What places used to be called- Trivia Quiz

What places used to be called- Trivia Quiz
Used to speaking practice/ Names of places in English

Student A
Test your partner on the old names of some of the places on your list with questions like
“What did… use to be called?” and “It’s (now) called… What did it use to be called?”,
giving at least three options for them to choose from (by choosing different old names from
below, slightly changing the real name, making up imaginary names, etc). Your partner
should answer with a whole sentence like “It used to be called…?”
AND/ OR
Test your partner on the new names of some of the places on your list with questions like
“It used to be called… What is it called now?”, giving at least three options for them to
choose from (by choosing different new names from below, slightly changing the real
name, making up imaginary names, etc). Your partner should reply with a whole sentence
like “It is called…”
AND/ OR
Choose one line below, read out the two names on that line (sometimes in the opposite
order) and see if your partner can identify which one is old and which one is present with a
sentence like “It used to be called… but now it’s called…”

Old name

Present name

Ceylon

Sri Lanka

Peking

Beijing

Burma

Myanmar

Madras

Chennai

Persia

Iran

Formosa

Taiwan

FYRM

North Macedonia

Pusan

Busan

Chang’an

Xi’an

Constantinople

Istanbul

New Amsterdam

New York

Mont-Royal

Montreal

Batavia

Jakarta

Kwangju

Gwangju

Kristiania

Oslo

Ragusa

Dubrovnik

Danzig

Gdansk

Tunbridge Wells

Royal Tunbridge Wells

p. 1

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2021

Student B

Test your partner on the old names of some of the places on your list with questions like
“What did… use to be called?” and “It’s (now) called… What did it use to be called?”,
giving at least three options for them to choose from (by choosing different old names from
below, slightly changing the real name, making up imaginary names, etc). Your partner
should answer with a whole sentence like “It used to be called…?”
AND/ OR
Test your partner on the new names of some of the places on your list with questions like
“It used to be called… What is it called now?”, giving at least three options for them to
choose from (by choosing different new names from below, slightly changing the real
name, making up imaginary names, etc). Your partner should reply with a whole sentence
like “It is called…”
AND/ OR
Choose one line below, read out the two names on that line (sometimes in the opposite
order) and see if your partner can identify which one is old and which one is present with a
sentence like “It used to be called… but now it’s called…”

Old name

Present name

Saigon

Ho Chi Minh City

Bombay

Mumbai

Ayers Rock

Uluru

Siam

Thailand

Leningrad

Saint Petersburg

Rangoon

Yangon

Amoy

Xiamen

Edo

Tokyo

Calcutta

Kolkata

Nanking

Nanjing

Tenochtitlan

Mexico City

Londinium

London

Leopoldville

Kinshasa

Heian-kyo

Kyoto

Pagan

Bagan

Angora

Ankara

North Borneo

Sabah

Smyrna

Izmir

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Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2021