Children love playing cards and therefore we should be interested in their potential for teaching English. Most children know at least one game and so are familiar with the basic materials. Card games are sociable. Children sit face-to-face, watching each other's expressions, exchanging cards which become a kind of sociable currency between them. Cards are also nicely tactile. Children like to show their skill at dealing and shuffling them. There is competition, bounded by clear rules, which they enjoy. Depending on the game, there are varying degrees of skill and chance, so everyone has an opportunity to win.

The following activities describe some ways of using playing cards to teach English.

Recognition
Level: Beginner
Aim: Recognition of playing cards
You will need: One set of ordinary playing cards.
Language: Numbers 1 - 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, Spades.

Organisation: whole class.

Procedure
a) Remove all Jacks, Queens, Kings and Aces from the pack, to leave only the 'number' cards. Lay out approximately 20 of these cards, face up. So that all the student can see them. Point to a card and say the number. Get the students to do the same.

b) Introduce the suits. Write 'Clubs, Hearts, Diamonds, Spades' on the board. Point to a card and say what it is, eg. "Seven of Hearts". Get the students to do the same.

c) Introduce the remaining cards. Write 'Jack, Queen, King, Ace' on the board and add these to the cards on the table. Point to a card and say what it is, eg. "Queen of Diamonds". Get students to do the same.

d) Once everyone is familiar with the names of cards, try flashing them. Hold each card up for a moment and see if your students can tell you what they saw. If they need further practise, they can continue this in pairs.



Memory Game
Level: Beginner / Elementary
You will need: one pack of ordinary playing cards per 4 students
Aims: revision of card names, memory building
Organisation: whole class and groups of 4
Object: to collect as many cards as possible.

Procedure
a) Choose eight cards at random and lay them face up on the table. Allow 1 minute for your students to study them. Then turn them over. Students now take it in turns to point to a card, say what they think it is, and turn it over for all to see. If they are correct, they keep the card and have another go. If incorrect, the card is replaced face down and the turn passes to the next player, who may begin with the card which has just been replaced. The aim is to collect the most cards.

b) Once everyone understands the game, students can play it in groups. Lay down more cards for a harder game, less for an easier one. Students can play in competing pairs: this encourages them to talk about the position of cards together before they attempt to name them.

Comment: played often enough, with an increasing number of cards, this is a good way of strengthening memory.



Have you got?..
Level: Beginner / Elementary
Language: Have you got? / names of cards
Organisation: groups of 4
Object: to collect as many card sets as possible.

Procedure:
a) In groups of four, one child, the dealer, shuffles and deals all the cards, face down, to each player.

b) All players look at their cards and the dealer starts to play. If s/he holds a set of 4 cards (ie. four cards of the same value) these are laid down face up on the table.

c) Then the dealer asks any other player for a particular card to help make another complete set, eg. "Have you got a seven of hearts?" If the player has the card, it must be handed over. Players may only ask for a card that matches the value of a card they already have.

d) The dealer continues to ask any player for any card until s/he completes a set, at which point the set is laid face up on the table.

e) If the dealer asks a player for a particular card, but the player does not have the particular card, play passes to that player.

f) When a player has no cards left, s/he drops out of the game.

g) When all the sets have been collected, the winner of the game is the player with the most word sets.

h) Each player should take a turn at being the dealer. The overall winner is the player who wins the most games in the round.



Rules of the Game
Level: Intermediate / Advanced
Language: rules & instructions
Skills: reading, speaking, (writing)
Organisation: groups

a) Divide the students into groups of about 4 or 5 people. Provide each group with a set of playing cards and a different set of card game rules (see box 1). Their task is to read the rules together and follow the instructions to play the game.

b) When everyone has played their game for a while, give each person in each group a letter, "a, b, c, d, e, etc". Then ask all the 'a's to form a new group, all the 'b's another new group, likewise the 'c's and 'd's, etc. The new groups should ideally contain one person from each of the original groups. Students in the new groups now explain their card games to each other and play the games.

Comments: Depending on the level of the students, you could ask them to explain how to play the games in part (b) above without referring to the written rules. Part (b) lasts for a long time if each student describes and the group then plays each game. You might like to reconvene groups in later lessons - eg. when you have 30 minutes to spare - to continue. You could also ask students to describe, play and write the rules for a card game they already know.

Picture cards offer an opportunity to extend the language associated with card games. For the purpose of illustration I have used cards produced commercially by Dorling Kindersley (see below for contact details). These consist of 26 Alphabet picture cards and 24 Word Set picture cards. The alphabet cards have a picture on one side, with the name of the object written beneath; the first letter of the object, in lower case, is written on the reverse side. The Word Set cards consist of six sets of 4 cards on the same theme - eg. the 'transport' set is comprised of pictures of a car, a boat, a train and a plane. Other themes in the Dorling Kindersley Word Set pack are: pets, farm animals, food, clothes and toys.

While the Dorling Kindersely cards are colourful and attractive, you could also make your own by getting your students to cut out pictures from magazines and stick them onto blank cards. This way you can select the language you wish to practise and your students gain additional exposure to the vocabulary.

Procedure
a) Spread out one pack of alphabet cards, face up, so that everyone can see the pictures.

b) Point to each card and name it. Ask students to do the same. Pronounce the first letter of each object, eg. "d for dog", "c for cat", etc.

c) When your students are reasonably familiar with the cards, play 'I Spy':
eg. "I spy with my little eye something beginning with d". The students have to answer 'dog' and/or point to the dog. Turn over each correctly identified card until all the cards are face down and all the letters on the reverse are visible.

d) Now ask your students to identify each letter by associating it with the picture on the reverse - eg. they say "dog" or "d for dog". Turn over each correctly associated letter until all the pictures are face up again.

e) Organise students into groups. Provide each group with a set of cards. They should repeat steps (b) and (c) above. Part (c) can be turned into a competitive game if students keep the cards they correctly associate.



Alphabet shuffle
Level: Beginners
Organisation: whole class and groups
You will need: one set of alphabet picture cards per group of 4 students
Language: alphabet sequence

Procedure
Show your students how to arrange the 26 letters of the alphabet in the correct sequence. Then put them in groups. Ask each group to shuffle a pack of cards and then exchange it with the group next to them. On a given signal, each group tries to lay out the cards in the correct sequence to see which group can finish first. They can do this picture-side up, or letter-side up.



Memory Game

Played as above (see 'Memory Game') but using alphabet picture cards instead of ordinary playing cards.

Procedure
a) Ask your students to lay out all their cards in front of them and divide them into sets (eg. the Dorling Kindersley cards divide into transport, pets, farm animals, food, clothes and toys sets)

b) Once they have done this, ask them to write the words on a grid like the one in figure 1. If they wish, (either now or later) they can add other words to the set.



Pairs Memory Game
Played as above (see 'Memory Game') but using word set cards instead of ordinary playing cards: players take it in turns to select 2 cards which form a pair (ie. belonging to the same word set.) If a player finds a pair, s/he keeps the cards and has another go. If not, the cards are returned face down and play passes to the next player. The aim is to collect the most pairs.



Have you got?..
Played as above, (see 'Have you got?') but using word set cards instead of ordinary playing cards. The aim is to collect as many word sets as possible.

Game 2: 'Pishti'. The Dealer shuffles the pack and deals 4 cards to each player and 4 to a pile in the centre of the table. No one looks at the cards dealt to him (and certainly not at anyone else's!). When the Dealer has finished dealing he turns over the top card of the middle pile. Each player in turn, starting with the player on the Dealer's left, turns over his own top card and places it on the pile; if it is the same value (not suit) of the one already on the top, he wins all the cards on the pile. The next player then has to start a new pile, playing their top card. When all the cards the players hold have been used, another round of four cards is dealt and played, and so on, until there are no more cards left. Score as follows:

* the player with the most cards gets 3 points
* the player with the 10 of Diamonds gets 3 points
* the player with the 2 of Clubs gets 2 points
* for having an Ace - 1 point
* 1 point for each Jack

Game 3: 'Cheat'. This is a great game for people who are good at telling lies! Shuffle the cards and have the Dealer deal three cards at a time, face down, to each player. When the whole pack has been dealt out all round in this way, and everyone has had a good look at their cards, the player on the Dealer's left places 2, 3 or 4 cards face down in the middle of the table, saying something like: "Two tens!" or "Three sevens!" or "Four aces!". Who knows if he's telling the truth or not? Someone may now call out "Cheat!". The cards are turned over and, if they are not what they were claimed to be, the cheat has to pick them up again. But if they really are what they were said to be, the accuser has to take them instead. Cards placed down must be of either the same value, or one higher or lower, than the one laid by the previous player. As the game goes on and the pile gets higher, it becomes really dangerous to accuse anyone else of being a cheat, because there are so many cards to be picked up! And, of course, the idea is to get rid of all your cards, not to pick lots up.