Humanising Language Teaching
Year 5; Issue 6; November 03

Misunderstand your classmate!

Level: lower intermediate to advanced

Pair the students randomly and ask each student to write down their own name in these eight ways:

in large capital letters
in the tiniest writing they can manage
with non-joined up letters
in really big flowing script
written as fast as possible
written as a signature
written as the first signature they ever had
written in the handwriting of some one else in their family

Tell the students to exchange papers and have a good look at the eight versions of their partner's name. Tell them now to write down 10 things about their partner that they are intuitively sure are one hundred percent untrue.

Bring the students together in fours, two pairs together. Ask them to slowly read out their falsehoods about their partner. The partner can comment in any way she wishes.

Note: this activity provokes plenty laughter, and laughing together is a major way of achieving good rapport with other people.