Students can learn English by playing games, says Caty Buck, who is a special education and ESL teacher in Burnsville, MN. There are several different games that she suggests to teach students how to speak English, or to work on English grammar, pronunciation or spelling.

English Coversation Games

Play English conversation games to help students learn English at a faster rate. Assign students to a group, and give each of them a part to play. Then, give each student a goal, and ask them to write a short skit to fulfill all of the goals. For instance, in a group of four, you might have a doctor whose goal is to get home early, a patient whose goal is to find out what's wrong with him, a nurse whose goal is to stay late to earn more money, and a child whose goal is to get money from his parent, the patient. Students have to write a skit, in English, which allows each of the people in the skit to try to get his goal. Then, they can perform this skit for other members of the class. If you require a written version of the skit, as well as the performed version, you'll help students work on English in a variety of ways while playing this game.

Grammar Games

Play grammar games with ESL students to promote their own learning. Buck suggests playing whole group games, in which you take a ball and start with a verb in its full form, like To Be. Then, throw the ball to the first student. They have to say the "I" version of that verb, I am, in a sentence, before they throw the ball to the next student. The next student has to say the "he" version of the verb, "he is", in a sentence, before they throw the ball, and so on. Set a timer, and the student who is left holding the ball when the timer goes off has to sit down.

Play another type of grammar game with students to promote their ESL knowledge, suggests Buck. Have students diagram sentences on the board, and then switch groups and correct the sentences done by other students. For each mistake they find, they can earn a point, and the other group can lose a point. Count up the points at the end of five sentences, and see which team has more.