2024-08-30 Would you rather…
Objective
- To practice asking and answering questions in English.
- To encourage students to engage in meaningful conversation.
- To foster teamwork and creativity in coming up with original questions.
Materials Needed
- A list of “Would you rather” questions (prepared in advance).
- A set of palm-sized “A” and “B” tokens for each participant.
- A simple scoring system (e.g., a tally sheet or scorecards).
Activity Breakdown
1. Introduction (10 minutes)
- Explain the concept of “Would you rather” asking and answering questions.
- Provide examples to illustrate how the questions work.
- Emphasize the importance of reasoning and giving explanations for their choices.
2. Mingling Game (20 minutes)
- Instructions:
- Give each student a list of 5-10 “Would you rather” questions.
- Students will mingle around the room, choosing one person at a time to ask a question.
- Before asking the question, they should try to guess how the person will answer (A or B).
- If the guess is correct, they earn a point.
- The person who was asked the question must explain their choice briefly, using complete sentences and reasoning.
- Game Mechanics:
- Set a time limit (e.g., 10 minutes) for the mingling activity.
- Encourage students to talk to as many classmates as possible.
- Students keep track of their own points on a scorecard.
3. Group Work: Creating Original Questions (15 minutes)
- Divide the class into small groups (2-3 students per group).
- Each group creates 3-5 original “Would you rather” questions.
- Encourage creativity and relevance to the students’ lives and interests.
4. Group Question Sharing (15 minutes)
- Each group selects one member to ask their original questions to other groups or individuals in the class.
- Other groups must discuss and answer the question together, explaining their reasoning.
- The group that asked the question guesses the other group’s response (A or B). If they guess correctly, they earn a point.
- Rotate until all groups have asked and answered questions.
5. Wrap-Up and Reflection (5 minutes)
- Tally up the points and announce the winning individual or group.
- Reflect on the activity by discussing some of the most interesting or surprising answers.
- Encourage students to share how they felt about the activity and if they learned anything new about their classmates.
Scoring and Rewards
- Points: 1 point for each correct guess.
- Bonus Points: Award bonus points for particularly creative or thoughtful questions and answers.
a slight confusion about usage of ‘risk’ (verb)
ex.1 Would you rather always have enough money to live comfortably but never be wealthy or have the chance to become incredibly wealthy but risk [ losing everything ]?
>> risk [ BAD situation ]
ex.2 Would you rather turn in a family member who committed a serious crime or cover for them and risk [ legal consequences yourself ]?
>> risk [ BAD situation ]
ex.3 Would you rather risk [ financial instability ] by following your passion, or have a stable but unfulfilling job?
>> risk [ BAD situation ]
ex.4 Would you rather risk [ everything ] to start your own business or stay in a secure but unfulfilling job?
>> risk [ GOOD(perhaps) things ]
according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary,
risk (verb)
1. to put something valuable or important in a dangerous situation, in which it could be lost or damaged
ex. He risked his life to save her.
>> risk [ GOOD(perhaps) things ]
2. to do something that may mean that you get into a situation which is unpleasant or harmful for you
ex. There was no choice. If they stayed there, they risked death.
>> risk [ BAD situation ]
3. to do something that you know is not really a good idea or may not succeed
ex. risk doing something We’ve been advised not to risk travelling in these conditions.
>> risk [ BAD situation ]
Both ‘risk (verb) financial stability’ and ‘risk (verb) financial instability’ can be used in a similar context???
If it says “risk financial stability” on the worksheet somewhere, then it’s a typo. I’ll fix the PDF but Sugimoto-san already printed out the materials. No matter how many times I proofread, it seems I almost always overlook some mistake. Thank you for catching that.
Risk is always about a negative outcome. If you skydive, you risk dying. You don’t “risk” living a long life by eating healthy.
Is it this one?
Would you rather take a financial risk on an investment that could lead to huge rewards or save your money and miss out on potential gains?
Financial investments that have the potential to be extremely profitable are nearly always high risk investments, so the way “risk” is used here is correct. Safe investments have a small but guaranteed return. There’s no risk in investing in, for example, US Treasury bonds but the ROI is relatively small compared to investing in a Silicon Valley startup that could turn into a “unicorn” and make you filthy rich, but you could also lose part or all of your investment.
Please allow me to use Japanese partially.
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I meant;
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・risk financial stability
= （今持っている）経済的な安定性をリスクにさらす
= （その結果）経済的に不安定な状態におちいる・・・というcontext
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・risk financial instability
= 経済的に不安定となるリスクをおかす・・・というcontext
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risk financial stabilityとrisk financial instabilityは一見すると全く逆の表現だが，両方とも「経済的に不安定な状態になる危険をおかす」を表すと理解して良いのでしょうか？というモヤモヤです。
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That is, my confusion is not about ‘Would you rather’ question, but is just usage of risk(verb). and could be a disturbance to our class. So, 時間に余裕が有れば教えてください。
Sugimoto-san has already printed out the materials for the class, so we’ll just have to risk confusion. The correct way to deal with it is, “If something is too difficult to understand and it’s not that important, just skip it.” We don’t need to get stuck on it.
“Risk financial stability” doesn’t make sense. It sounds like “financial stability” is a negative outcome.
To make it make sense: “risk your financial stability” or, “put your financial stability at risk”. They’re exactly the same meaning, it’s just two different ways to say it. Now it’s understood that it’s referring to you doing something that turns your current financial stability into financial instability.
For example: “If you were to invest your entire life savings in Donald’s Trump’s failing social media platform Truth Social, you would risk your financial stability.” Meaning, “you would put your (current) financial stability at at risk.”
You could also say “risk your marriage.” For example, “If you spend too many nights out drinking with friends and coming home drunk at 3am, you’ll risk your marriage.”
Another way of saying the same thing would be, “If you spend too many nights out drinking with friends and coming home at 3am, you’ll risk your wife asking for a divorce.”
Another way; “If you spend too many nights out drinking with friends and coming home at 3am, you’ll put your marriage at risk.”
You would’t say “risk marriage,” unless you’re insinuating that marriage is a bad thing.
People *do* use the word “risk” in these ways, so I’m OK with introducing its usage. You’re right, it might cause confusion, but even so, it won’t the end of the world. If it’s too difficult to understand, we’ll just skip it.
Thanks for your detailed explanations.
It was just a little bitty question, and was not that important. So just skip it please.
I’m looking forward to today’s class for the first time in a month.