Why is it important for people to avoid driving while angry?
        A) It is important because angry drivers are disrespectful.
        B) It is important because angry drivers get into trouble with the police.
        C) It is important because angry drivers make people feel uncomfortable.
        D) It is important because angry drivers lose focus and drive faster than usual.
5) Which of the following special vehicles use sound to get drivers’ attention?
        A) Motorcycles
        B) Cars
        C) Ambulances
        D) Convertibles

Score =

Correct answers:

Exercise 4 – Dictation

The fourth ESL driving listening exercise is a dictation. You need to listen to the recording and write down what is said exactly. The recording has the passage read twice. The first time at a slow speaking rate and the second time with pauses after every few words as well as the punctuation being spoken. You should listen a few times if you need to.

At the end of this page there is a link to click that will show the full text of the passage so you can check your answer. Only look once you have finished the task.





Show Hidden Answers Listening Comprehension Passage
Show Passage »


Dictation Passage
Show Passage »

› Driving

Back to top of page



New! Comments

Have your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below.


Back to top of page