Originally submitted by: Kirsten Phillips
Start each student with three random cards. Have them walk around the room holding their cards.
When two students meet, they play Janken. The winner says “I want to be a ~”, and names a job card she would like to collect.
If the losing student does not have the card needed, the winner may select another occupation until they receive one they need. If no needed card is available, the loser can just say “Sorry” and the winner moves on.
Be careful the students don’t lie to each other. Due to the randomness of Janken, it will not be possible for everyone to create a full set so this game can get very competitive.
If a student loses his/her cards, they ask the ALT/JTE for 3 new ones by saying: “I want to be a ~” 3 times.
The student who collects the highest number of different cards is the winner.
VARIATIONS:
These cards can be used for various purposes. The duck card is a “baba” or wild card. Print two copies of the card sheet and discard one ‘duck card’ to create a set of 19. Then you can play different games like Old Maid or Concentration (shinkei sui jaku).
TEACHING SUGGESTIONS:
Make sure to go over pronunciation of jobs, and the key phrase “I want to be a ~”.
I suggest making large flashcards of each job and hanging them on the blackboard so the students remember how many cards they need to collect to make a set.
Have extra cards on hand!!! Some students may lose all their cards early on.
TIPS/CAUTIONS:
You’ll have to do a lot of prep for this one, especially if you have a large class.
Set a time limit if using this game as a warm up to practice the target language.