Getting Around ESL Activities, Games and Role-Plays
In this free getting around information gap activity, students practice asking for and giving directions using a train system map. This activity can be used to help students learn language for getting around on a train or subway system. In pairs, students take it in turns to ask for and give directions from one train or subway station to another using a system map and phrases given in a box. Students listen to their partner's directions, follow them and write the destination station name on their map. When the students have finished, they check their answers by comparing maps.
In this train travel role-play activity, students ask and answer questions about rail travel information and practice booking train tickets. In pairs, one student takes on the role of someone going on a train journey with a friend. Their task is to find out train travel information and book tickets. The other student is a train station ticket agent. Their task is to answer questions and help book tickets. The traveller explains to the ticket agent which train they want to catch, when, and for how many people and asks for information to complete sentences on their worksheet and book the tickets. The ticket agent uses the information on their worksheet to tell the traveller about the various train times, platform numbers and ticket prices. When the role-play has been completed, the two students swap roles, giving both students a chance to use the language for each role and to confirm the answers. Lastly, pairs role-play the situation in front of the class.
In this taxi language game, students race to match sentences and questions with taxi-related situations. In pairs, students take it in turns to turn over a card and read the taxi-related situation on the card aloud. Both students then race to find the appropriate taxi language card that corresponds to the situation. The first student to find the card, say the sentence, and place it on top of the situation card wins and keeps the cards. The student with the most pairs of cards at the end of the game wins.
In this travel questionnaire activity, students form travel questions about different forms of local transport and then ask and answer the questions with a partner. In two groups, students put words in the correct order to form questions about getting around by taxi and train or car and bus. Students then answer the questions and write down their answers on the worksheet. After that, students join with someone from the other group and take it in turns to ask their partner the questions, noting down their answers. Finally, students report back to the class on what they found out about their partner.
This bus travel activity help students become familiar with questions related to taking the bus. In two groups, students start by unscrambling words to form bus travel questions. Next, each student pairs up with someone from the other group. Students then take it in turns to read their bus travel questions and respond to their partner's questions with an appropriate answer from their worksheet, writing the corresponding question number next to the reply. When the students have finished, check the answers with the class. As an extension, students can use the questions to create a bus travel dialogue that they present to the class.
In this taxi vocabulary game, students match words related to travelling by taxi with their definitions and then try to make a sentence a passenger or taxi driver would say using the word. In pairs, students take it in turns to turn over one word card and one definition card and read them aloud. If the word or phrase matches with the definition, the student keeps the two cards and scores a point. The student then tries to make a sentence a passenger or taxi driver would say using the word or phrase on the card for an extra point. If the student is able to do this, they have another turn. If the cards don't match, the student turns them back over. The student with the most points at the end of the game wins.
