Getting to Know You Interview

Start with an activity to introduce the people in the class to each other as a
warm-up task. Put the students in pairs, in two rows of chairs opposite one
another, and have them interview each other in English, taking-down notes,
following the guideline below. When the interviewing is finished, each student
stands up and introduces his/her partner to the class in no more than two to
three minutes. When the first pair have finished, go to the next pair and so on.
I would like to introduce you to my friend ........... whose nickname is ...........
Name
Nickname
Birth Date
Place of birth
Family members
Education
Skills
Hobbies
Other interests
Job experience
Sports
Prizes/Awards
Travel experience
What makes this person unique?

Remembering Introductions

Another way for a group to get acquainted and have a good laugh at the same
time is to put about fourteen students in a circle and have them speak in the
following pattern, each one remembering and repeating what was said before
and then adding his/her own new information.
The first one says,
Hello, my name is Pom.
My major is English and my minor is French.
The second one says,
Hello, this is Pom.
Her major is English and her minor is French.
My name is Da.
My major is Drama and my minor is English.
The third one says,
Hello, this is Pom.
Her major is English and her minor is French,.
and this is Da.
Her major is Drama and her minor is English,
and my name is Pen.
My major is English and my minor is Spanish.
And so on and so on until they have gone around the full circle
With no one forgetting and no one becoming confused.
Or if they do forget and get confused, just stop at that place in the circle and
start over again, beginning with the next person and continuing in the same
way until they have gone all the way around the group.

One word story

Preparation
Students should be in a circle (if this isnt possible make it clear they know who they are going to
follow on from).
Procedure

The teacher can begin by saying the first word and each student adds the next word, without
repeating what has come beforehand.
The stories can develop in any number of ways. Some groups may need the teacher to provide
punctuation and decide that the sentence should end and a new one should begin. The great thing
about this activity is that all students have to concentrate and listen carefully to their colleagues to be
able to continue the story coherently.
Good starting words are Suddenly or Yesterday to force the story into the past tense.
Example:
* Teacher Yesterday
* Student 1 I
* Student 2 saw
* Student 3 a
* Student 4 strange
* Student 5 man
* Student 6 who
* Student 7 was
* Student 8 wearing
* Student 9 a
* Student 10 yellow
* Student 11 hat
* Teacher Full stop, new sentence
* Student 12 He
* Student 13 was
* Etc. etc.
It is great for highlighting word collocations and practising word order. It also highlights
problems students may have with tenses or prepositions for you to focus on in future classes.