Instructions for teachers
Stage 1: Constructing phrases
Photocopy and cut up one set of cards for each group of two to four students. Give them just the starting and ending cards (i.e. not those in bold in the middle) to match up to make the shorter useful phrases. Perhaps after asking them to brainstorm extra words into the middle, also give them the middle cards to check their answers and extend the sentences. Check answers as a class or give them un-cut-up copies of the cards to check their answers with. Other matches are possible, but there should only be one way to match them all up.
Stage 2: Speaking games
Give them a speaking task such as a list of topics to try and take turns talking about in anecdotes form, linking their anecdote to their partner’s last one if they can, or a bluffing game. Ask students to deal out all the cards between them. They should try and use phrases with all the words on their cards, being able to discard cards as they use them. The person with fewest cards remaining when the game is stopped is the winner.
AND/ OR
Get students to choose phrases from the list for their partner to use. After the story finishes, they should guess if the anecdote is true or not.
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Cards to cut up/ Suggested answers
| A memorable experience | that/ which | I had is… |
| An experience | I had | which I will always remember… |
| I don’t have much experience of this | at all | , but… |
| I don’t remember | exactly | when, but… |
| I don’t remember this, but | my parents told me that | when I was a toddler… |
| I have | personal | experience of this. In fact… |
| I haven’t experienced this | much | recently but… |
| I must have been | about | 12 years old when… |
| I only have | very | limited experience of this, but… |
| I’ve | generally | found that…. |
| I’ve | only | had good experiences of this. For example,… |
| I’ve got a | good | story about that. One day… |
| In my | limited | experience, it works quite well. |
| My general experience | of this | is that… |
| This has only happened | to me | a couple of times, but… |
| When I was | much | younger,… |
| When I was around seven | years old | , I lived in America with my family for six months. |
| When I was in | the first year of | high school,… |
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PDF for easy saving and printing: Sharing personal experiences longer phrases card games
Related pages
Sharing personal experiences page
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