20 Fun Language Learning Games to Teach English in Class

Is your classroom lacking a spark? Even the quietest students can’t resist these fun games!

If you’re teaching abroad as a foreigner, it can be hard to break the ice. Our upbeat, tried-and-tested games for teaching English will help keep students smiling and learning.

From easy warm-up activities, to longer and more in-depth games, we’ve hand-picked some of our favorites. Introduce vocabulary, practice grammar, or build speaking and listening skills with exciting classroom games like Whisper Down the Alley, Shiritori and more.

Easy & Short Games

These simple language-learning games make ideal warm-ups to kickstart class. They can help get students in the right frame of mind and make classes more memorable.

1. Emotion a Day

Teach your students new ways to respond to the old question “How are you?” in English. Explain that you are happy, sad, nervous, or sleepy, complete with expressions!

You can even turn it into an emotion-guessing game, with your students in pairs.

2. Shiritori

­­Have students write a word that begins with the last letter of the previous word.

This easy game works well when each row is a team competing against the other rows to write eight words first. Start with an example written on the board to get things going.

3. Simple Q & A

Ask simple questions like “What did you do on Sunday?” or “What’s your favorite food?”. These everyday questions help get students into English mode before class begins.

Turn it into a quiz to get everyone involved, or pair up students for a more relaxed mood.

4. Scrambled Word Review

­­Write vocabulary words with all the letters out of order and let the students figure out the words. You can do this as a group on your board, or spice things up with multiple teams!

This game is easily adapted for elementary, junior, or high school English learners.

5. Circle the Word

­­Give students, working in pairs, a sheet of paper with vocabulary words written on it.

As you call out the word or a definition, the students compete to circle that word first. Have them use different colored pens to prevent any turf wars when the winner is decided.

6. Erase That Sentence

­­Write a passage or target conversation on the board. Have one student read the passage, then erase a word and draw a blank where it used to be. Have the next student read the passage again, including the missing words. Erase one word after each reading.

7. Pictionary

You don’t have to be an artist for this one, but it can help! Draw an image on the board, and the first person or team to shout out what it is (in English, of course) is the winner.

If you’re an anime fan, draw characters and get students to shout out the show in English!

8. Word Ball

First, students are asked to stand up, sit down, or readjust desks to create a circular formation. Then, a soccer ball with vocabulary words written into its white spaces is used.

Students are to pass the ball around in the circle as a song (like “Old MacDonald”) is sung. Whoever is caught holding the soccer ball at the end of the song has to shout out a word from the ball.

Why do warm-up activities?

These warm-up activities are short, easy ­to ­do exercises that can be used in the beginning 5 or 10 minutes of class. They help focus the students’ attention on English and create a relaxed mood for the lesson period. Try a different one each week to keep things interesting!

Having a good selection of quick activities can also help use up any spare time at the end of an English class, without deterring students from what they learned during the lesson.

Long & Complex Games

These longer activities challenge students to use English in creative and interactive ways. If you’re an ALT, make sure the Japanese teacher is happy with what you have planned.

9. Read & Run

­­Make four copies of your reading text and tape one in each corner of the classroom.

Divide the class into pairs and hand out questions based on the text you’re reading; maybe three for person A and three for person B. Person A asks person B the first three questions, one at a time, and B must run to the text, read it to find the answer, and run back to tell A.

Afterward, B will ask the questions and A will do the running. The first pair to answer all the questions correctly wins. This high-energy game helps build language and teamwork skills.

10. Strip Story

­­Summarize class reading material or simply rewrite a conversation between students.

Cut into individual sentences and have the students work in groups to put them in the correct order. Have each student read one sentence to check the pronunciation of the passage. To make things fun, incorporate stars from pro wrestling or other popular sports in Japan.

This adaptable game helps teach English grammar rules in a creative, engaging way.

11. Fly Swatter True or False

­­Tape ‘True’ and ‘False’ sheets of paper to the board, with bug images if desired!

Divide the class into two teams and choose one person from each team to come to the front of the classroom. Arm them with fly swatters and say a True or False statement concerning the text material. The first student to slap the correct fly wins a point for their team.

Throw in some statements like “Hideo Nomo plays for the Los Angeles Dragons” to keep them listening. Or try having the students write their own True or False statements—which is good for learning synonyms and antonyms—and use their creations for an extra fun twist.

This game is a firm favorite, and great for developing listening and fast-thinking skills.

12. Circle Stories

­­Divide the class into groups of three or four. Give each group a piece of paper with a sentence that uses English vocabulary or a particular grammar point.

That is the beginning of a story. The group must add one sentence to the story, and pass it on to the next group. When each group has written something for all the stories, have some students read them. A fun way to teach both English vocabulary and grammar skills.

As it requires more knowledge, this is an ideal game for junior or high school classes.

13. Construction Racing

­­This game focuses on specific grammar points (i.e. changing from active to passive voice, singular to plural, present to past.) Write six or seven sentences on a piece of paper.

Give the first person in each classroom row a copy of the sentences. The first person changes the first sentence and passes it on to the next. The last person in the row raises their hand when finished, and the teacher must check the answers and choose a winner.

You can also write sentences with a mistake and each student must find it and correct it. Learn English grammar while keeping students engaged in a fast-paced competition.

Why do a longer game in class?

The Japanese school day typically has six periods – your class may be their favorite!

Whole ­class activities are useful not only for their language learning/use potential, but also for those times when the students are tired of the usual English grammar-translation routine.

Many of the more involved cultural activities you will be doing also fall into this category.

In the Middle

These versatile games for the classroom can be easily tweaked for length and difficulty. With these fun ways to teach vocabulary and grammar, they won’t even know they’re learning.

14. Stand Up & Shout

­­Divide the class into groups of five people. Choose five vocabulary words (adapted for their level) and write them on slips of paper. Give each student in the group a different word.

The ALT should call out a Japanese word or an easy English definition, and the student who has that word in each group must stand up and shout out the word. Reward the quickest or the loudest person. Switch words within the group and play again.

You can also write vocabulary words on the board in scrambled form. Here, the first group to unscramble it and stand up to say the English word or easy definition wins a point.

This language-learning game is easy to adapt for time, just limit the number of rounds!

15. Whisper Down the Alley

­­Make each row a team, and take the first person in each row into the hallway.

Tell them a sentence (the same one or a different one for each row) and have them memorize it. They must tell the sentence to the next person in their row. The last person should come to the board and write the sentence in English as accurately as possible.

Again, you can easily adapt this game for difficulty, using long or multiple sentences.

A variation is to have the last student draw a picture of the sentence. Make the images interesting and throw in the vocabulary and grammar patterns that you are teaching.

16. Soccer

­­Divide the class into two teams. Draw soccer goals on the board and use a magnet as the soccer ball. The teacher asks questions which anyone can answer.

The first person to raise a hand and answer correctly using the correct English vocabulary “kicks the ball” (i.e. moves the magnet) towards the opponent’s goal. It takes four kicks to make a goal, but on the fourth kick, the other team has the chance to block the kick.

Choose one person from each team to be a kicker and a goalie. They must compete to answer the next question first. If the kicker wins, it’s a goal. If the goalie wins, the kick is blocked, and the ball is put back to midfield. You may need to choose designated kickers for each question in sleepy classes, or prevent one person from answering every question!

17. Fruits Basket

First, flashcards of English vocabulary words are hung up on the blackboard for everyone to see, and a second set of flashcards (an exact copy) is kept hidden by the teacher.

Next, students are asked to stand up, sit down, or readjust desks to create a circular formation, and the copy-cat flashcards are distributed equally among students.

Finally, the teacher stands in the middle of the circle and calls out 1-2 English vocabulary words. The students holding the specified words, must get up from their seats and attempt to claim a new seat as fast as possible. The students who successfully find themselves a new seat may remain seated. However, the student without a seat is now “it!” for the next round.

To provoke all students to stand up/look for a seat, students can yell “Fruits-Basket!”

18. Headbands

Introduce a set of 8-12 words or “new vocabulary” using flashcards, then ask the classroom to split up into groups of 4-6 students. Next, the teacher comes to each group of students, providing “the chosen one” with a velcro headband with a printed-picture flashcard on it.

For students not wearing headbands, they must use language/charades to convey the meaning of the word to the wearer! Once the word has been determined, swap over.

19. The Three-Hint Thing

First, a category is chosen (i.e. Colors, Fruit, Animals, Places, etc.) Next, the teacher thinks of something that fits the chosen category and provides the class with three hints regarding their choice! If needed, the teacher can write the hints on the classroom board.

Food is a great one for this, with plenty of ideas from everyday Japanese meals.

Students are invited to ask questions! If students are struggling, the teacher can chime in with some proposed questions (i.e. Is this “thing” big? Can I eat the “thing?” etc.)

The student who guesses the thing earns a point and can be “it” next turn.

20. Taboo

First, as a class, use flashcards to review 12-24 familiar English vocabulary words.

Students are then asked to split up into groups of 4-6. Next, the teacher provides “the chosen one” of each group with a Taboo card! The Taboo card specifies a target word, alongside a few other words that must not be said during the round of the game.

The Taboo cardholder must use all known language abilities (no physical gestures here) to help their teammates guess the word behind the card, without saying taboo words!

Teacher tips for classroom games

We hope these activities have given you some fun new ways to teach English in class.

With any activity, there must be a valid language learning objective that is made clear to the students (and other teachers in the classroom) either before or after doing it—or both.

Without making the objective known, the teachers and students may come to perceive you as being some kind of game machine! Explain how the activity helps with vocabulary, grammar, or pronunciation, so they’re taken seriously as an opportunity for real English learning.

“When you use or design your own activities, it is crucial that you keep them simple: that is, the explanation must be easy for your JTEs and students alike to understand.

In some cases, if you are unable to explain an activity simply and quickly, even the best ideas will be rejected.” – an ALT working at Interac

If you want to become an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Japan, knowing a range of games helps! Your colleagues will appreciate you as a reliable source of activity ideas.