Some Language Games

 Hangman

This is the best game for improving our vocabulary, spelling, and even pronunciation. It is easy to play and needs only two persons. One of the participants draws a hanging stand, and then chooses a word from a list of words both participants have studied well; they can also choose the words based on categories like animals, foods, fruits, flowers, human body, etc. The first participant determines the number of the letters of the specified word by using dashes. The second participant starts telling any letter of the alphabet he likes. If the specified word includes the letter he names, the first participant writes the letter in its place. The second participant must complete the word, pronounce it correctly, and render the meaning of the word to win the game. For each mistake, the first participant draws part of the body of a man: head, neck, left arm, right arm, trunk, left leg, and finally right leg. If the second participant makes 7 mistakes, he will lose the game because the process of hanging is complete!

 Rephrasing champions

The teacher, or a student, says a sentence and students should paraphrase the sentence using a different structure or different words. If any student hesitates more than 30 seconds, he/she loses the game. For example, suppose the teacher says, "We have chosen Natasha as the representative of the class." Possible rephrased sentences which can be accepted are:

* We have elected Natasha as the representative of the class.

* Natasha has been chosen as the representative of the class.

* Natasha has been elected by the class as the representative.

* Natasha was chosen as the president of the class.

* Natasha was chosen to represent the class.

* The students' first choice for the presidency was Natasha.

* …………………………………………………… .  

 Alphabet game

One student says a word; his neighbor says another word which begins with the last letter of his friend's word. The third student must render a word which begins with the last letter of the second student's word, and the game goes on. Any student who hesitates more than 5 seconds loses the game and other students continue until one student is left; he is our champion. Another version which is more difficult is to restrict the category of the words students can use (e.g. animals, human character, nature, etc.).

 Pelmanism or memory game
Give each group of 2 to 4 students a pack of cards that has common classroom language verbs (pick up, draw, listen to, look at, face, copy, etc.) on half of the cards and common classroom nouns (the window, the air conditioning, your eraser, your partner, etc.) on the rest. Students spread the pack of cards face down across the table and try to find a verb and an object that match up. If they think two cards match up, they should do that action in order to prove it. If the group agree that the two cards don’t match (or if they pick up two nouns or two verbs), they should put them back face down exactly where they took them from.

 Ranking debate
Give students a list of 20 to 25 sentences that are useful for them to use in the classroom, including some more unusual ones like “Can I blow my nose, please?” and “Can you lend me some money, please?” In pairs or threes, students debate which are the top ten most useful sentences. These can then be turned into a poster or worksheet, and should be the ones the teacher is strict about not allowing L1 for from then on.