Twenty Questions

Apologies for a very long absence of the weekly tutor tip message. Today we're back together with a tip from this week's Favorite Tutor, Tracy Tanseer. She shared an idea with me recently that seemed so simple, fun and useful that I asked her to make available to all tutors in a tip message. Her idea describes how she uses a popular game in English lessons. Thanks, Tracy!

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From: Tracy Tanseer
To: Brian Anderson
Subject: 20 questions

Hi Brian, I thought I'd pass along the 20 questions lesson so you can
share it with other tutors!... I think most of us are familiar with the game 20 questions. One person, we'll say Person A, thinks of a person, place, or thing (e.g. George Washington; the library; a tree). Once he/she has this in mind, person B tries to guess what the other is thinking in a series of questions. The only catch being that the questions must be yes or no questions. For example, if person A is thinking of a tree, "Where can I find it?" is not an acceptable question. Rather, you might ask,"Is it found outside?"Aining and I had fun playing this. We took turns – I thought of something for her to guess first and then I took a turn in the hot seat. It was a great chance for her to work on pronunciation, and could be used for vocabulary, too.

I hope this is a helpful, fun activity for others! Give it a try.
~Tracy

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Not only does it work on the things Tracy mentioned, it helps teach the way questions are structured in English. Another thought: If you and your tutor meet at a place with internet access, you can try playing the 20Q game on the internet. Here’s the address: 20q.net/ Interestingly, you can play in English, Spanish, French, Turkish and several other languages.