At the Café

Objective & content

By the end, A1 students can order a drink and a cake, ask the price, and pay in a simple café exchange. This resource is a pair speaking activity: two self-contained cut-out role cards — a customer (Card A) and a waiter (Card B) — each carrying only the phrases that role needs, plus [S]/[A] variants. Prints 5 sets per A4 page.

Pedagogical guide

Roleplay cards work because each student only sees their own role, so the exchange stays a real information gap rather than a scripted read-aloud. This card set targets café/ordering functional language (can I have…?, asking and giving a price) and pairs naturally with a food-and-drink or numbers lesson. Use it as freer practice once students recognise basic food items and small numbers.

Suggested procedure

1. (2 min) Distribute one Card A and one Card B per pair; model one round with a confident student.
2. (1 min) Set the goal: Card A orders a juice and a cake and pays; Card B takes the order and gives change.
3. (8–10 min) Pairs run the order, then swap roles and repeat with a new partner.
4. (2 min) Quick whole-class check: did students order, ask the price, pay, and thank?

Adaptations

• [S] Phrases stay visible on the card; order one item only; no timer.
• [A] Cover the "You can say" lines and improvise; use the Card B complication (no cake today — offer a biscuit); bonus: swap roles and repeat in under 90 seconds.

Materials & prerequisites

Print the cards sheet (A4, 5 sets per sheet) and cut into cards; one set per pair. Assumes basic food/drink vocabulary and numbers 1–10.

Curriculum alignment

Maps to Cycle 3 "child and close environment" (FR 6e) — everyday transactions in a familiar setting.