Learning a new language is one of the hardest things to do and speaking in front of the class is a daunting experience, for even the most confident of learners. By using these fun activities your students will be enthusiastic to start speaking and gain confidence. Once you have confidently speaking students it will end the awkward silences when you ask a question and no-one answers!
Activity 1-Chinese whispers
Everyone loves a game of Chinese Whispers! Divide the class into groups of between 5-10 (depending on the size of your class) get them to stand in a line and give the first person a piece of paper with a sentence/ phrase written on it they then have to whisper it to the next person and so on. The winning team is the one who gets closest to the original phrase in the quickest time.
Tip- Give thought to how you end the game so you know which the winning team is. For example once the last person has heard the phrase the whole team can sit down to indicate they have finished or you could get the last person to run to the board and write the phrase down, this way you can see who is closest to the original phrase.
Activity 2- Speed dating
Arrange the classroom into a ‘Speed dating’ setting. Split the tables so there are just two seats per table both facing each other. Divide the class into two groups, one group will remain sitting throughout the exercise and the other one will move seats. Give each person a list of topics to cover in the speed date such as name, age, hobbies, interesting fact etc. After one minute of the first pair talking swap the second group to move onto the next person. This is a great way to get the shy people in the class talking and for others to mix with people they may not have done otherwise.
Tip- Depending on the age level of the students Speed dating may not be appropriate so you could instead call this ‘Mingling’.
Activity 3- Yes / No game
In this activity your learners have to find different ways of agreeing, disagreeing and responding to closed questions using expressions other than 'yes' or 'no'. In the game they also can’t nod or shake their head.
Ask students questions about:
Personal: Name ~ Age ~ Address ~ Tel. No.
Family: Wife ~ Husband ~ Parents ~ Children ~ Siblings
Hobbies: Games ~ Activities ~ Spare Time ~ Sport
Work: How Long? ~ Where? ~ Enjoy?
Get students to agree or disagree about something (make sure they understand that they can't say either 'yes' or 'no'):
I think that Julia Roberts is very beautiful. I agree
I think that politics is very interesting. I disagree
Ask your learners "why" when they answer:
You don't think that politics is interesting? …Why?
* Student Dialogue:
Here are a few suggested questions you can elicit from your learners. Get them to ask each other:
1. What's your name? / How old are you? / Where do you come from?
2. Did you say ____________? [Repeat phrases that the students say for confirmation]
3. You're 30 years old, aren't you? [Tag Questions]
4. How are you? Do you feel well? Are you happy?
5. Are you sure?
6. Do you like your job?
Tip- Write a list of different ways your students can answer instead of saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
Activity 4- Board Game
Firstly divide your students into teams. Get the first team member to stand up and make sure they have their back to the board. Write a word on the board or show them a card. The students must describe the word to the student with his / her back to the board without actually saying the word itself. The students still cannot say 'yes' or 'no'.
You could use the following words:
Nouns: animals ~ birds ~ cars ~ something in the classroom ~
Verbs: walking ~ studying ~
Adjectives: kind ~ beautiful
Activities or games: tennis ~ swimming
Movie Stars: Robert Pattinson ~ Julia Roberts
Key words or phrases from a recent lesson: phrasal verbs ~ idioms (for upper intermediate and advanced students)
Tip - You could put a time limit on how long the student has to guess the word and create a points system – for example you get 10 points if you answer it within 30 seconds then 5 points for a minute etc.
What techniques have you used to get your students speaking?
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Also, getting them to speak sometimes is like pulling teeth.. haha.
These games all look good for my adult classes, in fact I find the yes/no game really good. Any tips for spoilt teens who only come because thier parents make them, who would rather do anything else with their time than go school again after school and are unresposive to almost everything you hear or read about? I´ve stopped them from outright refusing to do anything but frankly they are the most boring class I`ve had! Any tips appreciated...
Great tips Paul and Steve - thanks very much for sharing!
I also play "hot seat"...i have maybe 4 teams...each team write 10 words on a piece of paper...then the game starts...one person from team one sits with their back to the board at the front of the class...i write all 10 words on the board...the team then has to give hints (in english, i also allow gestures)...they have 5mins to try and get all 10 words (of course the team cant say the word, only the person at the front can say the word)..if the team gets all 10 within the time then they get bonus points...
I have also played this whereby i only write one word and for each correct word they change player so they all get a go...another variation is "Backward Hot Seat"...i have 2 people at the front, i write on a piece of paper a word and they must give hints to the team and the team must say the word...
This game is good for most levels - works best with small classes but also works ok for larger classes
Jeopardy is also good for large classes...hot potato, kaboom and typhoon all work for large classes to and are mostly board work...
For shorter activities you can do worksheets, such as crosswords, Jumble, word searches etc
I play variations of these games...I play "Whispers"...I stand at the back and give one word at a time...so the back person sees it first and whispers it...when it gets to the front that person writes it on the board and then comes to the back (everyone moves forward a seat). I then give the next word and they continue the rotation until i have given all the words. In the first round its about spelling - i give points for correct words, deduct points for wrong spelling, they get a completion bonus if all is correct and the first team to finish gets bonus points. The second round all the words i give are jumbled up and they must use the words to make a sentence (same points system) - last round words are mixed, they must use the words to make a questions, then they must answer the question...extra 10points for each word for the answer.
Articulate is a good activity - each student is given 3 pieces of cards to write a noun (such as cloud, pen, heart etc)...i always prepare extra ones for vocabulary practice...then put all the cards into a bowl...have 2 or 3 teams of no more then 10 people. Start with one team, the first person has 30seconds to give hints to their team...the team must guess the word on the card...the person keeps going until time is up...you then move to the next team and continue until all the cards are gone or until everyone has had a go...they must use only english...if they dont know they put it back and try another one...the team with the most cards wins...
If with a small class additional round can be played with only gesture or one word hints etc...
For large classes have 2 separate games going on...demonstrate first so they understand but then leave it to them...in each game have 2 teams, one team times whilst the other gives hints...you just hover between the two to make sure they are ok...the beauty is they just have to stand up So STEVEBUDD this could work for you
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