Tag Archives: fun

A Guessing Game to Practise Questions

Funny Stuff, Games, Grammar, Speaking, , ,

Are you in the mood for a game?

Lots of learners find it difficult to ask questions in English and these little particles called “auxiliaries” are the ones to blame; hard to believe that such tiny things cause so much trouble, but the fact that students need to remember when and how to use them– or not to use them- makes it difficult even for some advanced learner to feel confident when asking questions in English.

Based on the classic game show “What’s my line?”, this game aims at improving students’ ability to ask yes/no questions in English, something most learners find difficult.

“What’s my line?” is a guessing game in which four panellists attempt to determine the occupation or the identity of a guest by asking only yes-no questions.

Rules based on the game and adapted to the classroom.

  1. Divide the class in groups of five people. Four students are going to be the panellists and ask the questions (either to guess the identity of the famous person or the occupation), and the  fifth student is going to answer their questions playing his given role. If you decide to play the variant of guessing a famous person’s identity, I would suggest having a list of famous people and letting the student choose who he wants to be.
  2. A student  (panellist) chosen by the teacher would begin the game. If his question elicits a “yes” answer, he continues questioning. When a question is answered “no”, questioning passes to the next student.
  3. Students have the option of passing to the next and they can also request a conference, in which they have a short time to openly discuss ideas about occupations or lines of questioning.
  4. To increase the probability of affirmative answers, students can phrase questions in the negative starting with “Can I rule out…?”
  5. When after some intense questioning a student thinks he knows the identity or profession of the mysterious guest, he can say so and become the mysterious guest for the next round.

Before the game begins, play the video of the  game where Salvador Dali is the              mysterious guest.

Akinator, the Web Genie. Just as I was about to publish this post, I remembered that some time ago I used to ask my elementary students to play an online game that never failed to surprise me and that my students used to love. I recommeded it because it gave them practice to understand questions in English. I checked and it is still working. The name is Akinator and he’s a genie. It goes like this: you think of a prominent person, celebrity or fictional character. Akinator will ask you up to twenty quetions and he’ll guess the person you have in mind. Check it out!

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Activities for correcting writing in the language classroom

Common Errors, Writing, , , , , ,

Here’s my latest contribution to the British Council magazine Voices: “Activities for correcting writing in the language classroom“. The article encourages students to correct their own writing and it contains  6 error-correction activities which are a lot of fun.Who said learning English was boring?

You might also be interested in reading  “Nine ways to revise English vocabulary using slips of paper” published in December where I suggest  nine activities for revising English vocabulary using simple slips of paper.

Thanks for reading!

Nine Ways to Revise Vocabulary Using Slips of Paper

Create your own stuff, Funny Stuff, Games, Lesson Plan: Advanced, Lesson Plan: Elementary, Lesson Plan: Intermediate, Lesson Plan: Pre-Intermediate, Speaking, Writing, , ,

In today’s post I would like to share with you the link for an article I wrote for the  British Council’s magazine, Voices. As a result of winning this month’s  TeachingEnglish blog award with my article on pronunciation  Most Common Pronunciation Mistakes Heard in Oral Exams,  I was kindly invited to write a new article for their magazine.

Here’s the article Nine ways to revise vocabulary using slips of paper , which I hope teachers will find useful.

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Knoword: A Fun Highly Addictive Game to Help you Expand your Vocabulary

General, , , ,

Wanna have some fun with words?

Knoword is a fast-paced word game that helps boost vocabulary and spelling . It is  highly addictive , a lot of fun  and  a game of quick thinking.

How does it work?

Once you hit the LET’S GO button , it gives you a dictionary definition randomly generated  and the first letter of the word you need to guess. You are given a minute to guess the word . If you don’t know , click on the X and you’ll briefly see the word before a new definition is presented to you. Every single time you guess a word , you get an added time bonus (5 seconds) + 20 points  and every time you skip a word -10 points

From the Menu on the right you can choose from three levels of difficulty: Novice, Hotshot and Wizard.

You don’t need to register to play the game although if you do , you can keep track of your statistics.

Seen on Free Technology for Teachers, a blog written by Richard Byrne, which I highly recommend.

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Inspiration from Ellen Degeneres Show: Never Have I Ever

Games, Speaking, , , , ,

I firmly believe that the way you present things to your students matters. From boring points of grammar to challenging speaking activities, there is always a way to get their attention. I am of the opinion that students learn much better if you completely discard from your teaching the idea of boring master classes where the only person in the room seems to be the teacher and choose instead a more interactive approach. I try hard not to forget this student-centered approach during the whole lesson.

There is also something I try not to forget. You learn better when you have fun! And here we go, for a lot of fun!!

Image by Michael Rozman/WarnerBros

  • Skill: Speaking
  • Level: B1 upwards
  • Aim: using the Present Perfect to talk about experiences.

You never know where and who you’ll get inspiration from! I got the idea for this Speaking Activity watching Ellen Degeneres show.Have you ever seen her show? It’s hilarious! Anyway, she’s got a section called “Never Have I Ever” where she asks her guests questions and they need to put up a sign with the words Yes, I Have or I Have Never.

This hilarious speaking activity is fairly simple and requires little preparation.
♥Ask students to write on a different sheet or slip  of paper the short answers  Yes, I have and I have never “

♥ Tell them you are going to ask a question to the whole class.

♥ Ask them to answer  your question by putting up the YES, I HAVE or I HAVE NEVER sign

♥ Ask some students to explain their answers.

It’ll certainly be funnier if you choose to ask some spicy questions like the ones Degeneres posed to her guests.

Do you want to try? How would you answer these questions?

  • Have you ever skipped school?
  • Have you ever fallen asleep in the cinema?
  • Have you ever been to a nude beach?
  • Have you ever done something you regret?
  • Have you ever read a whole Harry Potter book?
  • Have you ever drunk while underage?
  • Have you ever had an accident?
  • Have you ever kissed someone on the first date?
  • Have you ever read the Bible?
  • Have you ever aced a test without studying?
  • Have you ever passed out?
  • Have you ever slept until 5 pm?
  • Have you ever eaten food that fell on the floor?
  • Have you ever tried to cut your own hair?
  • Have you ever lied to get a job?
  • Have you ever regifted something that was gifted to you?
  • have you ever given a stranger a fake phone number?
  • Have you ever met someone famous?

Learn English and Have Fun!