1

English for Travellers

14 Lessons
1) Classroom English: A Card Activity.
What to Say When You Don't Understand Someone
It gives the students the skills to get information when they don't
understand a speaker.
2) Making Introductions: A Line-up
Some Expressions for Introducing Yourself
Students look at questions for finding out basic information about
someone. The students practice this language in a chain activity and a
line-up activity.
3) Airport English: A Role-Play
Language Needed for Getting Through Customs
The class divides up into two groups. One group, travelers at an airport,
have to get past the other group, customs and immigration officers.
4) Making Plans: A Line-up Role-play
Language for Making Plans on the Phone
The class is divided into two groups: callers and receivers. Callers
telephone the receivers and try to make plans on the phone.
5) Hotel English: A Simulation Role-play
Language for Booking Rooms in a Hotel
Half the class become front desk clerks in hotels and the other half
become guests. Guests go from hotel to hotel and book rooms the
hotels.
6) Restaurant English: A Simulation Role-play
Language for Ordering Food

The class divides up into two groups: waiters and customers. Customers
go from restaurant to restaurant and order food. As a complication,
everybody has something to complain about.
7) Banking Role-Play: A Simulation Role-play
Language for Conducting Bank Transactions
A one hour banking role-play that explores the expressions needed to do
five basic transactions at a bank: deposit money, withdraw money, cash
checks, exchange currency, and pay bills. Students are divided into bank
tellers and bank clients. Bank clients approach tellers and conduct
banking transactions
8) Doctor Role-Play: A Simulation Role-play
Language for Visiting the Doctor
A one hour role-play for visiting the doctor's that explores the
expressions needed to visit the doctor's office and talk about ailments
and prescriptions.
9) Directions I: A Lineup Role-play
Language for Giving Directions Based on Street Name and Buildings in
the Vicinity.
A one hour role-play for asking someone out and giving directions to a
restaurant. Students also practice superlative (hottest, freshest, best)
and nationality adjectives (Japanese, Chinese, Italian)
10)

Directions II: Traveling on Foot or Car

Language for Giving Directions by Which Road to Go Down and Where to

Turn
A one hour role-play for giving directions and making suggestions.
Students also practice using reported speech and talking about
museums.
11)

Directions III: Traveling by Subway or Bus

Language for Giving Directions by Subway or Bus

A one hour role-play for giving directions by subway or bus and talking
about department store sales.

Tours: Making Reservations

12)

How Much Is It?: Shopping Role-play

3 Activities plus Vocabulary Support for Shopping.

This unit contains an information gap, a walk-and-talk, and a role-play,
as well as numerous vocabulary worksheet.
13)
I Need a Ticket to Osaka, Japan?: Airline Ticketing Roleplay
Language for purchasing Airline Tickets.
This unit contains a one-hour role-play where students are divided into
travelers and airline ticketing agent. Travelers have to find information
about airline tickets.
14)
I Need to Mail This to Mexico: A Going to the Post Office
Role-play
Language for mailing letters and parcels.
This unit contains a one-hour role-play where students are divided into
post office clerks and customers wanting to mail parcels and letters

1) Classroom English: Get it Right From the Start

Target:
The aim of this lesson is to teach students how to ask for information
when they don't understand what was said to them.

Preparation:
First print the activity sheet and activity cards. Photocopy one activity
sheet for each student in the class, and make one set of cards for each
group of four or five students. It works well if you paste the card sheet
on to cardboard and then cut out the cards.

Introduction:
After going through your regular review and teacher talk. Tell the
students that you 'read a great book about dinoflagellates' . . .or
whatever, just so long as the word is incomprehensible. See what
responses this elicits and write them on the board.
One by one, write the five target questions on the board and compare
what they say or didn't say with what they should have said.
Now choose one of the cards and and try a sample run of the activity
that you are going to do. Go through the card question by question,
writing questions on the board.

Group Activity
Break the students up into groups of four or five. One student draws a
card and the other students take turns asking questions. Usually, I have
the students go around in a circle where the student to the left of the
student who drew the card asks the first question and so on. After the
card is finished, another student draws a card and the process begins
again. Repeat until the whole activity sheet is filled out.

Wrap Up

The students break up their groups and come together as a class again.
Quickly, try the routine as a class without letting the students look at
their sheets.
Usually, I pretend to pick up two new cards:
I am reading a book about glaciers.
And:
Yesterday, I bought a new telescope.
The students go through questions and answers as a class, hopefully,
without having to look at their sheet.

Correcting Errors
When should you correct an error? The issue is still not resolved within
the ESL world. What follows is my personal intuition on what kind of error
correction to give and when to give it. I see at least four ways of dealing
with student errors:
(1) To stop the conversation and point out the error, there and then.
(2) To reiterate what your student has said, rephrasing their language so
that it is correct, and at the same time keep the conversation going.
(3) To wait for a free moment and then explain to the class or to the
individual about the error you heard and what could have been said
instead.
(4) To ignore it and hope correction will come naturally at a later date.
I usually I prefer 2,3,or 4 but this is one occasion to 'get it right from the
beginning'. After this lesson, when your student says, 'meaning?' or
'spelling?' correct them there and then. It is more acceptable to correct
them in this circumstance because it is unlikely you will destroy the flow
of the conversation (which is the main reason why I rarely use method
one).

Also, it is language that they use everyday so it is better to get them

into the habit of speaking correctly from the start.

Classroom English
Target:
(1) Can you repeat that please?
(2) How do you spell __________?
(3) What does __________ mean?
(4) Can you give me an example?
(5) How do you say ___________
in Japanese/Spanish/French . . .?
'I read a good book about dinoflagellates"
Huh? Dino . . ..
Teacher: I'm reading a book about amphibians.
Students: Can you repeat that please?
Teacher: I said, "I'm reading a book amphibians."
Students: How do you spell amphibians?
Teacher: A-M-P-H-I-B-I-A-N-S
Students write down amphibians on their activity sheet beside 'Word'.
Students: What does amphibian mean?

Teacher: It's an animal that is born in water but can live on land.
Students write down the meaning on their activity sheet beside
'meaning'.
Students: Can you give me an example?
Teacher: A frog.
Students write down 'frog' on their activity sheet beside 'example'.
Students: How do you say amphibian in Korean (or whatever language
they speak)?
Teacher: In Korean you say 'Yangseoryu'.
Method 1
Student: I took off the bus.
Teacher: You mean you got off the bus. You ' get off' a bus not 'take off' a
bus.
Method 2
Student: I took off the bus.
Teacher: Ah. You got off the bus and then where did you go?
(or) I see. Where did you go when you got off the bus?

2) Introductions : Line up and meet the class.

Time: 1-2 hours

Focus:
The purpose of this lesson is to give false beginners the skills to
introduce themselves and find out basic information about each other..

This lesson follows a format of independent work, discussion, chain

activity, and line-up. The chain activity may have to be omitted if the
class is too large.
Preparation:
The Teacher will need to print off and photocopy the Getting to Know
Your Class worksheet.
Independent writing:
Handout the worksheet to the class and have them fill in the blanks with
their information. Tell them they must also think of some questions that
are appropriate for getting those answers. The teacher walks around the
class and offers advice while the students are writing.
Discussion:
Now that the students have written all their information down, go over
the blanks one at a time writing sample answers on the board. Going
over the questions is especially helpful. Where I teach most false
beginners have some middle school English that has been programmed
into them. Although they can easily come up with a question for each
answer, often the question is awkward. For example, they often write:
How many members are in your family? Though grammatically correct
and able to convey the message, this question is odd. It should be
replaced with something like: Do you have any brothers or sisters?
Chain Activity:
Have the students sit in a circle. Starting at one end, a student will give
an introduction and say one fact:
Hi, I'm Jen. I grew up in Vancouver.
Then the second student will continue in the following manner:
That's Jen. She grew up in Vancouver.
I'm Mike. I'm interested in punk music.
Then the third student will continue:
That's Jen. She grew up in Vancouver.
That's Mike. He's interested in punk music.
I'm Sam. I want to be a lawyer someday.

It gets more and more difficult as the chain gets longer and longer. You
will get lots of respect from your students if you yourself go last.
This exercise is excellent in that students do practice some basic
sentence stems over and over again. Second, student will be able to get
to know each other. Third, you, the teacher, will get a good start at
memorizing your students' names. If the class is too large you may have
to omit the exercise or else keep the chain length to a maximum of five
people.
Line up:
Line up is probably my favorite activity for conversation classes. If you
can keep your students' disciplined then you can use it almost every
week. And it's pretty satisfying as a teacher to here the classroom fill up
with the sounds of conversation.
Basically, you form two lines of chairs facing each other. Students sit in
the chairs and face each other. Students will have conversations with the
people across from them for about 3-4 minutes. Then, the teacher yell
"change" and all of the students in one row move over one chair. The
person at the end will come around to the front of the row.
In this particular line-up, students have to exchange their personal
information that is on the Getting to Know You worksheet. An important
aspect of line-up is getting students to experiment with different
greetings. Students should choose one of the greetings on the left side
of their worksheet when they first sit down in front of a new partner. And
they should also choose another parting phrase when the teacher tells
them to change.
Target Language:
Personal Information:
I grew up in ___________
I work for ____________
I'm into ____________
I have ________ brothers and ________ sisters.
In the future, I'd like to _______

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Hello and Good bye

Nice weather, isn't it?
How's it going?
How are you doing?
What have you been up to?
It was nice talking to you.
Well, I've got to go now

3) Airport English: A Role-play for Getting Through Customs

Time: 1 hour
Focus:
The purpose of this lesson is to give students the skills to pass customs
with as little trouble as possible.
This lesson follows a simple format of an introduction and discussion,
followed by a role-play activity.
Preparation:
The Teacher will need to print off and photocopy customs officer roleplay sheets, traveler role-play sheets, and passport and character
prompt cards. Note: There are two versions of the customs officer roleplay sheet, A and B. This is so that students can hear common customs
questions asked in more than one way.
Introduction:

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Tell the students that they will be studying airport English. Have one
student come up to the front. Give that student a passport card and
explain that you are a customs officer. The student will have to pass
customs. Because you are the customs officer, you will be able to lead
the conversation.
I often have students try to accomplish a task cold, before I actually set
out to teach them the skills to do it. This accomplishes two things: One,
it lets me know if the lesson will be too easy and hence a waste of time
for them. Two, if it's not too easy, it lets the students know why they are
studying it. One problem with false beginners is that they sometimes
feel the subject material is below them, yet they are unable to function
in that subject material. It is a way to show them their limitations.
Discussion:
After a few students have tried to get through your customs and
immigration, then go over the conversation. Write the questions on the
board and ask the students what possible answers could be. With all of
the questions and possible answers on the board, have a few more
students try to come through your customs. Hopefully, they will have no
problems doing it well.
Role-play Activity:
Now, comes the real focus of the class: role-playing going through
customs. The class will be divided into two groups of students: customs
officers and travelers. Hand out the custom officer role-play sheet to the
custom officers. Each custom officer represents a country of their
choosing and they will briefly interview each traveler before letting them
into the country. It works well when you put their desks in a line so that
the travelers can go from one customs officer to another in an orderly
fashion.
Handout the passports and traveler role-play prompts to the travelers.
Have the travelers read their prompts. Note: you should be able to fold
the character prompts and paste them onto the back of the passports. It
is very convenient like that.
As travelers get interviewed, the customs agents take down the
travelers' information. The travelers write down what countries they
visited. Finally, if time permits have the students change roles.

Target Language:

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A: Welcome to Canada. May I see your passport please?

B: Sure. Here it is.
A: Where are you coming from?
B: I'm coming from Seoul, Korea.
A: What is the purpose of your visit?
B: I'm here on business.
A: How long are you planning to stay?
B: I'll be staying for three weeks.
A: Where will you be staying?
B: I'll be staying at a hotel.
A: Have you ever been to Canada before?
B: No, this is my first time.
A: Do you have anything to declare?
B: No, nothing.
A: Enjoy your stay.
B: Thank you

4) Making Plans : A Line-up Role-play

Time: 1 hour
Focus:
The purpose of this lesson is to give false beginners the skills to call
somebody and make plans or make excuses.

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This lesson follows a simple format of an introduction and discussion,

followed by a line-up activity.
Preparation:
The teacher will need to print off and photocopy the caller worksheet
and the receiver worksheet.
Introduction:
Tell the students that they will be making plans. Before explaining
anything, give one student a note on which something like the following
is written:
Call _______ and ask him to go to a movie Saturday night.
Another student's name should be written in the blank. Make the student
actually pick up an imaginary phone and dial. Then you, the teacher,
say, "Ringgg. Ringgg." and point to the person whose name is in the
blank. Hopefully that person will be surprised but will still pick up their
imaginary phone.
Listen carefully to how your students approach the task that has been
set for them and record their conversation on the board as it is
happening (or just after).
Usually, I find the conversation is very basic, lacks any sophistication
and is very to the point. (Again, I teach false beginners).
Discussion:
Now that the conversation is written on the board, you can go through
and make suggestions. Did they exchange greetings properly? Did the
caller jump right to asking about going to the movies? Or was there
some requisite small talk first: How are you doing these days? Did they
remember to set a time and place to meet? Did the receiver show some
enthusiasm at the proposal?
Now have another pair of students try it out. If all goes well this time
have a third pair try it out but stop them when the caller asks if the
receiver is busy. What if the receiver is busy? What could she say? Or
what if the receiver isn't busy, but then doesn't really want to do the
proposed activity? Flat out refusing a request might make the caller feel
bad so you can discuss how to make excuses. Give them some
pragmatic competence. In the role-play that follows students are

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supposed to say, " Oh! I just remembered I have to . . . " if they want to
make an excuse.
Role-play Activity:
Now, comes the real focus of the class: a line-up activity to practice
making plans. Divide the class into two groups: callers and receivers.
Give each group their respective worksheets. Callers have to check off
ten things that they would like to do. Receivers will check off five things
that they don't want to do. Callers will make calls and asks receivers to
do the activities that the callers checked off. If the receivers are not busy
and they want to do the activity (i.e. the receivers didn't check it off),
then the receivers accept the proposal and both parties negotiate a time
and place and record the information on their worksheets.
Class setup is very important for this. Basically, the class is setup so that
there are two lines of chairs. The receivers will face the wall and the
callers will sit behind them.. The receivers should have their names
pasted onto the back of their chairs if the students are not too familiar
with each other.
Callers will go to a receiver and tap on that receivers shoulder and say,
Ring! Ring!" Receivers will answer and they will either make plans to do
something or the receiver will make an excuse. After they hang up the
phone, the caller stands up and waits for the next available chair behind
a receiver and tries the conversation again. As more and more phone
calls are being made the schedules should start filling up and it will
become harder and harder for the students to negotiate a time to meet.
This will present them with a new task:
A: Are you busy on Tuesday evening.
B: Yes, sorry. I have plans with Minsu. How about Wednesday afternoon?
A: No, I'm busy on Wednesday

Target Language:
Jim: Hello.
Susan: Hello. Is Jim there please?
Jim: Speaking.

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Susan: Hi, Jim. This is Susan. How are you doing these days?
Jim: Good. What's up?
Susan: Are you busy on Friday evening?
Jim: No, I'm free. Why?
Susan: Would you like to have dinner together?
Jim: Sounds good. What time would you like to meet?
Susan: How about 7:00?
Jim: 7:00 is fine. Where would you like to meet?
Susan: Why don't we meet in front of Antico's Italian Restaurant?
Jim: Sounds good. See you there.
Susan: Great. Bye.

5) At the Hotel: A Role-play

Time: 1 hour
Focus:
The purpose of this lesson is to give false beginners the skills to enter a
hotel and book a room.
This lesson follows a simple format of an introductory activity and
discussion, followed by a role-play activity.
Preparation:
The teacher will need to print off and photocopy five sheets:
Mixed-up Conversation: Hotel Front Desk

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Hotel Information Cards

Front Desk Role-play activity Sheet
Hotel Guest Role-play Activity Sheet
Guest Role play Prompts
Introduction:
Pass out the mixed-up conversation and have the students work in pairs
(or groups). After they have finished, go over the conversation as a
class.
Discussion:
Now look at the conversation as a class and discuss a few of the
patterns. I try to highlight the difference between asking for something
politely and just simply grunting out needs.
Have a few students try to book a room from you. Compare what they
say with the original conversation.
Role-play Activity:
Now, comes the real focus of the class: a role-play activity to practice
booking a room in a hotel. Divide the class into two groups: hotel front
desk clerks and hotel guests. The front desk clerks get hotel information
cards and a front desk activity sheet, which they have to fill out. The
guests get their role-play prompts and their activity sheets, which they
have to fill out.
The guests will go from hotel to hotel and book a room in each hotel. As
the guests are going around, both guests and front desk clerks are
recording information
Target Language:
Front Desk: Welcome to the Wyatt Hotel. How may I help you?
Traveler: I'd like a room please?
Front Desk: Would you like a single or a double?
Traveler: I'd like a double, please?
Front Desk: May I have your name, please?
Traveler: Timothy Findley.

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Front Desk: Could you spell that please?

Traveler: F-I-N-D-L-E-Y.
Front Desk: How many are in your party?
Traveler: Just two.
Front Desk: How many nights would you like to stay?
Traveler: Just tonight.
Front Desk: How will you be paying?
Traveler: Is Visa OK?
Front Desk: That'll be fine. Would you like a wake-up call?
Traveler: Yes, I'd like a wake-up call for 6:30. Do you have a pool?
Front desk: Yes, we do. On the 2nd floor. Here's your key. That room 405
on the fourth floor.

6) Going to Restaurants : A Role-play for Ordering Food

Time: 1 hour
Focus:
The purpose of this lesson is to give false beginners the skills to order
food in a restaurant.
This lesson follows a simple format of an introduction and discussion,
followed by a role-play activity.
Preparation:
The teacher will need to print off and photocopy four sheets: restaurant
menus, the waiters' activity sheet, the customers' activity sheet, and the
role-play prompts.

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Introduction:
Tell the students that they will be ordering food from restaurants today.
Invite one student up to the front and give the student a menu. After the
student has had a short time to look at the menu, say ,"May I take your
order?"
Usually, the student will say something very basic, "Hamburger."
If the student gives a more sophisticated answer, then I write it on the
board and then we begin to discuss other ways of ordering food.
Discussion:
The purpose of the above demonstration is a lesson in pragmatic
competence. Just barking out orders can be perceived as being rude and
may have real consequences..
As a class we briefly discuss ways to order food: I'll have a hamburger,
please. I'd like the seafood spaghetti. Then we go over other aspects of
the conversation
Role-play Activity:
Now, comes the real focus of the class: a role-play activity to practice
ordering food.. Divide the class into three: one third of the class will
become restaurant waiters and the other two thirds will partner up and
go around to the various restaurants and order food.
The waiters should receive their 'Special of the Day' prompt cards and
their activity sheet. As customers visit their restaurants, waiters have to
write down the orders on their activity sheets. Likewise, the customers
write down what they ordered on the customer activity sheets.
Now, if you want to throw in an unscripted wrench into the works, you
can hand out the complaint cards to the customers and see how both
customers and waiters react. You can also instruct a few waiters to be
rude and insulting on purpose.
There are also these optional support materials:
Restaurant Cloze Activity

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Restaurant Crossword
Restaurant and Food Survey Activity plus Survey Action Sheet
Target Language:
Waiter: Welcome to Antico's. Here are your menus. Today's special is
grilled salmon. I'll be back to take your order in a minute.
...
Waiter: Are you ready to order?
Customer 1: I'd like the seafood spaghetti.
Waiter: And you?
Customer 2: I'll have a hamburger and fries.
Waiter: Would you like anything to drink?
Customer 1: I'll have a coke, please.
Waiter: And for you?
Customer 2: Just water, please.
Waiter: OK. So that's one seafood spaghetti, one hamburger and fries,
one coke, and one water. I'll take your menus.
...
Waiter: Here is your food. Enjoy your meal.
...
Waiter: How was everything?
Customers 2: Delicious, thanks.
Waiter: Would you like anything for dessert?
Customer 1: No, just the bill please.

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7) Bank Role-play: Five Simple Banking Transactions

Materials:
Bank Teller Activity Sheet
Bank Client Activity Sheet
Realia: Bank Cards and Photo ID
Realia: Biggle Bucks and American Dollars

Purpose and Audience:

The purpose of these materials is to get the students to practice making
basic bank transaction in English. This is a fairly simple role-play
intended for false beginners (or perhaps even beginners). In short,
students will go into the bank and deposit money, withdraw money, cash
checks, and pay bills. Due to the nature of the material, this role-play is
intended for adults.
Class Set-up:
The class is divided into two groups: bank tellers and bank customers.
Bank tellers should all sit in a line facing the clients (like in a real bank).
Bank tellers are given the Bank Teller Activity Sheet and a supply of
Biggle Bucks and American Dollars.
Bank clients will visit the bank tellers and conduct transactions. Each
bank client will need a Bank Client Activity Sheet, A Bank Card, One
Piece of Photo ID, Two Checks, and Three Bills (gas, electricity, and
telephone).
Bank clients will go to a bank teller and conduct one of the five
transactions (pay a bill, cash a check, withdraw money, deposit money,
and exchange some currency. When they are finished, they go to

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another bank teller and conduct another transaction. Each time the
students go to a teller, they should get a signature. The students can
use the conversation as a guide. If you have time remaining have the
students switch roles and go over it again.
Quirks:
I always like to throw in a few hidden quirks for the more observant
students in the hopes of eliciting some spontaneous conversation: One
passport is expired, one check is void, one bill has the wrong total, the
photo ID is awful, and some of the clients only have library cards. If
students miss these fact, that's OK. I say nothing. But sometimes, it's
nice if it generates some extra conversation.

8) A Visit to the Doctor's: AN ESL Role-play

Materials:

Doctors Activity Sheet

Patients Activity Sheet
Ailment cards
Vocabulary Worksheets

Purpose and Audience: The purpose is to get the students to

practice visiting a doctor and communicating in English. This is a fairy
simple role play intended for false beginners: students will go to the
doctor, describe their ailment, get a prescription and get some advice.
Doctor will listen to ailments, ask a few questions and then prescribe
medicine and give some advice.
Class set up: The class is divided into two groups: doctors and
patients. Doctors are given the Doctors Activity Sheet and the
Treatment cards. Patients are given the Patients Activity Sheet and
three ailment cards. For each ailment, the patients will visit two
doctors and get some advice and a prescription.

9) Going for a Bite: Giving Directions to a Restaurant

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Materials: Partner A Activity Sheet

Partner B Activity Sheet
Restaurant guide
Downtown map
Optional Materials: Giving Directions Pair Worksheet
Purpose and Audience: The purpose of these materials is to get
the students to practice giving directions to a Restaurant based on
street names and other buildings in the vicinity. This simple roleplay is intended for false beginners: students will call up their
classmates and ask if they want to go for a bite. The student who
receives the phone call will suggest a restaurant and give
directions on how to get there. This activity also reviews the
superlative ( best, tastiest, hottest) and nationality adjectives
( Korean, Italian, Japanese)
Warm up or Pre-class activity: Go over the pair Worksheet for
Directions.
Class set-up: The class is divided into two groups: callers and
receivers. Callers get a Partner B Activity Sheet plus a map of the
Downtown Area. Receivers get a Partner A Activity Sheet plus a
Restaurant Guide. Callers call the receivers and ask them out for
dinner. The receivers suggest a restaurant and give directions on
how to get there. Callers record the location on the map and the
restaurant details on their Activity Sheet.
10)
Why Don't We Check Out the Museum of Modern Art?
A Role-play for Giving Suggestions and Directions

Materials: Caller Activity Sheet

Receiver Activity Sheet
Receiver Role Cards
Caller Museum Flyers
Caller Tourist Map
Purpose and Audience: The purpose of these materials is to get
the students practice giving suggestions and giving directions. The

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materials are intended for false beginners. The language points

covered in this lesson are:
- Why dont we ..?
- How about ..ing?
- We could .
And
- Go down Maple St. to Broadway
- Turn right on Broadway
- Its on your left
As well, students will learn to talk about museums and use
reported speech to explain why a third friend ( Mike) is going to
be late.
Warm up I: Walk into the class and tell your students that youre
bored. You are so bored that youre going crazy. Hopefully, they will
give you some suggestions. Write down what they say so that you
can contrast it with how a native speaker might approach the same
task (of giving a suggestion) Go over how a native speaker might
give suggestions.
Warm up II: Draw a quick map on the board similar to the one
used in this role-play. Put a You are here on the map and indicate
a few important places. Ask students how to get to those places.
Go over the target language for giving directions.
Class set-up and Activity: The class is divided into two groups:
callers and receivers. The callers and receivers are friends. The
caller, the receiver and a third friend Mike, are supposed to meet
downtown, but Mike called the receiver and said he would be late.
The receiver has to relay this message to the caller. The caller will
then suggest a place to go to kill some time. The caller will also
give the receiver some directions to get there.
Callers will receive an activity sheet, a museum flyer and a tourist
museum map. Receivers will receive an activity sheet and a role
card. ( Receivers do not get a tourist museum map. Receivers will
need some time to read and digest their role-cards. Callers will
need some time to read their museum flyers and locate their
museum on the map)

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11) Take the Green Line to 22nd St. Station: A Role-play

for Giving Directions by Subway or Bus
Materials: Caller Activity Sheet
Receiver Activity Sheet
Caller Role Cards
Receiver Sale Flyer Role Cards
Public Transportation Map
Purpose and Audience: The purpose of these material is to get the
students to practice giving directions to a place by subway or bus. The
materials are intended for false beginners. The language points covered
in this lesson are:
- Take the Green line
- Transfer to the blue line
- Get off at Broadway Station
- Go out Exit 4
As well, students will learn to talk about sales.
Class set-up and Activity: The class is divided into two
groups: callers and receivers. The callers and receivers are old
friends. The caller is coming into town to do some shopping. The
caller will invite the receiver to go shopping and do something
together. The receiver will recommend a department store and
give the caller directions to get there. In particular, when the
caller says that he or she doesnt know where the department
store is , the receiver will ask the caller where the caller is now.
The receiver will then use the subway to guide the caller from
the callers current location to the department store. Callers will
receive an Activity Sheet and a Role Card. Receivers will receive
an Activity Sheet, a Sales Flyer and a Subway map. Callers do
not get a Subway Map.

12)

How Much Is It?: Shopping Role-play

3 Activities plus Vocabulary Support for Shopping.

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This unit contains an information gap, a walk-and-talk, and a role-play,

as well as numerous vocabulary worksheet
Time: Up to 4 hours depending on how much the teacher wishes to use.

Materials: To give to the students.

Introductory Vocabulary Exercises.
Information Gap
Conversation and Class Survey
Comparative Grammar Practice and Shopping Role-play
5 Pages of Vocabulary and Expressions Worksheets

Materials: For the teacher.

Product Information Sheets

Part 1: Introduction to the Unit Vocabulary

If time permits, write the unit vocabulary expressions on the board
before the class begins. This will help save time as there is a lot to cover
in this unit. When the class begins, handout the introductory vocabulary
worksheet (after you've gone over your usual review and teacher talk).
Look at the groupings of words and ask students to come up with a
heading for each group. This is technique is outlined in Thomas Lavelle's
article: List-Group-Label for Speaking and Writing Development. Go over
the groupings one at a time so that you can cover any vocabulary that
students are unfamiliar with.
Next, go over the part of the bill talking about discounts, tax, and tips.
Ask a few questions about tax and tips to the students. Who do you

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usually give a tip to? Do you tip in your country? Has anybody ever
received a tip? . . . .
Finally, go over cheap, expensive, and reasonable. Ask a few students
how much they paid for articles of clothing and then ask other class
members if they think those prices were cheap, reasonable, or
expensive.

Part 2: Information Gap

This part is pretty much self-explanatory. Pair students up and give them
either an A or B information gap sheet. They have to go through the
conversation and fill in the missing information. It is probably best if the
teacher brings a student to the front and models the conversation.
Note: the 'Conversation Strategy' for this unit is confirming. Make sure
students confirm the information that they hear. In this activity,
confirming is done using the expression 'so that's'. Other expressions
that can be used are: Did you say . . .? You said . . ., right?

Part 3: Class Survey and Social Strategy

In this section, students can practice complimenting each other. To start
the activity off the teacher can walk around the class and compliment
some of the students. After the teacher compliments the students, the
teacher can point out how the students looked when they were
complimented (pleased, happy). Now the teacher can write some
standard compliments on the board and discuss them with the students.
Complimenting properly is a form of pragmatic competence. In this unit
we call it a 'Social Strategy' because it highlights language that helps
students successfully interact with people in English. The purpose is
more to establish a relation than to convey information. Conversation
strategies, on the other hand, are meant to help students convey
information precisely.

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Now, go over the conversation and have the students practice it in pairs,
using the substitutions. You can also point out the pronunciation tip for
past tense.
Finally, students will be given a survey. This activity is a simple but
effective walk-and-talk. Students take their survey sheet and walk
around the room. When they meet another student, they compliment
that other student on some article of clothing. And then they ask where
the item was bought, how much was paid for it, and other questions
about the article.

Part 4: Grammar Focus and Comparatives - Shopping Role-play

In this section, the students will do some comparison shopping. The
grammar focus for the unit is comparatives. Most units on comparatives
highlight 'adjective +er than' or 'more adjective than'. This unit
highlights those patterns plus 'not as adjective as'.
Handout the grammar and shopping role-play worksheets. Demonstrate
the grammar on the board and then show some examples using the
class. You can use examples of height, hair length, price of clothing, or
whatever you happen to think of.
Next, look at the examples of the Cool Walkers and Slimm Jimms. Using
the information on the cards, make comparisons between the two pairs
of shoes. The students will work in pairs and make comparisons of other
products. The teacher can circulate around the room and help students
write their comparisons. The teacher may also have to explain some
vocabulary.
Now, it's time to do the role-play. Handout the product details to the
students. Each student should get some details about one product. The
student should get one set of pictures (two products), which they can
show their 'customers'. And they should get one set of product details,
which the teacher will take away once the students fill in the details on
their role-play worksheet.
After the student's are finished filling out their store information, the
teacher can give them a list of items to buy. If their are more than 8

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students in the class, then the students should buy the complete
shopping list. If their are only seven students, then the teacher can
either join the role-play or just make a shopping list of seven items. If
there are fewer students, the teacher can remove more items from the
list as necessary.
The students will have a budget depending on how big the shopping list
is. If you use the complete shopping list the budget should be $750.00. If
you use a partial list you can add to the budget in the fallowing manner:
cameras ($200), sunglasses ($50), hiking boots ($100), jackets ($100),
pants ($50), sleeping bags ($100), tent ($100), and tickets ($50). You
should divide up between how much cash they have, how much they can
write in checks, and how much they can put on their credit cards.
Finally, students have to purchase the items on their shopping lists from
other students. They should use the conversation as a guide. As they
purchase the items, the students should fill out the table.

Part 5: Workbook Exercises.

As a vocabulary review (or preview if you wish), we've included 5 pages
of vocabulary worksheets. Note: one activity is still unfinished. You can
either omit it or make it yourself.

13)

I Need a Ticket to Osaka, Japan: Airline Ticketing Role-

play

Language for purchasing Airline Tickets.

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This unit contains a one-hour role-play where students are divided into
travelers and airline ticketing agent. Travelers have to find information
about airline tickets

Materials: Traveler Activity Sheet

Ticketing Agent Activity Sheet
Traveler Role Cards
Ticketing Agent Schedules and Fares

Purpose and Audience: This role-play is intended for false beginners

who are working in the tourist industry or need some survival travel
English skills. The role-play includes the language for talking about
airline tickets, fares and schedules. The role-play also presents an
opportunity to go over numbers in the hundreds and thousands and
talking about preferences: Id like...Id prefer...

Warm-up: Prepare a note with the following instructions: Your teacher is

a travel agent. You want to buy a ticket to Paris, France. Buy your ticket
from your teacher.
After the student has had a chance to digest the note, approach them
and ask: Welcome to Lucres Travels. How may I help you?. Hopefully,
the student will ask you for a ticket to Paris. When the student does, go
through the following list of questions , stopping to explain any
vocabulary items that the student doesnt understand:
-Are you travelling alone?
- Will this be one way or return?
- When would you like to depart?

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- When would you like to return?

- Do you mind a stop over? Or would you prefer direct?
- Would toy prefer economy, business or first class?
After you have done this a few times, the students are usually familiar
with the vocabulary in the role-play. Now, begin the role play.

Class set up for Role Play: The students are divided into travelers and
airline-ticketing agents. The travelers are given an Activity Sheet and a
Role Card. The airline-ticketing agents are given an Activity Sheet and
the Schedule and Fares for their particular airline.

Class Activity: travelers go from airline to airline and inquire about

airplane tickets. They write the information down that the ticketing
agents give the,. They use this information to decide which ticket and
which airline best suits their role.

14)

I Need to Mail This to Mexico: A Going to the Post

Office Role-play

Language for mailing letters and parcels.

This unit contains a one-hour role-play where students are divided into
post office clerks and customers wanting to mail parcels and letters

31

Materials: Post Office Customer Activity Sheet

Post Office Clerk Activity Sheet
Post Office Rate Sheet
Customer Errands Sheet

Purpose and Audience: This role play is intended for false beginners
who need some survival English Skills. The role-play includes the
language for talking about delivering letters, parcels, packages and post
cards. The role-play also presents an opportunity to go over numbers
used for dollar amounts.

Warm-up: 1) Bring a letter into class and tell the students you have to
deliver it. Ask where the post office is. After you get directions, tell them
youre worried because the letter is very important and you dont want
it get lost in the mail. See what responses this elicits. Hopefully
somebody will suggest you use a courier or special delivery. Then, talk
about rates and schedules writing down expressions on the board as
needed. 2) Give the letter to the students and then start the class with:
Welcome to Lucres Post Office. How can I help you? If the students
simply say that they want to mail the parcel, say: That ll be $1000
dollars, please. Hopefully, this will draw a shocked response and they
should start inquiring as to why its so expensive. Tell them because its
super speedy delivery. This should get them to inquire about other more
reasonable options.

Class set-up for role play: The class is divided into customers doing
errands at the Post Office and the Post Office clerks. The customers need
a Customer Activity Sheet and an Errand list. Post Office Clerks need a
Post Office Clerk Activity Sheet and a Complete Schedule of postal rates.

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Class Activity: Customers go from post office to post office mailing one
item on their errand list, at a time. While doing this, they should record
the prices and delivery times on the Customer Activity Sheet. Post Office
Clerks wait for customers to come into their Post Offices. The clerks then
give the customers the required information and fill out their Postal Clerk
Activity Sheets.