For some new to teaching English to Koreans, you might find yourself welling up with anxiety about what to do if/when you run out of lesson material to cover during the class. In fact, most new teachers will find themselves burning through the assigned lesson and activities faster than an experienced teacher, simply because they are doing the lesson verbatim and usually without adlib and improvising, which usually comes with experience. In these cases, a new teacher might have to resort to falling back on games. Or any teacher for that matter, who wants to inject some educational fun into the class. Although schools usually frown on the excessive use of games in class, most will be comfortable as long as they remain educational and somehow related to the lesson material that was previously covered.
Koreans, particularly kids, know the word 'game' are not at all hesitant to pepper you with the begging for you to play a game with them. Here is a list of old faithfuls as well as ones that Korean kids play with their language, but can be used for English.
[edit] Hangman
Hangman is so popular that it's almost a cliche. Despite that, it remains a solid educational game to reinforce vocabulary learned from recent lessons.
[edit] Simon Says
Simon Says is also a great game to incorporate TPR into a lesson.
[edit] Telephone
Telephone is an excellent game that is ideal for large classes and for emphasizing clear pronunciation and effective listening.
[edit] Duck Duck Goose
Duck Duck Goose is a simple TPR game, which would be useful in kindergartens.
[edit] What time is it, Mr.Wolf?
What time is it, Mr.Wolf? is another good game that can be used for teaching numbers and time.
[edit] Rock, Paper, Scissors
All Korean kids know Rock, Paper, Scissors and is frequently used in class to determine who goes first for something.
MASH is a fortune-telling game usually played by children that can be easily adapted to the English classroom as an activity for pairs.
[edit] Charades
Charades is a great game that can be used for all ages or levels.
[edit] Pictionary
Pictionary is always a fun game that can also be used for different age groups and levels.
I spy is a useful guessing game that kids love.
[edit] 3-6-9 game
3-6-9 game is a simple counting game in Korea. Koreans play this game in their own language, but can easily be modified to play in English.
끝말이기 is a popular vocabulary game with Koreans, but can be used for English.
Mouse Catch or known as '쥐잡기', is a popular song and game with Koreans. It can be easily converted to be used with English.
