This is a listening activity for B1+ students based around an extract from episode 11 of our podcast on the topic of Small World Stories and Coincidences. Download all the materials below:
- 2Ts Coincidence Powerpoint
- 2Ts Coincidence Transcript
- 2Ts Coincidence Teacher’s Notes
- 2Ts Coincidence Student Handout
- Audio File
Lead-in
Use the first slide on the PowerPoint to introduce the topic and have students predict what kind of coincidences two identical twins separated at birth could have experienced.
1st Listen
Students listen and try to write down all the coincidences they hear then compare in partners and listen again if necessary. Task check using PowerPoint slide:
- Both called James
- Both grew up to be police officers
- Both marry a Linda
- Both had sons called James Alan/Allan
- Both had a dog called Toy
- Both remarried women called Betty
2nd Listen
Students listen again and write down expressions for expressing surprise:
- What???
- Seriously??
- No way!
- You’re shitting me!
- That’s mental!
- How bizarre!
3rd Listen: Decoding
Students listen to the first section again and fill in the gaps with elements of connected speech:
Key:
I’ve got some coincidence stories that have happened in the world. This one’s a good one. Right. So, as I mentioned I studied psychology at University so I’d, I’d heard about these guys. This is an article that I found on boredpanda.com. And it’s called “10+ crazy coincidences that are hard to believe actually happened”. So here’s the thing. There’s two twins who were separated at birth.
Speaking
Students think of a surprising story or event from their own lives and write down 6 key words needed to tell the story. They then tell the story to their partner who reacts using the expressions. Teacher gives feedback/error correction, then they swap partners and repeat the exercise having taken the feedback on board.