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The one-upmanship game


This is a short filler activity for a reasonably fluent intermediate (Higher GCSE) or advanced level group.

Students work in small groups or pairs. One person boasts about something which has happened recently. The next person, or partner, then engages in one-upmanship, and so it goes on around the group or between partners. It might go something like this:

Je suis allé en Australie en vacances l'année dernière.
Ah bon? Moi, je vais en Australie tous les ans.
Moi, je ne vais plus en Australie. J'en ai marre. Nous allons faire un voyage en Antarctique l'année prochaine.
Moi, je suis déjà allé au pôle sud; je vais faire un voyage dans l'espace. Nous allons à la Lune l'été prochain.
La lune? Nous, on va aller à Mars.
Mars? C'était beau quand on y est allés, mais on aime mieux Jupiter.
Toit ça, c'est bien, mais nous, on préfère voyager dans le temps dans notre Tardis.

etc

It would probably best to give an example first before providing some starter statements to get things going. How about:

Mes parents m'ont acheté un iPad pour Noël.
On m'a demandé d'être figurant dans un petit film local.
Quand j'étais petit on avait si peu d'argent qu'on ne sortait jamais au restaurant (merci Monty Python)
Pendant mes vacances de ski je me suis cassé la cheville après une chute.
Je suis très content. J'ai fait les 100m en 11 secondes.
J'ai appris qu'on va faire construire un nouveau cinéma en ville.
Notre chien est très intelligent. Il aboie quand je lui demande de le faire.
Génial! Je vais dîner au nouveau restaurant de Jamie Oliver.

With a lower level class you could vary the task by turning it into an accumulation game, e.g.

I went to the supermarket and bought some bread.
I went to the supermarket and bought some bread and some wine

etc

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