Vocabulary

Objective & content

A printable memory game on jobs for absolute beginners (A1-): twelve pairs including teacher, doctor, vet, firefighter, police officer and waiter. Each pair joins an illustration of a worker to the written job and its phonetic transcription; students turn the cards face down, match them and say the job aloud to claim the pair. By the end, they recognise and say the twelve jobs with the stress in the right place.

Pedagogical guide

Job words let students talk about the people around them. The difficulty is the unstressed endings -er and -or (teacher, doctor), which learners tend to stress; the transcription tackles exactly that. English also needs the article (she is a doctor), and a chef cooks, he is not the boss: a false friend worth thirty seconds. Use the deck after an oral presentation of the jobs and before written work.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Lay one set face up. Say each job and tap its stressed syllable on the desk; students repeat.
2. (5 min) Turn the cards face down in a grid and model one turn aloud: "A nurse... and a pilot. No match."
3. (15 min) Groups of three or four play. A pair only counts if the player says the word aloud; partners check the phonetic transcription and may ask for a second try.
4. (5 min) Close as a class: show a picture card, the class names the job and says where that person works (A chef. In a restaurant.).

Adaptations

[S] Play with 8 pairs only and keep the word cards face up as a word bank.

[A] The winner says a sentence with the article (She is a vet. He is a chef.).

Materials & prerequisites

Print the two card sheets once per group of three or four and cut out the 24 cards; laminate them to reuse the deck. Students should have met the jobs theme once orally.