Hi,

For Conversational English exercise, the game "Twenty Questions" is simple, fast and can be made as easy or as difficult as you choose. "Twenty Questions" has been around for a very long time and I claim no credit whatsoever for inventing it.

For those who have not heard of it or who do not know how to play it - here are the instructions.

Conceal some appropriate object in a pocket. Let it be the only object in that pocket and make sure it cannot be seen nor its shape be deduced from the nature of the bulge (if any) in your pocket.

Then you give your class a total of 20 questions between them in which they have to find out what the object is.

1) They cannot ask you to draw a picture of it
2) They are not allowed to touch it or feel it unseen.
3) They must ask questions aimed at discovering what the object is.
4) They cannot ask you to describe it,though they can ask you what it is made of; what colour it is and what it is used for etc.
5) You must normally answer all their questions correctly and clearly, providing they are "allowable" questions.
6) You are only allowed to reject a question that would normally be permissible if the answer would clearly disclose what it is. For example - if you are asked the object's purpose and you have a screwdriver in your pocket, you can say it is a tool used for repairing things but if the object is a razor you can reject the question as to what its purpose is on the grounds that whatever truthful answer you give will disclose its identity. But you must try to give a sensible descriptive answer to all their questions or they will feel cheated.
7) The final identifying question must be a specific "Is it a ???" to which you must answer yes or no and then produce the object from your pocket for all to see.

Make sure the object(s) you choose are well within their bounds of knowledge. There is no point having a shaving brush as your target object with a class of Chinese teenagers, for none of them shave and none have any knowledge of shaving or the rituals that surround it. Similarly there would be no point using a small jar of instant coffee powder with a class of primary school children all of whom live in the backwoods, as none of them will know what coffee is, let alone instant coffee in a glass jar. So be VERY careful to choose your target objects with care.

Your students need to be able to win this game more times than they lose it.

Explain to them at the start, that they can ask whatever questions they like but that each question will be recorded briefly on the blackboard. Tell them that "wild guesses" are a waste of their available questions and will not get them very near to finding out what the object is. Wild guesses are random questions such as "Is it pencil/pen/eraser/wallet/money/keys/lighter/and so on. Explain that it is best if they ask sensible questions such as "Can we eat it?" or "What is it made from?" and suchlike.

I started this with Chinese students all in the Senior 3rd Grade Middle School - at about 17 to 18 yrs of age. The first class had to be given not 20 questions but 40 questions to get the answer! Nowadays however, that same class can pin down most objects within 5 to 10 questions easily.

The game forces them to think of English words and descriptions and it also requires that they stand up and speak English out loud without reading from a book or prepared transcript. In short they need to think! It has a distinct, if unquantifiable educational benefit in vocabulary extension and the encouragement of spontaneous conversation.

It can be used for an entire teaching session, or as an end-of-session filler to occupy those awkward few minutes between the end of your main subject and the end of session bell. You may need to be quite persuasive to get your class started on this game but when two or three have asked questions, the rest should take up the challenge more readily.

Try it!