The Would I Lie To You ESL game is a variation on Two Truths And A Lie, based on the UK TV panel show Would I Lie To You?.
6+
15-30 mins
Setup
The Would I Lie To You ESL game requires a little more preparation than Two Truths And A Lie, but could be a great alternative, especially if you’ve already done that activity. Optionally, you could show more advanced students a clip of the TV show beforehand to demonstrate how it works.
The class before this activity (or for homework), each student will need to prepare one or two true sentences about their lives (facts, experiences etc.) on slips of paper, and give them to you. Don’t tell them what they are for! Make sure they/you write their names on the papers so you know whose is whose.
You will also need to prepare some fake sentences to use in the game. These are statements that not be true for any student, but which could possibly be true. Make sure all sentences (theirs and yours) are written in first person.
In class, divide the students into teams of three or four.
Game
- One team comes to sit at the front of class, facing the other students.
- Hand each member of the team playing a sentence, making sure that one member has one of their true sentences while the other members have a fake sentence.
- The students then have to read their sentences aloud and answer questions about them as if they were true.
- The other students vote on which student they think is telling the truth.
- If the voting team(s) guess the true sentence correctly, they get a point. Otherwise, the team who read the sentences gets the point.
- Repeat with the other teams.
Target Language
Like Two Truths and a Lie, the Would I Lie To You ESL game is great for practising questions, speaking fluency and listening, particularly with past simple and present perfect simple grammar.
If your target language is modal verbs of possibility, ask the students to give you their opinions using this grammar before they vote on the true sentence. For example for modal verbs of possibility in the present, Number three might be true, but number one can’t be true…. Or for modal verbs of past possibility, They can’t have done that because….
Because the students won’t have made up the sentences they are expected to lie about, this is game is most suitable for advanced students who can prepare fluent sentences on the spot. If your students are more intermediate level, you could give them their sentences in advance along with a few minutes to prepare.
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