British slang activity

This is a short fun activity to teach higher level students some British slang.

Here is the handout:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=79CFF252BEEA0A7D!270&authkey=!AMuzyf2uZLvmlkE

There are several ways you can introduce the vocabulary:

• For small classes of 2-4 people you can print out a copy of the table below, then leave the slang words in one block but cut out the definitions individually, the students then try to piece the table back together.
• For a larger group without a computer and projector you could write them all on the board and have students try to come up with definitions in small groups. If they have trouble you could then write up the definitions in a different order and they have to match them.
• If you have a computer, projector and smart board you can use a fun game on quizlet.com to pre-teach the vocabulary. If you click the link below you can access a flashcard set I have made with the terms. Scroll down to the games section and select the game “scatter”. This is a great game for introducing new vocabulary, I’ll let you explore it for yourself.

http://quizlet.com/19221375/british-slang-for-story-flash-cards/

Here is the target language:

Gutted	Very Disappointed
Dodgy	Untrustworthy / dangerous.
The Bee’s Knees	Really good.
The Dog’s Bollocks	Excellent / the best
Alright	How are you?
Nosh / Grub	Food
Taking the piss out of	Making funny insults about a person.
Knackered	Tired
Jammy	Lucky / Flukey
Fit	Attractive
A fiver / a Tenner	5 pounds / 10 pounds
Ta	Thank you
Two sandwiches short of a picnic.	Stupid.

After teaching the target language split the students into pairs and give each pair a section of the story below. The students now have to translate the story into slang.

Once they have done this have them read it out to class.

Below you will find the story translated.

The story in normal English, hand this out for the students to translate into slang.

1. I went to my friend’s house to watch the England game the other day. I walked in and said “how are you?” he gave me a beer and I said “thank you.” England lost 4-1 to Germany. My friend and I were very disappointed. We decided to go for some food. The closest pub was selling burgers for £5. When we got to the pub there were some other friends there “How are you?” I asked and they said “Good thank you.”

2. The pub was in a slightly dangerous part of the city but the burgers were really good. My friend John is very lucky, he always wins money on the gambling machine but tonight he put £10 in the machine and didn’t win. I put £1 in and won £10, “you lucky bastard” said John.

3. Then a really attractive man / woman walked in, I decided to buy him / her a drink. He / She was really attractive but stupid. I spent £10 on drinks for him/ her but then she got very tired and decided to go home, I didn’t get his / her phone number and I was very disappointed because he / she was very attractive.

4. Then my friend Pete arrived, he is stupid and he was very drunk. We all said “hello Pete, how are you?” John and my other friends started making funny insults about Pete. He didn’t understand because he’s stupid so he said thank you! I didn’t have any more money so I asked Pete if I could borrow ten pounds, but he only had five pounds. I had one more drink and started to feel tired. We went to the kebab shop next door, there were some dangerous men in there, they started making funny insults about us and we almost had a fight.

The story translated:

 1. I went to my friend’s house to watch the England game the other day. I walked in and said “alright?” he gave me a beer and I said “ta.” England lost 4-1 to Germany. My friend and I were gutted. We decided to go for some grub/nosh. The closest pub was selling burgers for a fiver. When we got to the pub there were some other friends there “alright?” I asked and they said “Good ta.”

2. The pub was in a slightly dodgy part of the city but the burgers were the bee’s knees. My friend John is very jammy, he always wins money on the gambling machine but tonight he put a tenner in the machine and didn’t win. I put £1 in and won a tenner, “you jammy bastard” said John.

3. Then a really fit man / woman walked in, I decided to buy him / her a drink. He / She was really fit but two sandwiches short of a picnic. I spent a tenner on drinks for him/ her but then she got knackered and decided to go home, I didn’t get his / her phone number and I was gutted because he / she was very fit.

4. Then my friend Pete arrived, he is two sandwiches short of a picnic and he was very drunk. We all said “hello Pete, alright?” John and my other friends started taking the piss out of Pete. He didn’t understand because he’s two sandwiches short of a picnic so he said ta! I didn’t have any more money so I asked Pete if I could borrow a tenner, but he only had a fiver. I had one more drink and started to feel knackered. We went to the kebab shop next door, there were some dodgy men in there, they started taking the piss out of us and we almost had a fight.

Follow up:

Students write a story for homework using as many of the words as they can. The one whose compositions included the most correctly used slang words wins.

Also for the following class quickly recap the slang words and then award points to students who use them correctly in class.