"Getting to know each other" speaking activities

These speaking activities are perfect for the first lesson: students in the group learn more about each other! And at the same time you can find out their speaking level as well as their interests.
I will give you 2 examples of such activities and you can change them if you like.
1). Things we have in common.
 Stidents are given a list of things like:


Try to find:

• an actor/actress you both admire
• a foreign country you both visited
• a book by British/ american writer you both read
• a girl's name you both like
• a boy's name you both dislike
• type of food you both dislike
• a city you both think is beautiful
• a film you both think was terrible or boring

tell the student they are welcome to discuss these list in pairs/small groups and write down one answer to every point in the list.
After they finish they can form one larger group out of two and compare the answers.


You can change the list according to the level and age of the students.


2). Find out about me


Devide the group into pairs and give each student a card with some questions. The questions should be different for student A and B in the same pair.
Tell the students to write one-word  answers on blank piece of paper, numbered 1-...
When they are ready tell them to show their written answers to their partner. They should take turns to ask and answer about different names, dates, etc that they see. they can try to guess what is what!

Sample questions:

• write down a surname of a famous person that you admire
• write down two adjectives that describe your characrter
• write down a year when you felt really happy
• write down the number of children you consider to be ideal in a family
• write down the name of the place where you grew up
•  write down something you are afraid of
•  write down the surname of the best modern writer
•  write down the age you think  is ideal for marriage 

you can think of your own questions or find more in Pair Work Book 2 by Peter Watcyn-Jones.

Thanks for visiting! You are welcome to share your examples of such activities in the comments!