DrillKit is an AI-powered tool that turns your online lesson chat from Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, or Microsoft Teams into professional, print-ready ESL lessons in under 30 seconds. It automatically extracts vocabulary, generates exercises (gap-fill, error correction, vocab match, word formation, and more), and produces beautiful PDFs tailored to the student's CEFR level and native language.

Does DrillKit support Zoom chats?

Yes! Simply copy the chat text from your Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, or Microsoft Teams lesson and paste it directly into the input area. You can also paste vocabulary lists or handwritten notes. DrillKit's AI strips out timestamps, sender names, and other noise automatically.

Can I export lessons to PDF?

Absolutely. Every lesson is generated as a high-quality, print-ready PDF. Pro users can also export to Google Docs and customize branding with their school logo and accent colors.

Which languages are supported?

DrillKit supports translations in 11 languages: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Arabic, Turkish, and Russian. The AI auto-detects the student's native language from the chat transcript.

What exercise types can DrillKit generate?

DrillKit generates 11 exercise types: Gap Fill, Vocab Match, Error Correction, Sentence Completion, Multiple Choice, Word Scramble, Sentence Reorder, Translation, Word Formation (Cambridge Part 3), Key Word Transformation (Cambridge Part 4), and Dialogue Builder.

How does the AI extract vocabulary from chat transcripts?

The AI scans your pasted chat transcript, strips out noise (timestamps, reactions, media placeholders), identifies teachable vocabulary, phrasal verbs, idioms, and student errors, then scores each item by relevance. You review and select the best items before generating exercises.

Is DrillKit free to use?

Yes! The free plan includes 20 generations per month with full access to all 13 exercise types, all lesson styles, and custom branding. The Pro plan ($4.99/month or $3.33/month billed yearly) unlocks unlimited generations and priority AI processing.

Can I customize the lesson with my school branding?

Pro users can add their school or institution name, choose custom accent colors, select from 5 lesson styles (Standard, Classic, Modern, Playful, Academic), and add footer text to every generated lesson.

Teaching ESL Passive Voice: Authentic Contexts & Engaging Activities

Why Students Can't See the Point

Textbook passive voice exercises are universally despised: 'Change these sentences from active to passive. a) Someone built this house in 1920. b) People speak English in many countries.' Students mechanically apply a formula (be + past participle) without understanding why anyone would choose passive over active. The result? They can transform sentences on a test but never use passive voice in their own writing or speech. The key insight textbooks miss is that passive voice serves specific communicative functions: it shifts focus to the action or object, it's used when the agent is unknown or unimportant, and it creates formality in academic and professional writing. Teach the function, and the form follows.

Natural Contexts Where Passive Voice Lives

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News Headlines

'Three people were arrested.' 'A new vaccine has been approved.' News naturally uses passive because the agent (police, government) is obvious and less important than the event. Students rewrite active headlines into passive.

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Science & Processes

'The water is heated to 100°C. The solution is mixed for 3 minutes.' Scientific writing and recipes use passive to focus on the process. Students describe a process (making coffee, how a phone works) using passive.

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Crime Reports / Mysteries

'The window was broken. The painting was stolen. A footprint was found.' Crime scenes naturally require passive because we don't know who did it. Students write crime scene reports from photos.

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Teacher Tip

“Teach students the 'by deletion test': if adding 'by someone' or 'by people' to the passive sentence sounds obvious and redundant, the passive choice was correct. 'English is spoken by people in many countries' — 'by people' is pointless, so the passive works perfectly without it. This helps students understand that passive is a CHOICE motivated by what we want to emphasize, not a mechanical transformation exercise.”

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I teach passive voice in ESL?

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Introduce simple passive (is/are + past participle) at B1 through process descriptions and news contexts. Teach passive with different tenses at B2. More complex passives (have something done, passive with reporting verbs) are C1 material.

Why is passive voice hard for ESL students?

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It requires three simultaneous operations: selecting the correct form of 'be', using the past participle correctly, and understanding when passive is appropriate. Many languages either don't have a passive construction or use it differently. The conceptual 'why' is often harder than the grammatical 'how'.

Is passive voice bad writing?

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No — despite popular style advice. Passive voice is essential in scientific writing, formal reports, and news journalism. What's bad is unnecessary passive that hides agency ('Mistakes were made'). Teach students that passive is a tool: powerful when used for the right purpose, awkward when overused.

Teaching Passive Voice Without Putting Students to Sleep