02 April 2011

Fun activity #2: A conversar

I blogged a few days ago about coming back from CSC11 with some good ideas to make my class more fun (along with some suggestions via Diego Ojeda of #langchat "fame" ;-) and putting them together into a 10-minute class starter.

photo by Rohit Rath


The second one is "a conversar." For this one, students pull a conversation card (that I made) out of a card box and talk to anyone about question on the card. When they're done, they go back and choose another. The first time my AP class did it, I sat back amazed. I cannot get this class to speak in the TL for the life of me, and there was *loud* Spanish chatter for a solid ten minutes. Adjust questions for your level, and make them interesting - e.g. "¿cuál es mejor, un abrigo azul o un abrigo café, y por qué? instead of ¿qué es tu color favorito?

Here are some of the conversation starters I found on the internet and wrote on my own:
  • What's the craziest thing you've done?
  • What is the most serious mistake of your life?
  • Describe the happiest day of your life.
  • What's your best friend like?
  • Describe your favorite movie.
  • What is your favorite free-time activity? With whom? Why?
  • Who are your heroes? Why?
  • What did you do yesterday? With whom?
  • What books have you read recently? Describe them.
  • What do you want to be and do five years from now?
  • What has been an important experience in your life and why?
  • Describe your favorite restaurant.
  • What is your opinion about the problems in Libya?
  • What are your plans for tomorrow?
  • Describe an interesting trip you took.
  • If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?
  • Why did you choose to take advanced Spanish?
  • What is your first memory?
  • What do you want to do during vacation (Spring Break, summer, Christmas, etc.)?
  • Do you like your neighborhood? Why or why not?
  • What would be the title of your biography? Why?
Enjoy and let me know if you have more good questions I can add.

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