The Crazy Taxi Driver ESL conversation activity is a fun role play setup about a crazy taxi driver and their passenger.
Setup
Divide the class into pairs. The partners sit as if they were taxi driver and passenger; both facing the board, and one behind and slightly to the side of the other. If you have an odd number then one group should have two passengers.
If you really want to go the extra mile, you could even project a video of a driving simulation during the conversation!
Conversation
- The students role-play a conversation between the taxi driver and their passenger. The passenger is a tourist to the city, and the pair can decide where they are. They use this setup to cover various conversation topics.
- The taxi driver is very friendly and asks lots of questions, but drives dangerously and keeps turning round to talk! The passenger has to keep reminding them to keep their eyes on the road.
- You can do this role-play as an unstructured conversation, but it often works best if you give students topics. Write/project a list of topics on the board, and get students to switch every thirty seconds or one minute.
- The passenger is polite and answers the questions, but should also interrupt with imperatives like Watch that bike! or Look Out!
- Halfway through your allotted time, ask the drivers and passengers to switch roles and repeat.
Some possible topics for the taxi driver to talk/ask about are (choose appropriate to your level/grammar topic):
– Personal Information (asks passenger for name, where they’re from etc.)
– Experiences (asks passenger if they have been to the country/city before, what they have done etc.)
– Weather (talks about recent, current, upcoming weather, general climate etc.)
– Plans (asks about passenger’s plans while they are in the city)
– Suggestions for places to visit/eat
Target Language
The Crazy Taxi Driver ESL conversation activity is a fun warmer or time-filler for intermediate or advanced students. It’s a great way to get students talking but make things a little more interesting at the same time.
You can alter the conversation topics as appropriate for your class, and to suit any grammar topic. For ready-made conversation topics, try our Conversation Topic Generator.
This role play situation is commonly used in other activities, and can be found in our Role Play Generator.
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