Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Hyeon Een]

What's your favorite ice breaker for a class of about 25-35 eighteen year olds who all know each other but have bad english? Something which is interesting yet maybe helps me get to know them too..

[the eye]

I'd crack a slab over their heads. Works every time.

[the_beaver]

If they know each other you don't really need an icebreaker.

[ajuma]

Have them work in pairs to come up with questions to ask YOU. They must come up with 3-4 questions in case someone else asks theirs. If they can't ask a question, YOU get to ask THEM!

[HydePark]

Maybe the chain-name game...
Here's a breakdown of the activity:
Give students a piece of paper...ask them to write down something they like that begins with the first letter of their name. For example, if your name is Brad, write something you like that begins with the letter 'b', like bread. If your name is Carol, maybe you like "carrots"...
Then, break students into groups, 5 or 6 students per group.
The first group stands up together, in a line, side-by-side.
Person #1 says, "My name is ___(Jon) and I like ____(jazz)"
Person #2 says, "His name is Jon and he likes jazz. My name is Olivia, and I like oranges."
Person #3: "His name is Jon and he likes jazz. Her name is Olivia, and she likes oranges. My name is Rob, and I like robots."
...continue down the chain, each person having to remember and say the names & likes of all the people before them.
I change it up, too, so maybe for the first group I have the first peron on my right go first. When the second group goes up, all the students fight to see who can stand in the first position on the right, expecting they will go first, so I start with the person on the far left instead... gets a good laugh.
After all the students have gone, I collect the papers that just have the thing people like written (the words: bread, jazz, oranges, etc.) and distribute one paper to each student. Then, each person asks, "Do you like ___ (whatever their paper says, like jazz)? And they try to find the author of the paper (the person who likes jazz and wrote it down...) When they find the person who wrote the paper, they write the person's name and what they like on the board. When this is finished, I might ask the class, "Who likes jazz?" and they look on the board for the answer, and I ask "who is___(name/answer)?" so the student raises his/her hand...Good way to learn names, at least for me...gets students speaking, too.
Hope this explanation is clear (and useful for you)...but let me know if you'd like some clarification!