Special occasions reported speech cultural differences

life events/ cultural training

Choose one situation below and tell your partner things said in that situation such as:

• what someone really said in that situation
• what you really said in that situation
• things you vaguely remember from that situation
• what people tend to say in that situation
• what you have heard people say in that situation in fiction (movies, etc)
• how what is said might be different in different situations (different cultures, etc)

Continue until your partner guesses which situation you are describing, see if they have any questions or comments, then take turns doing the same.

Situations to describe what people say in

1. Your wedding
2. Someone else’s wedding
3. A wedding anniversary
4. Anniversary of someone’s death
5. When someone proposed
6. When someone asked you out
7. When you told your friends and family about a boyfriend or girlfriend
8. When a pet died
9. When you got engaged
10. When you graduated from high school
11. When you graduated from college or university
12. When you went abroad for the first time
13. When you spoke to the police
14. When you were the victim of a crime
15. When you were interviewed for TV or a newspaper or magazine
16. When you were interviewing for a new job
17. When you had a meeting with your boss
18. When your teacher told you off
19. When you started in a new company
20. When you or your partner were pregnant or had a baby
21. When someone you knew was pregnant or had a baby
22. The first time an adult talked to you about sex
23. Your day or first week at school or university
24. A baby’s first birthday

When your teacher stops you, ask about any which you can’t think what people might say in, etc, discussing as a class each time.

In different groups, discuss

• Which are the most important occasions above for people in your country? What do people usually say on those occasions?
• Which ones are not marked in any special way (like graduating from school in the UK)?
• How do these things vary from country to country?

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Related pages

Reported speech/ Indirect speech main page

Festivals and celebrations games/worksheets

Life events page