Listening contest

Level:

Intro
Time:

5 - 10 minutes
Organization:

Pair Work
Aim:

This activity helps beginner students increases their awareness on Mandarin sounds and tones and improve their pronunciations.

This activity allows students to speak out in pairs, which decreases their pressure to perform, and increases their confidence over time. It also builds class rapport among students.

(The example is taken from Mandarin Express Intro Level A Student's Book. Teachers can prepare their own lists of words which target specific pronunciation areas.)

How Does It Work?

Preparation:

This activity can be arranged at beginning of each class. Teachers tell students that it is a warm-up.
Procedure:
1. Direct students’ attention to the page.
2. Teachers pick one pair of words and read them aloud.
3. Then teachers read one word and ask students which word it is. Teachers can do another demo if necessary.
4. Break the class into pairs.
5. Each student in the pair takes turns to read aloud one word in the list, and ask the other pair to identify the word.
6. Teachers walk around and give help.