Play this song or video in class to develop your students awareness of how many people speak English, where they speak it, and how deeply rooted English is in the corners of the globe.

There are, according the David Crystal’s book English as a Global Language, 30 countries where English has some official status AND where there are at least 1 million speakers. 30 countries! We don’t include English learners here. These are countries were people actually speak English as a first, second, or third language and often where it is used in government.

Note: the list includes Hong Kong, which is not actually a country, but is significant as a former British colony.

Directions:
Put students into teams. Ask them to write the names of as many of these countries as possible in 3, 5, or 7 minutes, or whatever is appropriate to your level of class. See which team can come up with the most correct answers.

You can release hints to students at intervals throughout this brainstorming time. For instance:

2 of these countries are in North America
2 of these countries are in Europe
9 of these countries are in Asia
11 of these countries are in Africa
None are in South America proper, but one is an island country very nearby
1 of these countries is in the center of the Caribbean
3 are in Australasia

Before giving the answers, have students listen to the song which lists these. There is also a video to help them with the geography.

AUDIO (1:01): 30 Countries with a Million English Speakers

Answers:
Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, The Philippines, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Zambia, Tanzania, Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, Jamaica, Kenya, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Ireland, The UK, Canada, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, The USA, Trinidad and Tobago

Click here to download Kevin’s Easy Critical Thinking Activities

It’s a very Englishy thing to add a “Y” to a word and turn it into an adjective. Fish smell fishy. Woods smell woodsy. Cows can be beefy, and on and on. These words tend to be a little slangy, or informal. (By the way, funky means unusual).

Here are 10 fun “Y” adjectives .

1. classy
2. dicey
3. ditsy
4. glitzy
5. jazzy
6. junky
7. pricey
8. sassy
9. snazzy
10. spunky

You may not know them all, but you can probably figure out their meanings. Try filling in the gaps in this “definition poem” below. Place one of the “Y” adjectives in each space. (Rhymes will help you too).

Someone who’s got style and taste is (1) _________
A girl who’s got a lot of spirit but a smart mouth is (2) _________
A situation or a place that’s risky and dangerous is (3) _________
A restaurant that costs too much is (4) _________
If your clothes are chic and and stylish you look (5) _________
And if you’re lookin’ snazzy then you’re also lookin’ (6) _________
A girl who is absentminded and shallow is (7) _________
And a hotel that’s very showy and bright is (8) _________
A broken old car that hardly runs anymore is (9) _________
And a person who is bold and forward in a good way is (10) _________

Answers
1. classy 2. sassy 3. dicey 4. pricey 5. snazzy 6. jazzy 7. ditsy 8. glitzy 9. junky 10. spunky

 

 Y adjective song [1:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (448)

Looking for a St. Patricks song with an EFL/ESL twist?   Listen to the song “If I Were a Leprechaun.”  The lyrics comes from Mary O’Flynn at songs4english.com.  I recorded some music to them.

 

 If I Were a Leprechaun [1:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (634)

What we’ve got here is a lesson on using the “would rather” construction.  The emphasis is on allowing students to learn the form through structured exploration. Well, you’ll see. Read or print the lesson plan if you like, available here as an MS Word doc.  That will explain all. You’ll find two other handouts for activities as well.

Would Rather Lesson Plan / Guide to Activities

Would Rather Pair Interview Questions  There are 3 Question Cards per page here.  So if you have 18 students you only need to print 6 pages.

Pictures for the Would You Rather Song

 

 Would You Rather Be...? [1:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1469)

Click to enlarge.

That’s right. This crossword has audio clues. There is one mp3 file for “Across” clues, and one for “Down” clues.

Your task, when listening to the very short clips from Beatles tunes, is to isolate and identify the particle verbs (otherwise known as phrasal verbs). These are multi-word verbs such as “let down,” “take your time,” and “find out.”The particle verb will appear in the crossword exactly as sung by the Beatles.

So for the verb “let down,” you will write “DONTLETMEDOWN”–no spaces, no apostrophes.

There are also written clues (see the Beatles Phrasal Verb Audio Handout below).  Follow these clues carefully.  If the written clue contains a subject and is in the past tense, like “I discovered the truth,” the answer in the puzzle will also contain a subject and be in the past: IFOUNDOUT.  This allows students to explore how the verbs really function.

If you want to do the crossword online, by yourself, just click on this link: Beatles Audio Crossword Online, Java 

Listen to the mp3 audio files (below) and type in the missing particle verbs. If you click on the puzzle, you will also get a written clue for that word/phrase.

If you want to do this activity in the classroom, you can use either of these handouts. A Word document: Beatles Phrasal Verb Audio Crossword handout.doc or a printable PDF document: Beatles Phrasal Verbs Audio Crossword handout.pdf.

If your class is advanced, with experience in particle verbs, you may let them try using the audio alone. Play the audio all the way through, first the across and then the down. If students have trouble, play the audios again. You may pause in between clues if you like. Each audio is just over one minute in length.

 

 Beatles Audio Crossword Clues--Across [1:09m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1907)

 

 Beatles Audio Crossword Clues--Down [1:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1068)