What works in my classes!

I found it very difficult to motivate adult learners to participate in class discussions or to ask questions when i first started teaching in EFL classes. They never expressed their opinions just were waiting to write down new words or grammar. I asked some of them why is that they never get involved, and the answer was that they were afraid that they might make mistakes, or that they were not sure if they were right.
What i did was to tell them that it was ok if they made mistakes and that is a way to learn English. Then i asked them what were their interests. By doing this i knew what things i was going to ask in order to initiate a class discussion.
As always the key is motivation. If you achieve this in your classes your students would be very active and you satisfied, because there is nothing better when beginners create a whole sentence in English, or when intermediate students speak freely, with no hesitation.
And do not forget that you should always make them feel comfortable.