My ESL Students Are Hilarious (#2) (Travel Series)

The lengths they’d go to win a game…

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This is another funny story about my ESL students. It’s based on my experiences and my interpretations of those experiences. These articles will stand alone, published in no particular order. Don’t worry about continuity.

On to the hilarity.

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Way #2: Getting creative while playing games.

One of my favorite games to play with my students was Hot Seat. The students we played with were usually in 5th or 6th grade. (6th grade is the last year of elementary/primary school in Korea.)

I’ll explain the rules just like I explained them to my students:

• Divide the class into two teams (or play with two classes, like in this story).
• One student sits in the Hot Seat.
• A word and picture will appear behind that student. (PowerPoint slides)
• Their team can give hints about the word using English and actions.
• They have one minute to get their friend to say the secret word.
• If the student in the Hot Seat says the word, +1.
• If the student in the Hot Seat doesn’t know, +0.
• No Korean, no spelling, and no saying the secret word, or else -1.

Let’s see an example.

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For example, if the word was “Harry Potter,” here are some acceptable hints:

• *wave your hand like you’re waving a wand*
• “Wingardium Leviosa!” (not Leviosa)
• “Ron and Hermione’s friend.”

Here are some unacceptable hints that would result losing points:

• “해리 포터!”
• “Harry Potter!”
• *spelling the letters in the air*

Got it? Okay, now I’ll tell you about the best game of Hot Seat I ever observed.

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So, on this day, we started the game like normal. Another teacher and I gathered our classes in a large room during the “Club Activity” block in our schedule. We explained the rules, gave the Harry Potter example, and began the game.

There were a mixture of difficulties among the slides. The students always got easier words (Ironman, kimchi, snake). There were also words that students struggled with (Black Widow, South Africa, Justin Bieber).

By the time we played this game, the kids were very comfortable with camp and with each other. As soon as a new word popped on-screen, the playing team would swarm forth. They’d crowd around their seated friend, acting their hearts out and yelling in English like maniacs.

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They were so hungry for points.

Me, the other teacher, and the student in the Hot Seat would often tell them to back away, but the excitement was too high.

Because of their volume, it was sometimes hard to hear when the student in the Hot Seat said the answer. But I loved their enthusiasm. The point of the game was to practice quick thinking in English, speaking, and listening.

They all got a good 45 minutes straight of practice. Regardless of which class won, I accomplished my goal.

One of the slides was for the song “Uptown Funk,” which was very popular at the time. It was one of the more difficult slides, but the students all knew and liked the song, so it was fair play.

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The slide came up while our team leader, John (his English name), was in the room. He was taking photos of the students for the goodbye slideshow we played at the end of each camp.

Here’s how the “Uptown Funk” slide would usually play out.

• Always, the room would fall silent for a second as the team thought of how to give hints to their friend in the Hot Seat.
• Most of the time, the kids would try singing the song, or at least the melody. Some of them might do the dance.
• Sometimes, a smart kid would yell, “Bruno Mars!” or “Yesterday’s song!” I’d give this kid a thumbs up for good clues.
• Once in a while, the student in the Hot Seat would guess correctly. They’d stand triumphantly after winning a point for their team on a hard slide. This was rare, but it did happen.

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But I never saw the students do this. Except once.

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They pointed up, they pointed down, and they pointed their middle finger.

Right in front of two native English teachers, right in front of the team leader in charge, and right in front of the camera.

I cracked up, my fellow teacher cracked up, the team leader cracked up. The room exploded with laughter. Here were these 10-year-olds, who had been kind and respectful all week, collectively giving their classmate the finger. Again, right in front of three teachers.

All to win one more point.

Point up, point down, middle finger. They did this over and over and over for nearly a full minute. Point up, point down, middle finger. The bewildered boy in the Hot Seat cackled, trying to understand why his friends were flipping him off. Point up, point down, middle finger.

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Up. ㅤDown. ㅤFuck.

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I had to commend their creativity. That was, phonetically, very close to the name of the song.

And way too funny to punish.

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I don’t remember if the boy in the Hot Seat guessed the song correctly. I don’t think so. But I want to imagine a photo of this iconic event accidentally made it into the end-of-week slideshow.

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If you’d like to read another funny story about my ESL students, click below:

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Soon, I’ll publish an article with other games I love playing with my students.

For now, you can read about other language games from Lusine Arshakyan. Or, read about the benefits of games in an article by Katarzyna Sawicka.

Or both!

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This was partially inspired by the latest travel prompt from Coffee Times. Thank you for tagging me, Sharing Randomly! If this article inspired you to tell a crazy story from your adventures abroad, click below to see the prompt.