Vocabulary

Objective & content

A printable memory game on fruit and vegetables for beginners (A1-): twelve pairs, from apple, banana and grapes to carrot, onion and mushrooms. Each pair joins an illustration to its written name and phonetic transcription; students turn the cards face down, match them and say the word aloud to claim the pair. By the end, they recognise and say the twelve words without translating.

Pedagogical guide

Food words are concrete and familiar, so the effort goes into the English form. Memory brings each word back without a drill, and saying it aloud makes pronunciation part of the game. Warn the class that grapes and mushrooms are plural on the card, while the other ten words are singular. Use the deck after an oral presentation of the theme and before written work: it consolidates, it does not introduce.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Lay one set face up. Name each item, students repeat; sort the cards into fruit and vegetables as you go.
2. (5 min) Turn the cards face down in a grid and model one turn aloud: "An apple... and a carrot. 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 it and says whether it is a fruit or a vegetable.

Adaptations

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

[A] Ask the winner of a pair to sort it in a sentence (A carrot is a vegetable.).

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. No prior vocabulary is needed; the transcription is a support, not a lesson.