Where do you want to go?

I thought I would make a contribution. The activity is relatively simple but students seemed to really enjoy it once they got into it.

I used this in ES 6th grade in the Hi Friends 2 "Lets go to Italy" lesson. However I am sure it could be used for any lesson involving this specific vocabulary. The only materials needed are laminated A4 sheets with the flags and names of the various countries on them (these were provided by the school). After learning the pronunciation of the countries and going over the target vocabulary, making sure the students understand the meaning, this activity can be a fun way for students to utilise it.

First ask for three volunteers, get them to choose any country that they want and give them the laminated flag (Students A). These three students will then stand in different places in the classroom. Next ask for one more volunteer to come to the front (Student B).

Student B will ask the class "Where do you want to go?" and then choose a student who has put their hand up. The chosen student will then say "I want to go to ~" using one of the countries that students A have chosen. Once the student has said this correctly they can stand up and go to the student with that country. They will then janken and if the student who approached loses they have to sit back down. However if they win they will take over that country and student A who was defeated replaces student B, who sits back down. The activity then repeats with student B once again asking "Where do you want to go?" and choosing a new student to answer.

It normally takes one or two rounds for the students to understand the activity after a brief demonstration. However once they understand most students get really into it, trying to take back countries that they were ousted from. There is not really any winner but I guess the people holding the country flags at the end could be considered winners if you wanted. The activity can be done for however long you need it to be and I found students maintained interest throughout.

I kind of improvised and improved this over a few lessons however there are certainly things that could be added.
- I was thinking maybe some form of simple cultural dress/hat etc to make it more immersive (although if this was done maybe students would not be able to
choose their own country).
- Maybe it could be adapted into some kind of border security themed game or travel game in general.