Comparing Places- Comparatives Random Pelmanism Card Game
A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS
A fun card game to practise describing places and comparative adjectives, with many adjectives of place names.
Lesson Plan Content:
Comparing places comparatives random pelmanism card game
with countries and nationalities vocabulary
Instructions for teachers
Decide which set(s) of cards you want to use with your class (countries, cities, etc) and if you want to include the adjectives on the cards, or not. Cut up one set of cards per group of two to four students, cutting off the adjective parts if you don’t want to use it. If you are going to let students look at the suggested phrases, also make copies of that worksheet.
Ask the groups of students to spread the cards face down across the table. One student turns over two cards and tries to compare those two places, e.g. “Paris is much bigger than Cologne” or “Spanish food is far more famous than Norwegian food”. If their partner agrees with the comparison and no one has used the same sentence before, they can keep those cards and score two points. You will need to decide if they have to use a different adjective each time, or if the same adjective with a different adverb (e.g. “slightly dirtier” after someone else has already said “much dirtier”) counts as a different sentence.
If they can’t think of any suitable comparison, if they repeat what has been said before or if they say something that isn’t true, they have to turn the cards back face down in the same places as before.
Play then passes to the next person. Students do the same round and round their group until all the cards are gone or the teacher stops the game. The player with the most cards at the end of the game is the winner.
To make the game easier and/ or quicker to finish, the game can also be played with the cards face up, either from the beginning of the game or whenever it is clear that the students are making few successful comparisons.
Useful phrases for comparing places
|
…is |
a little/ slightly quite a lot/ considerably/ substantially far/ much
|
more beautiful – uglier bigger/ larger – smaller cheaper – more expensive cleaner – dirtier closer to/ nearer… - further from… cloudier colder – hotter more corrupt more cosmopolitan more dangerous/ riskier – safer more democratic – more repressive more developed – more old-fashioned/ more primitive drier – more humid/ wetter drier – rainier/ wetter further east/ more easterly – further west/ more westerly flatter – more mountainous better for… - worse for… more historic more important longer more modern – more traditional further north/ more northerly – further south/ more southerly poorer – richer/ wealthier more popular more powerful – weaker snowier more stable – more unstable more touristic more tropical wider windier |
than |
Cards to cut up
Countries to compare
|
Argentina
|
Argentinian |
Australia |
Australian |
|
Austria
|
Austrian |
Belgium |
Belgian |
|
Brazil
|
Brazilian |
China |
Chinese |
|
Croatia
|
Croatian |
Cyprus |
Cypriot |
|
Denmark
|
Danish |
Egypt |
Egyptian |
|
England
|
English |
Ethiopia |
Ethiopian |
|
Finland
|
Finnish |
France |
French |
|
Georgia
|
Georgian |
Germany |
German |
|
Greece
|
Greek |
Iceland |
Icelandic |
|
India
|
Indian |
Indonesia |
Indonesian |
|
Iraq
|
Iraqi |
Ireland |
Irish |
|
Israel
|
Israeli |
Italy |
Italian |
|
Jamaica
|
Jamaican |
Japan |
Japanese |
|
Jordan
|
Jordanian |
Lithuania |
Lithuanian |
|
Malta
|
Maltese |
Mongolia |
Mongolian |
|
North Korea
|
North Korean |
Norway |
Norwegian |
|
Pakistan
|
Pakistani |
Peru |
Peruvian |
|
Poland
|
Polish |
Portugal |
Portuguese |
|
Russia
|
Russian |
Scotland |
Scottish |
|
South Africa
|
South African |
South Korea |
South Korean |
|
Spain
|
Spanish |
Sweden |
Swedish |
|
Switzerland
|
Swiss |
Taiwan |
Taiwanese |
|
Thailand
|
Thai |
Czech Republic |
Czech |
|
The Netherlands
|
Dutch |
The US |
American |
|
Turkey
|
Turkish |
Ukraine |
Ukrainian |
|
Vietnam
|
Vietnamese |
Wales |
Welsh |
Regions etc to compare
|
Central America |
Central American |
Central Asia |
Central Asian |
|
Central Europe
|
Central European |
East Asia |
East Asian |
|
Eastern Europe |
Eastern European |
Latin America
|
Latin American |
|
MENA
|
MENA |
North Africa |
North African |
|
North America
|
North American |
Northern Europe |
Northern European |
|
Scandinavia
|
Scandinavian |
South America |
South American |
|
South Asia
|
South Asian |
Southeast Asia |
Southeast Asian |
|
Sub- Saharan Africa |
Sub-Saharan African |
The Atlantic
|
Atlantic |
|
The Pacific
|
Pacific |
The Antarctic |
Antarctic |
|
The Arctic
|
Arctic |
The Caribbean |
Caribbean |
|
The Equator
|
Sub-Equatorial |
The (Global) South |
Southern |
|
The Mediterranean |
Mediterranean
|
The Middle East |
Middle Eastern |
|
The Balkans
|
Balkan |
The EU |
EU |
Cities to compare
|
Athens
|
Athenian |
LA |
Angelino |
|
Florence
|
Florentine |
Frankfurt |
Frankfurter |
|
Geneva
|
Genevan |
Guangzhou/ Canton |
Cantonese |
|
Moscow
|
Muscovite
|
Milan |
Milanese |
|
Naples
|
Neapolitan |
Paris |
Parisian |
|
Rome
|
Roman |
Birmingham |
Brummie |
|
Venice
|
Venetian |
Vienna |
Viennese |
|
Liverpool
|
Liverpudlian/ Scouse |
Bologna |
Bolognese |
|
Boston
|
Bostonian
|
Glasgow |
Glaswegian |
|
Hamburg
|
Hamburger |
Indianapolis |
Hoosier |
|
Manchester
|
Mancunian |
Milan |
Milanese |
|
San Francisco
|
San Franciscan
|
Sarajevo |
Sarajevan |
|
Warsaw
|
Varsovian |
Washington D.C.
|
Washingtonian |
|
Newcastle
|
Novocastrian/ Geordie |
|
|
Comparative adjectives presentation
Without looking above, write the correct comparative form of each word below.
|
…is |
|
beautiful – ugly big large – small cheap – expensive clean – dirty close to near… – far from… cloudy cold – hot corrupt cosmopolitan dangerous – safe democratic – repressive developed – old-fashioned dry – humid wet rainy flat – mountainous good for… – bad for… historic important long modern – traditional poor – rich wealthy popular powerful – weak stable – unstable snowy touristic tropical wide windy |
than |
Check your answers above. Other answers may be possible.
What are the rules for making comparative adjectives?
Write suitable expressions in the empty column above (second from the left). Then use the mixed answers under the fold to help.
--------------------------cover, fold or cut------------------------------
Mixed answers
a little considerably far
much quite a lot slightly substantially
Country words presentation
Without looking above, write the country word for each nationality word below.
|
|
Argentinian |
|
Australian |
|
|
Austrian |
|
Belgian |
|
|
Brazilian |
|
Chinese |
|
|
Croatian |
|
Cypriot |
|
|
Danish |
|
Egyptian |
|
|
English |
|
Ethiopian |
|
|
Finnish |
|
French |
|
|
Georgian |
|
German |
|
|
Greek |
|
Icelandic |
|
|
Indian |
|
Indonesian |
|
|
Iraqi |
|
Irish |
|
|
Israeli |
|
Italian |
|
|
Jamaican |
|
Japanese |
|
|
Jordanian |
|
Lithuanian |
|
|
Maltese |
|
Mongolian |
|
|
North Korean |
|
Norwegian |
|
|
Pakistani |
|
Peruvian |
|
|
Polish |
|
Portuguese |
|
|
Russian |
|
Scottish |
|
|
South African |
|
South Korean |
|
|
Spanish |
|
Swedish |
|
|
Swiss |
|
Taiwanese |
|
|
Thai |
|
Czech |
|
|
Dutch |
|
American |
|
|
Turkish |
|
Ukrainian |
|
|
Vietnamese |
|
Welsh |
Look at the cards for any you aren’t sure about, the first time trying to memorise them with your pens down.
Check your answers above.
Nationality words presentation
Without looking above, write the correct nationality adjectives for each country below.
|
Argentina |
|
Australia |
|
|
Austria |
|
Belgium |
|
|
Brazil |
|
China |
|
|
Croatia |
|
Cyprus |
|
|
Denmark |
|
Egypt |
|
|
England |
|
Ethiopia |
|
|
Finland |
|
France |
|
|
Georgia |
|
Germany |
|
|
Greece |
|
Iceland |
|
|
India |
|
Indonesia |
|
|
Iraq |
|
Ireland |
|
|
Israel |
|
Italy |
|
|
Jamaica |
|
Japan |
|
|
Jordan |
|
Lithuania |
|
|
Malta |
|
Mongolia |
|
|
North Korea |
|
Norway |
|
|
Pakistan |
|
Peru |
|
|
Poland |
|
Portugal |
|
|
Russia |
|
Scotland |
|
|
South Africa |
|
South Korea |
|
|
Spain |
|
Sweden |
|
|
Switzerland |
|
Taiwan |
|
|
Thailand |
|
Czech Republic |
|
|
The Netherlands |
|
The US |
|
|
Turkey |
|
Ukraine |
|
|
Vietnam |
|
Wales |
|
Look at the cards for any you aren’t sure about, the first time trying to memorise them with your pens down.
Check your answers with the cards. Then test each other:
- Read out a country word and nationality word (in either order) and get your partner to repeat them back with the country word first
- Say a nationality word and see if your partner can say the country
- Say a country word and see if your partner can say the nationality
- Read out a country word and nationality word and get your partner to identify which it is and say the other version
Do the same with the other place names below.
|
|
Athenian |
|
Angelino |
|
|
Florentine |
|
Frankfurter |
|
|
Genevan |
|
Cantonese |
|
|
Muscovite
|
|
Milanese |
|
|
Neapolitan |
|
Parisian |
|
|
Roman |
|
Brummie |
|
|
Venetian |
|
Viennese |
|
|
Liverpudlian/ Scouse |
|
Bolognese |
|
|
Bostonian
|
|
Glaswegian |
|
|
Hamburger |
|
Hoosier |
|
|
Mancunian |
|
Milanese |
|
|
San Franciscan |
|
Sarajevan |
|
|
Varsovian |
|
Washingtonian |
|
|
Novocastrian/ Geordie |
|
|
|
Athens
|
|
LA |
|
|
Florence
|
|
Frankfurt |
|
|
Geneva
|
|
Guangzhou/ Canton |
|
|
Moscow
|
|
Milan |
|
|
Naples
|
|
Paris |
|
|
Rome
|
|
Birmingham |
|
|
Venice
|
|
Vienna |
|
|
Liverpool
|
|
Bologna |
|
|
Boston
|
|
Glasgow |
|
|
Hamburg
|
|
Indianapolis |
|
|
Manchester
|
|
Milan |
|
|
San Francisco
|
|
Sarajevo |
|
|
Warsaw |
|
Washington D.C.
|
|
|
Newcastle
|
|
|
|
---------------------cover, fold or cut------------------------
Help for the task above:
-an -eapolitan -egian
-er -ese Geordie
Hoosier -ian -ino
-n -ovocastrian -rummie
Scouse -tian -tine
-udlian -unian Varsovian
-vite
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