Memory

Objectives

The learner can consolidate new vocabulary.

Materials

• About twenty pairs of cards: an image and the corresponding word, related to a treated topic.
• Make several decks of cards. Use thick paper, so that nothing can be seen on the backside.
• Use a different color for every deck: it saves time making decks when you collect all cards after the game.
• Tables

Preparation

• Mix up the cards.
• Lay the cards in a grid, face down.

Instructions

• Divide the group into teams of three or four players.
• Let a learner turn over any two cards, at random.
• If the two cards match, s/he keeps the pair.
• The next learner now flips two cards.
• If the cards don’t match, the learner turns them with the face down. Give the learners time to remember what was on each card and where it was.
• The game is over when all the cards have been matched.
• The player with the most matches wins.

Tips for the instructor

• Tell the learners it is essential in this exercise not to change the position of the cards when putting them back.
• This exercise exceeds the initial aim if images are too similar, e.g. digital clocks.