Speed Conversations

Here is a great idea to have a good time in class with a quick, active game that is wonderful for practicing speaking. This activity, called Speed Dating, is very flexible and can be adapted to different topics and goals. 

You can also include some writing for the students and let them be really creativewith the activity.



The first thing to do here is decide what your focus is with the activity. If you are working on jobs, for example, you can have the students focus on that as they prepare their characters and speak. This is also a wonderful activity for practicingquestions in English. For now, let's imagine we are using this activity as we work on adjectives in English.
  1. First, you need characters for this activity. You can create them ahead of time if you want to practice specific words and phrases. Be sure to include information like name, age, gender, occupation, and hobbies.
  2. You can also have the students create their own characters. Give them ten or fifteen minutes to write the information in step 1 for a person. Have themuse lots of adjectives to describe the character's personality.
  3. Now, you can have the students use the characters they created or even have them exchange characters with someone else! It does not matter if a girl has a boy character or vice versa. The idea is simply to give them a character to represent.
  4. Explain to the students that at a speed dating event, people meet each other and speak for a very short time (3-5 minutes). Then they switch partners and meet a new person. In real life, people do this looking for a romantic partner, but they are just meeting new people.
  5. Arrange the desks in lines or circles facing each other, or have the students stand up. They should each find a partner.
  6. Have the students introduce themselves and speak for 3-5 minutes. Ask them to practice using all their adjectives as they describe themselves andask about the other person.
  7. After 3-5 minutes, say "Change!" and let the students move to a new partner to repeat the activity, always representing their characters.
  8. Once the students have spoken with several different partners, you can end the activity. Ask them how they felt! Would they like to attend a real speed dating event?


 
This is a fun activity to get your students moving and interacting with each other. They can also speak without feeling nervous in front of the whole group. They are just talking to one person, so this is less stressful.

Your students will like this one. Also, check out the teaching center for more tips and ideas!
Store >> Freebies >> Speed Conversations