Job Discussion Forums

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

Sometimes I play 20 questions with my private students. Does anyone have any other games that can be used to practice speaking?

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

Try mystery puzzles.

Where's my pet? Hid a stuffed animal and kids have to use prepositions to ask where fluffy is.

Brain teasers

Riddles

cmp45 · Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 1475 Location: KSA

I have used this game for beginners-intermediate as a repetition practice to gain confidence in speaking-pronunciation.

students in a circle. First student starts a question word...such as "How"

second student then must add a word to the first...such as "How many"
then the third student must add to that as well as repeat what was said by the other students...such as..."How many brothers"... etc...etc...etc...to finally complete the question and then the next student starts the reply sentence building by word by word, as well repeating all what was said previously.

If any student screws up the sequence by using a word that doesn't fit or make sense, then they have to go back to the first student again and start over...with the same question word or they can start a new word...up to you as facilitator.

It obviously works best with a group of 10 or more students as it can become challenging to remember what was said previously... itis a great group exercise as it requires that evryone pays attention-listen. It is interesting to observe students near the end of the circle as they tend to not listen and eventually when it does get to their turn they scew up especially after 3-4 attempts..and back to the beginning ...it can create alot of tension(positive) as expectaions build in getting the words in the right sequence.
it becomes a real team-group effort as oposed to on to one question answer and other students may not be listening.

The game sounds a bit lame, but actually it does help to reinforce proper word order of a simple question and answer as well as active listening ....also it is a slow enough game to allow students time to think about what is said. However it can go fast, if students are sharp.

I usually use it to fill up spare time at end of a class or down time.
The students have enjoyed it, but can become tedious after awhile especially if the students keep screwing up...and some of the smarter ones can become less that patient with the slower students. Over all it did help loosen up the majority of the student's inhibitions and allowed them to laugh and relax....somewhat.

It is a spontaneous game and make up the rules to fit the situation. It all depends upon your students. It may or may not be appropriate game to play.

shrewsyj · Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 22 Location: Wales

i went to the shops and i bought an apple
i went to the shops and i bought an apple and a banana
etc etc

also works with 'I went to the zoo and i saw a ....'

Serious_Fun · Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 1171 Location: terra incognita

TheLongWayHome · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 1016 Location: San Luis Piojosi

Any games that involve lying seem to free up the tongues of most students in Mexico, the more ridiculous the better.

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

two truths and a lie is good

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

cmp45 · Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 1475 Location: KSA

A few more suggestions...for one on one tutoring...

Describing whats in the bag....put an object in a bag ie: pillowcase...and have the person put his/her hand in the bag and try to describe what it is...

Or give the student an answer /statement and have the student come up with a suitable question that would logically go with the answer.