| Activity type | Small group card game |
| Number of students | Minimum of 3. |
| Functions: | Asking and offering advice, asking for and offering suggestions. |
| Lexical area | Vocabulary describing business problems. |
| Grammar: | Modals (should, would, could, ought to), wh-questions conditionals, present simple, present perfect, present continuous |
| Syllabus: | I.5.4 advising others to do something (EU Threshhold Level Syllabus) |
| Target phrases: | I think that you should... If I were you, I would... If you ...-ed, you'd be able to... You could try...-ing...to.... Why don't you....? Why not...? Have you thought of...? What should I do? You could... You should... You ought to... I would... You'd better... You can always... I suggest you... One way would be to... Perhaps you could... How about...? What about...? Try... |
| Essential vocabulary: | fixed price, have a tradition of..., ...-ing all the time, going fishing and hiking together, this sort of thing is..., important for..., cultivating team spirit, solidarity, the tire blew out, freeway, tow truck, it was pretty expensive, To make things worse..., refused to..., reimburse me for costs, expense report, cost cutting, binge, heading out of..., I realize..., I must have..., look rather well-to-do, They'll expect me to..., foot the bill, financial situation, can't afford..., designate, cutting paychecks, feeling a little guilty about..., stuck with..., working under pressure, tommorrow, something I have a hard time dealing with..., corporate headquarters, handouts, jammed, out of order, I'm starting to..., panic, take a deep breath, calm, controlled, rational, providing an opportunity for..., get to know one another better, client sites, take for granted, spread out over..., scale them back, eliminate them entirely, a janitorial supply firm, to supply them with..., mops, having financial problems, behind on their payments, I'll be out...., swap, going alright, give....to cover...., It seems hopeless, independent, travel agent, clientele, decent income, based on..., commissions, cut in half, you'd be reduced to..., a mere clerical role, a career change, power tools, co-worker, pilfering, proof, put an end to, give him a warning, fire him, steady, market for..., luxury, perfumed, e-commerce, know firsthand of..., success stories, high-priced, computer consultants, try it out, absorb the losses, establish market share, when the economy turns around, be in a good position to..., cover my costs, pesticide, banned, the locals, take no precautions when using it, stillbirths, Frankly, I think..., scientifically proven, Someone approached me a year ago..., convinced me that... low overhead, discounts, warranty, franchises, in good financial shape, effective. |
The idea behind the game is for students to get together in small groups and take turns describing everyday business problems and offering solutions for these problems. For each problem presented the student who presents the best solution gets awarded the card. The student with the most number of cards at the end of the game wins.
Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4 and supply each group with a set of cards placed face down in the middle of the group. Going around in a circle each student should select a card from the top of the pile, read the problem, place the card down, and describe the problem to the rest of the group. The rest of the students take turns offering advice and making suggestions. The person who reads the card awards the card to the person who gives the best advice. The student who collects the most cards wins the game.
Source This game was inspired by the game "Sound Advice" In Jill Hadfield's Advanced Communication Games (1987, Longmans), "I've got a solution" in Business Communication Games (Oxford, 1996), and "asking for and offering suggestions" in Eric Keller and Sylvia Taba Warner (1976) Gambits 1 pp.49-50. Also see Yule (1989) Explaining English Grammar on practice using modals that advice giving activities provide.