James Baquet

    Becky is chatting with her classmate Lily in the common room of their dorm.

    Becky: Hi, Lily. How was your trip?

    Lily: Oh, it was great! And thanks to you, the long ride wasn’t boring at all! We played the games, and at the same time, we improved our English. Can you teach me some more?

    Becky: Sure! Becky: There’s one called “Pictionary.”

    Lily: How does that work?

    Becky: At its simplest, one person draws a picture, and the other has to guess what it is.

    Lily: That sounds easy.

    Becky: Sure. You can buy a version of the game that’s more complicated, but for you and your friends, you could keep it simple. For example, choose a category, like “verbs.”

    Lily: Then one of us has to draw a picture of someone doing the verb, and the others have to guess?

    Becky: That’s right. Or maybe it could be more complicated, like choosing proverbs.

    Lily: Oooo... How could I draw “An apple a day keeps the doctor away?”

    Becky: Exactly! Or even common expressions — hello, goodbye, thank you, and so on.

    Lily: These are more challenging than just drawing a thing.

    Becky: Right. Other categories could be jobs, or famous people.

    Lily: I like it! Can you tell me about another game?

    Becky: I wanted to tell you this one before, but it wouldn’t work in a car. Have you ever played “Charades?”

    Lily: Oh, yeah! The party game, where people act out things without using words?

    Becky: That’s right. It’s a little like Pictionary, with acting instead of drawing.

    Lily: I guess you could use the same categories: verbs, famous people, proverbs, and so on.

    Becky: Right. Also, instead of just a verb, like “study,” you could add a direct object, like “study history,” or an indirect object, like “study in the library.”

    Lily: Okay. I think verbs would be easier, because you can perform the action. Showing things might be harder.

    Becky: Yeah. In that case, you might show the action and then point to the thing.

    Lily: Like if the word was “book,” I could pretend to read, and then point at the book.

    Becky: Right.

    Becky: That’s right. But of course, you’re concentrating on doing this for English learning. Choose your recent vocabulary list, or grammar points that you’ve been learning.

    Lily: I see.

    Becky: Here’s another: 20 Questions.

    Lily: I think I know that one...

    Becky: One person says: “I’m thinking of a...”

    Lily: And then the others have to ask yes/no questions to guess, up to 20 questions.

    Lily: Well, thanks, Becky. My study group will probably want to try both of these.

    Becky: Have fun!