Would you rather?

Apples or oranges? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cats or dogs? Chocolate or vanilla? Books or video games? Life is full of choices. Practice using the word “would” to express preferences with this popular conversation game.

1. Warm up. Each person introduces him- or herself and finishes the sentence “My favorite _____ is _____.”  “My name is Teresa and my favorite food is watermelon.” “My name is Juan and my favorite color is blue.” “My name is Ana and my favorite sport is soccer.”

2. Introduce “would”.  Ask everyone a question based on what they said in the warm up. “Teresa said her favorite food is watermelon. Juan, would you rather eat watermelon or strawberries?” If students are unfamiliar with “would,” explain that “would you rather” is similar to “do you prefer” when talking about the future.

3. Would you rather…? Write these questions on the board and have each person pick their answers. Then, put everyone in small groups and have them discuss what they picked and why.

Would you rather live in the country or the city? (Photo credit: jpstanley)

-Where would you rather be on your day off?

1. Playing a sport or taking a walk outside with a friend
2. Sleeping in the sun
3. At the mall with money to spend

-What would you least like to do?

1. Listen to the news on the radio
2. Listen to a live musical concert
3. Listen to a lecture on politics

-Where would you rather live?

1. In the mountains
2. At the beach
3. In a big city
4. On a farm

4. What did he say? Students report to the group what their partners said. As a group, make a list of people who agreed with each other from different groups (ie people from different groups who picked the same answer(s).)

5. Survey time. As a group, make a list of situations with two options each, both of which are not particularly desirable. Would you rather always arrive 30 minutes late or two hours early? Would you rather wear only one color every day for the rest of your life or never have a raincoat or umbrella when you need one? Would you rather have spots like a cheetah or scales like a fish? Would you rather get in trouble for something you didn’t do if all your friends know you’re innocent, or not get in trouble for something you did do if all your friends know you’re guilty?
“Would you rather” is a popular game. You can find more “would you rather” questions here and here. Both websites allow you to vote and see how many other voters agreed with you.  When you have a lot of options, each student picks two or three questions they would like to ask everyone. Each student surveys everyone in the class, and writes the results on the board.

6. Global feedback. Talk about the results as a class. Did anything surprise you? What did everyone agree on? What did people disagree on?

Conversation objectives: discuss hypothetical situations, build vocabulary through conversation, practice conditionals with would
Ideal group size: At least six players.
Ideal group level: Low-intermediate English
This post is part of our March Conversation Marathon. We publish a new conversation activity every Tuesday and Thursday during the month of March. To see the complete list of Marathon activities, click here.
For more general conversation topics, click here.  For more conversation games, click here.

Tips for practicing conversation

Grab a friend and get talking. (Photo credit: gin_able)

Conversation is the best way to improve fluency and confidence in a new language.  All you need is a partner (or two, or three, or more) and some ideas. It helps to have a partner who is fluent in the language you’re learning, but even if you are both students, you can practice and correct each other’s mistakes. And if you need ideas, here is a list of tips and topics to get you started.

Some tips for practicing conversation:

• Make a date. Have a set conversation time during which you will focus only on practicing. Beginners can do 15 minutes, intermediate learners can do 30 minutes, and more advanced students can work up to an hour. Know when you are starting and when you are ending, so that you don’t get distracted.
• Share the learning. It’s easy to find a partner to do a language exchange; that is, somebody who is fluent in the language you’re learning and who wants to learn your native language. If you do find this kind of partner, make sure that you give each language equal time in your practice. Again, this means that you will have a specific start time, and halfway through your session, you will make the conscious decision to switch languages. Try to give each language exclusive time rather than jumping back and forth between the two.
• Don’t be shy. This kind of conversation is awkward. It is more difficult than conversation in your native language. Take the attitude that you’re not going to let fear of sounding silly keep you from practicing. Just go for it.
• Be patient with yourself and your partner. Try to minimize the amount of time you spend correcting each others’ mistakes and focus on fluency, not accuracy.
• Have fun!

 The March Conversation Marathon is a new conversation activity every Tuesday and Thursday.  They are written for ELLs (English Language Learners) but can be adapted to many languages. Try them.  And check back here twice a week to watch the list of March Marathon activities grow.

When you practice, try to spend less time teaching each other and more time listening. The focus is on fluency, not accuracy. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Beginning English:
My secret celebrity alter ego
Do you believe in ghosts?
April Fool!

Intermediate English:
Hot air balloon survivor
The job counselor
Emergency!
Selling it

Intermediate to advanced English:
Plane crash survivor
Where’s my lawyer?

Who vs whom: Quick English grammar explanation

Who or whom?  The difference between who and whom is difficult for native speakers and English language learners alike, because whom is a word that is rarely used properly. Here’s a simple explanation and four quick examples to help you keep them straight.

In English, the person or thing that does the action is the subject.
The person or thing that receives the action is the object.

Example 1:

Margaret called me.
“Margaret” is the subject.  “Called” is the action.  The word “me” is the object.

Who called you?
“Who” is the subject.  “Called” is the action. The word “you” is the object.

Whom did Margaret call?
“Margaret” is the subject.  “(Did) call” is the action.  The word “whom” is the object.

So, the word who is used as the subject of the sentence.  The word whom is used as the object of a sentence.

When you’re not sure whether to use who or whom, ask yourself: is it doing the action, or receiving the action?

If you need more information on subjects, verbs, and objects, watch this short video.

You can ask, “Who wore it better?”
or you can ask “For whom did you vote?” (Photo credit: Live & Let Die </3)

Example 2:

Fashion magazines and websites often show pictures of two celebrities wearing the same clothing. The question “Who wore it better?” is correct. There is usually a poll asking readers to vote for the celebrity whose outfit they liked better. After you vote, a friend might ask you “For whom did you vote?” It may sound formal, but it’s correct.

Here’s an example of a “Who wore it better” poll.

Example 3:

Who practices English?
With whom do you practice English?  (Now, the word “you” is the subject, making “whom” the object.)

One reason who and whom are difficult is that they are used incorrectly very frequently.  A native English speaker might not necessarily recognize that a sentence like “Who are you going to invite to the party?” is incorrect, because we hear it being said (incorrectly) so often.  The correct “Whom are you going to invite to the party?” is less common, so it sounds more formal.

Example 4:

Here is an example of the word whom used in pop culture, in the lyrics to this song by Metallica.  The lyric “for whom the bell tolls” is a reference to the poem Meditation 17 by John Donne.

If you’re not a Metallica fan, you can skip to 2:05 where the vocals begin.

If the sentence is “Time marches on for whom the bell tolls,” then “time” is the subject, “marches on” is the action, and “for whom the bell tolls” is the object.

Want more single-serving grammar? Click here for more Four quick examples grammar explanations.
Need more examples? Here’s another explanation with practice exercises for who, whom, and whose.

Today is National Puzzle Day – celebrate with games

Can you solve the puzzle?

January 29th is National Puzzle Day! It is an obscure holiday celebrated faithfully every year by puzzle makers and puzzle fans alike. To get into the National Puzzle Day spirit, try these puzzles for English class.

Word searches: Try these word search worksheets organized by topic and by level of difficulty.  If you want to play online, try these flash word searches organized by topic.  You have to hold down the shift key while you click on letters to highlight a word.

Bingo: Try printing this bingo board and filling it in with vocabulary words or pictures.

Fortune teller: Want to predict the future? Try playing MASH!  Or print this fortune-teller (“cootie catcher”) template and follow the instructions to make your own paper fortune teller.

Simple board games: Here is a game where you write a question in each square. You can only advance to the next square if you get the question correct.  Print the template, fill in the questions, and find a friend to play with.

You know tag questions, don’t you?  Try this simple tag question board game.

Need to practice grammar? These online flash games will have you shooting hoops, sword fighting, and building a catapoult to “fling the teacher” while you practice comparatives, prefixes, suffixes, and other grammar structures.

Crosswords: If you want to try online crossword puzzles, this site has many of them sorted by topic and difficulty.

Trivia: Free rice is a great site to answer trivia questions and, supposedly, donate food to starving people around the world. You start with easy questions, and as you get more correct answers, the questions get harder.

Partially completed puzzle.

Jigsaw puzzles: Here’s a puzzle about National Puzzle Day. Piece it together to find out the ways you can celebrate. A jigsaw about National Puzzle Day: now that’s meta.

Take a look at the photo here for hints about how to solve this jigsaw puzzle.

If you want to create your own jigsaw puzzles, try Jigzone. Members are allowed to upload their own pictures and play online.

What kind of game do you like best?

Related articles

• Doing a Jigsaw Puzzle Can Make You More Money (prfire.co.uk)
• Games for language class

The most beautiful phrase in the English language

What are words for? (Photo credit: Darwin Bell)

Do you like the phrase cellar door? Would you like it better if you knew it is considered one of the most beautiful phrases in the English language?

The claim that cellar door is beautiful to the ear — in opposition to its prosaic meaning — has been made by and attributed to a wide variety of writers over the years. “Poetry, in fact, is two quite distinct things,” H. L. Mencken wrote in a 1920 magazine column. “It may be either or both. One is a series of words that are intrinsically musical, in clang-tint and rhythm, as the single word cellar-door is musical. The other is a series of ideas, false in themselves, that offer a means of emotional and imaginative escape from the harsh realities of everyday.”

–The New York Times

Do you agree? And what makes a word beautiful to you, anyway?

One website is set to find out, asking visitors to vote in word vs word battles. Laurel leaf vs yells. To take office vs umpteen. Comparable vs cosignatory. The viewer is given pair after pair of words or phrases and asked to choose the more beautiful. The idea is that at about a hundred million votes or so, a list of the top twenty-five most beautiful, and least beautiful, will emerge as chosen by the internet.

At the time of this writing the site claims there have been almost 200,000 votes cast, still a long way from a million. The lists of ten best and ten worst are thought provoking. On the ten most beautiful list, several words of distinctly non-English origin, including aide-de-camp, pita, and ibis. First among the ten ugliest: pregnant. Accompanied by negative pressure, data storage, and to flambé.

One can only speculate which words and phrases were voted up (or voted down) because of their internal rhyme structure, and which were chosen (or not) because of their meaning.

Convalescent home or oracle?

Macroscopic or redouble?

Price quote or century plant?

You decide.

What do cats say in Spanish?

In English, cats say meow. In Spanish, they say miau.

What other animal sounds do you know? ¿Qué otros sonidos conoces?

What other animal sounds do you know?

Questions for Conversation:
Are these animal sounds correct in your country?
What other things do animals say in your country?

Preguntas para conversación:
¿Estes sonidos son correctos en tu país?
¿Qué otros sonidos hacen los animales en tu país?

Teaching Thanksgiving in an EFL class

What do turkeys, travel, family, (American) football games, giant balloons, indigenous rights, cooking, shopping, school vacations, traditional costumes and thankfulness have in common?

Thanksgiving turkey (Photo credit: antonellomusina)

They are all ideas associated with the American tradition of Thanksgiving, celebrated on the third Thursday in November every year.  November is a great time for English classes around the world to learn about this American holiday and pick up some new vocabulary as well.  Here are resources to learn about Thanksgiving and plan your own celebration.

1. Learn the history of Thanksgiving. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 in what is now Massachusetts, United States.  It was a harvest celebration attended by English colonists and Wampanoag indigenous people.  Back then, it wasn’t called “Thanksgiving” and it probably was not celebrated in November!  To learn more about what really happened on Thanksgiving, visit this Interactive Plimoth Plantation Exhibit and become a historian.

2. Read another point of view. Not everyone in the United States agrees about the way Thanksgiving should be observed.  This editorial explains another point of view.

3. Cook some food!  Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated with a big family dinner. It usually includes roast turkey, stuffing, cranberries, potatoes, squash, pumpkin, and other vegetables.  In 1621, the English colonists and the wampanoag ate venison (deer) and pumpkin.  Today, apple pie and popcorn are favorites.  Learn some traditional Wampanoag and English colonial recipes here.  Then, use this application from the New York Times to plan your own Thanksgiving feast according to your personal taste.

4. Be thankful.  Thanksgiving is a time to think about the good things in our lives and express gratitude for them.  Click here to read about an interactive art project called the Look for the Good Project.

Kermit the Frog (Photo credit: MikeMonello)

5. Create your own Thanksgiving Parade float.  Every year on Thanksgiving Day there is a big parade in New York City, New York.  There are celebrities and musical performances, but the parade is most famous for its giant balloons.  They are usually characters from television, comic books, and movies. You can watch a video of the parade here.  Then, follow these instructions to make your own balloon floats.  Your balloon float won’t be as large as the ones in the parade… or will it?

6. Watch American football. The Thanksgiving Day football game is a tradition at the high school, university, and professional level.  Not sure how to play football?  This Goofy cartoon will teach you.

7. Go shopping. The day after Thanksgiving in the United States is called “Black Friday,” and it is traditionally a day for people to start shopping for Christmas gifts.  Stores have big sales and people go shopping very, very early in the morning to get the best deals.  Practice numbers and prices exploring this Black Friday shopping website. Who can find the best deal on a TV?  On clothing? On video games?

Hand Turkey by Kara (Photo credit: Rory Finneren)

8. Do some arts and crafts.  In the United States, most schoolchildren have a small vacation, starting with a half day of school on the day before Thanksgiving and continuing for four days.  It is traditional for families to travel to visit one another and be together for Thanksgiving Dinner.  If you still have school this week, here are some arts and crafts you can do with your class.
Send some e-cards here and here.
Do a variety of educational crafts here.
People in the United States don’t dress up in folkloric costumes as much as many other countries do, but schoolchildren often still wear costumes to represent the colonists and Wompanoag.  You can watch a video about how to make a colonist costume here.
And, no Thanksgiving arts and crafts session would be complete without our favorite craft: make a Thanksgiving hand turkey here.

9. Watch a Thanksgiving video.  Now that you know about American Thanksgiving traditions, sing along with this Thanksgiving song by Nicole Westbrook.  How many Thanksgiving traditions do you see represented in the video?  What do you see in the video that doesn’t make sense?  What traditions is the video missing?  Check your answers in the comments.

I’m wide awake, and I should take
A step and say thank you, thank you,
For the things you’ve done, and what you did
Oh yeah, ooh yeah.
December was Christmas, January was New Year’s.
April was Easter, and the Fourth of July, but now it’s Thanksgiving.
Oh oh oh, it’s Thanksgiving. We we we, we’re gonna have a good time.
Oh oh oh, it’s Thanksgiving. We we we are gonna have a good time.
With the turkey (hey!) And mashed potatoes (hey!)
We we we are gonna have a good time.
We need the turkey (hey!) And mashed potatoes (hey!)

Does this happen at your house on Thanksgiving?

It’s Thanksgiving, It’s Thanksgiving.
You know school is out, I can’t wait,
I can shout thank you, thank you, thank you.
No matter what you do, no matter what you say,
This is my favorite day.
December was Christmas,
January was New Year’s.
April was Easter,
and the Fourth of July,
but now it’s Thanksgiving.
Yo, it’s Thanksgiving-givin’ and I’m tryin’ to be forgivin’.
Nothing is forbidden, you know we gotta have it.
I gotta give thanks to you, and you, and you.
Can’t be hateful, gotta be grateful; gotta be grateful, can’t be hateful.
Mashed potatoes on my, on my table, I got ribs smelling’ up my neighbors’ cribs.
Havin’ good times, we be laughin’ ’til we cry.
It’s Thanks, Thanks, Thanksgiving, come on
It’s Thanks, Thanks, Thanksgiving, give ‘em thanks, y’all.
Oh oh oh, it’s Thanksgiving. We we we, we’re gonna have a good time.
Oh oh oh, it’s Thanksgiving. We we we, are gonna have a good time.
With the turkey (hey!) And mashed potatoes (hey!)
We we we, are gonna have a good time.
With the turkey (hey!) And mashed potatoes (hey!)
It’s Thanksgiving, it’s Thanksgiving.

Conversation Questions:

Do you celebrate Thanksgiving in your country?  Do you have another similar holiday?  Which Thanksgiving tradition is your favorite?