Say it in English! The swimming pool and the beach bus (Italian edition)

Objective & content

A cross-language mediation pair activity in two rounds, for Italian-speaking classes. It is sheet 2 of the "Say it in English!" set. The documents are in Italian; everything pupils say and write is in English. In round 1, Student A has an Italian swimming pool leaflet (opening times, prices and rules), and Student B plays Sam, a 13-year-old English exchange student who is free on Saturday afternoon, loves slides, has long swimming shorts but no swimming cap, and has €10. In round 2, Student B has an Italian bus timetable for the beach, and Student A plays Alex, 15, who wants to go to the beach by bus on Sunday before 12:00, stay as long as possible, and has only €5 in cash and no bus app. The pupil with the document must not translate it all: they explain only what the visitor needs, and the visitor decides. By the end, pupils can pick out the useful facts in an Italian document and pass them on simply in English.

Pedagogical guide

This is the CEFR's cross-language mediation: explaining a document in your own language to someone who doesn't speak it. The rule on each page is the heart of the task: "Your partner doesn't speak Italian. Don't translate everything: tell them only what they need, in English." Each document holds more than the visitor needs, so the explainer listens to the task and selects. The phrases box gives It says ..., It's open on ... from ... to ..., It costs ..., You need to ..., You can't ... and This one is good for you, because .... Pupils also meet everyday words they will need abroad: slide, swimming cap, swimming trunks, locker, coin, timetable, the last bus, every day, except Sunday, in cash. In round 1, the rule about the compulsory swimming cap and the banned long swimming shorts ("bermuda") is the key point to pass on; in round 2 the trap is Sunday: the 12:45 bus doesn't run and the last bus back is at 17:00, not 18:30. Each task has one best answer. Page 3 is the teacher page: the idea, four steps, the language and the key with the reasons.

Suggested procedure

One activity of about 25 minutes.

1. (3 min) Set up the pairs: copy page 1 (Student A) for half the class and page 2 (Student B) for the other half, and put pupils in A + B pairs, face to face. Nobody shows their page. Read the rule and the phrases box with the class.
2. (8 min) Round 1: B is Sam, reads the task and asks; A explains the Italian leaflet in English. B writes the pool, the day and time, the total price and two things Sam needs.
3. (8 min) Round 2: A is Alex, reads the task and asks; B explains the Italian bus timetable in English. A writes the bus to the beach, the last bus back, the ticket price and how to pay.
4. (6 min) Pairs swap pages and check, then tell the class who chose what and why. Check with the key on page 3.

Adaptations

[S] Before round 1, the class finds the English words for the column headings together.

[A] Pupils bring a real timetable or leaflet from their town and explain it to a partner in the same way.

Materials & prerequisites

Print infogap.pdf: page 1 for Student A and page 2 for Student B, one copy per pupil; page 3 is the teacher page. Pupils need a pencil. They should already know days, times, numbers and prices, and present simple questions. It goes well with work on free time, transport or travel, and with the other "Say it in English!" and "Explain it to me!" sheets.