“Sound Pile” is a simply activity–so small and easy and quick that it’s practically a crime.

Play the audio file. Students will hear 10 sounds, more or less piled on top of each other, within the space of about 12-16 seconds. You might hear a bat squeaking, doors slamming, cows mooing, a child laughing.

In pairs or groups students will attempt identify and write down as many of the sounds as possible. Make it a competition. See which group can correctly identify the most sounds. Play the file several times. And give students a lot of leeway in their answers.
The beauty is that students will hear all sorts of things that are NOT in the sound pile. Or they will interpret sounds wrong. This is great, because they will write these things down, thus creating more language practice and stepping stones into real conversation: You heard what?

Below you’ll find audios for 2 different Sound Piles, and for each there are audio of two different speeds.

Answers to Sound Pile 1: kiss, coining spinning and coming to a stop, person whistling (an eerie tune!) dog barking, drink being poured, applause, motorbikes rumbling, train crossing bells, crow cawing, someone sawing wood

Answers to Sound Pile 2: tennis ball hit with racquet, elephant trumpeting, harp, siren wailing, churchbells, rifle shot, alarming clock ringing, women (Kevin’s mum) screaming, birds singing, toilet flushing

Sound Pile 1 [ 0:16 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1260)

Sound Pile 1, slower [ 0:22 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (813)

Sound Pile 2 [ 0:12 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (673)

Sound Pile 2, slower [ 0:26 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (649)

Here’s the procedure for this fun activity…

1. Understand the Language of Sound
Hand out the list of the 25 sounds (see below). Give students a few minutes to look it over. One easy way to proceed is to ask students to produce the sounds described, as best as they can. What is the sound of a chair creaking, of a crowd applauding, of glass breaking, etc.?
2. Bingo Card
Next each student will draw a Bingo card on a piece of paper. The card is always a square. It can have 3 rows by 3 columns, 4X4, or 5X5. I recommend 4 X 4 (for sixteen total squares) for intermediate groups. Here’s a sample:

Now each student will choose sounds from the list of 25. (Again, the activity is adjustable; if a teacher thinks 25 sounds are too many, he/she need only list—and play—the first 10 or 12.) Each student can place any of the 25 sounds in any of the squares. Each square should have a different sound. (The sounds need not be written exactly as typed; students can abbreviate).

4. Listen
Now play the entire list of 25 sounds. When students hear the sound corresponding to what they have written in a square, they can mark that square with an X. (Sometimes students will be unsure about sounds; that’s okay. They can be discussed and reviewed later).

5. The Winner
State the goal. The first student who Xs out an entire row, whether up, down, or diagonal, yells, “Bingo!” Ask the student to read back the sound descriptions to make sure all the sounds have been played.

6. Another Winner
Because we want to play more, let’s find a second winner. If the first winner’s line was ACROSS, ask for an UP/DOWN or DIAGONAL winner. The first students to complete a complete line of these will shout Bingo too.

7. One More Winner
Our last winner will be the first to Black out his whole card. The first person to write an X over all his sounds will call out “Bingo.”

The 25 Sounds
The mp3 audios below have 25 sounds on them. “Sound Effect Bingo 1″ has the same sounds as “Sound Effect Bingo 2″ but they are in a different order. That is so that you can do the activity 2 times with the same group.

Sound Effect Bingo 1 [ 3:09 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2841)

Sound Effect Bingo 2 [ 3:05 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2695)

In Haystack Words the listener needs to dig out words or phrases from other words, chatter, noises, and so on.

It’s a form of listening that we all do every day. Think of all the conversations we have when there is background noise and distractions. But we don’t practice this form of listening in language lessons much.

The haystack idea, by the way, comes from a childhood memory. On the Fourth of July, at the school near my home, they made a big haystack, and they mixed coins inside–pennies, nickels, dimes–and we kids threw ourselves on the haystack and battled for those coins.

Digging valuable meaning from the haystack, from the extraneous noise, is a necessary langauge skill. These activities try to make practicing that skill a little bit fun.

In an airport in Cambodia, I heard an alarm come on and the following emergency announcement. Normally, you should listen to the announcement and follow instructions–not record it for future use as an English language learning activity. But nobody seemed to be reacting to it!

However, this is AUTHENTIC language. Yes, it is English spoken by a Cambodian, but it is the kind of English–in an airport in a foreign country–that English learners are very likely to encounter in their lives. It is English being used as the common language and with extraneous sounds in the background. Just like if you were at this airport. And that is why this is a good listening activity.

Listen carefully and supply the missing words. The message repeats two times.

Ladies and (1) ___________: This is a (2) ___________ announcement. We are (3) ___________ to (4) ___________ the (5) ___________ now. Please remain (6) ___________ and (7) ___________ the airport staff (8) ___________ . Thank (9) ___________ .

Answers: (1) gentleman, (2) safety, (3) going, (4) evacuate, (5) terminal, (6) calm, (7) follow, (8) instructions, (9) you

Airport Evacuation Announcement, Cambodia [ 0:26 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1071)

Here’s another sort of sound dictation, but this one promotes understanding of word partners (or collocations).  Tell students to number from 1-10 on a piece of paper.

Play the audio. It’s the students’ job to identify the source of the sound, and the verb that describes the sound itself.  Thus.. THE SOUND OF _______ ________ING.

Let’s say the first sound you hear comes from a dog–not a bark, but a threatening sound. That’s the sound of a…

dog growling

I collected these public domain sounds from simplythebest Sounds and put them together.

I have written some answers below, indicating the strongest and most common collocations. However, if students come up with different sources and different verbs–hey, that’s great; they are using English.

1. dog barking
2. car starting. engine or motor turning over
3. frogs croaking (some students say ducks, in which case they are quacking)
4. bird singing / chirping
5. baby crying / balling
6. crow cawing
7. cat mewing / meowing / crying
8. siren sounding/blaring. alarm going off
9. insect, bee, fly buzzing
10. crowd, people, audience / applauding, clapping, cheering

The Sound of Blank Blanking [ 1:22 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (14534)

Dictation has a bad reputation, which is precisely why it is such a great example of how we can take some traditional form of English instruction and add variety. Here we use not just language, but sound effects and noises. Still, it is essentially a dictation: students listen and are asked to write/describe what they hear.

More specifically…

Sound Effects Dictations: In these, students hear sounds, and they are asked to describe them or to name them. These are open-ended, meaning there is often more than one correct answer.

In Definition Bingo students listen to definitions of words from average people, and then write down the word being definied.

You’ll hear ten different sounds in the audio, all from my favorite instrument, the Mellotron. 

Tell students to number from one to ten.  They will describe as much as they can about the sound. (Naturally, lower level groups will describe less; higher level more).  So if you hear footsteps you could write “person walking,” or if it sounds like he’s walking on the beach with the ocean in the background you can write that too.

The gong doesn’t count as a sound. It just tells you it’s time for the next sound. Lots of luck!

Sound Effect Dictation - Mellotron [ 1:44 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (8037)

Even advanced learners of English might not know the 10 verbs in People Sounds that describe sounds human beings make.  But listening to this is a great way to learn them.  Tell students that they can write the word down in their native tongue if they don’t know the English.  Bring back the exercise a few days later for more practice.  In fact, the audio is only 1:42 long so you can do this many times.

Once students know all these words–do a sound chorale repetition.  This time you say the WORDS.  Change the order of them.  And students will make the correct sound.  You say, “mumble” and the whole group mumbles.  Try doing it faster and faster; students will laugh.

Here are some answers. Remember be open to student responses. Since in giving “wrong” answers they are still using and experimenting with English they should be encouraged.

(1) sneeze, (2) hum, (3) clear your (one’s) throat, (4) slurp/suck/suck through a straw, (5) cough, (6) whistle, (7) yawn, (8) snore, (9) kiss, (10) mumble

People Sounds I [ 1:42 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1070)

Want to listen in on things that happen at a party?  You’ll have to dig out phrases from the background noise of the party. I n fact, there are eleven phrases.  Write them down as you listen.  (Best done in pairs so that learners can help each other).  Some phrases are loud and clear and some less so–just like in real life.

What’s the point?  Well, in reality, we very often have to pick up snippets (little pieces) of conversation when it’s noisy or when several people are speaking at once.  This is good practice. And fun, I think.

Furthermore, the eleven (11) phrases that you will hear are fixed, or semi-fixed.  They are complete utterances and fairly common.  That means you can say them just as you hear them, for the most part, and that’s practical!

As a follow up, discuss what the speaker is probably or perhaps refering to with each one of these phrases.  For example, the woman says, “Don’t tempt me…”  What do you think she’s talking about?  In what context?  (They are many possible answers).

Now, close your eyes because the answers are written below.

(1) Can I get you a drink? (2) I like what you’ve done with the place. (3) Don’t tempt me (4) You look great! (5) Mmmm. These are really good. (6) Have you lost weight? (7) It’s been ages. (8) Where’s the bathroom? (9) Yeah. Okay. Okay. Sounds good. [“Sounds good” is usually said when two people agree on something–like a time to meet in the future.} (10) How was your vacation? (11) Well, it’s gettin late.

The Party, Haystack of Words [ 1:24 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (13504)

You’re going to hear the sounds of Victory Day, May 9th, of 2004, in Vladivostok. It’s a celebration. Above this background sound you will hear three native English speakers reciting a list of 15 words that have to do with Victory Day. They don’t speak the words in any particular order. Sometimes they talk at the same time. So you need to focus your listening skills.

The best way to do this activity is in teams or pairs. Each team will listen and try to be the first to collect all 15 words (or phrases) about the celebration. The audio is nearly two minutes long, but students may finish much earlier.

Good luck.

I don’t think you need the answers. 

Victory Day, Haystack of Words [ 1:52 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (776)