The games in this article provide the perfect way to get security guards ready both for their everyday English interactions and for the kinds of more unusual and challenging situations that they are also supposed to be ready for.
Things guards talk about guessing game/ definitions game
This is a great way of both covering lots of useful vocabulary and training them to “talk around” any vocabulary that they don’t know, that they don’t remember, or that the listener doesn’t understand.
Give students a list of things they might need to know the English name for like “fire alarm” and “hazardous object”. One student chooses one without telling anyone which they chose. They then give hints like “It is in the lobby of this building” and “You aren’t allowed to take this into this building under any circumstances, but in some buildings it can be taken through the goods entrance”, continuing until someone guesses which thing they were thinking of. Perhaps after discussing if they agree with all the descriptions, the students then take turns doing the same.
When you stop the game, give them similar definitions of any vocabulary which they aren’t sure about. You could then give them written descriptions of those things for them to try to remember the names for and/ to underline useful language for describing things in.
Language for security guards brainstorming races
Students race to write examples of things like “Things visitors might have in their bags”, “Prohibited items” and “Reasons for calling the police”, then get one point for each thing which is correct which no one else thought of. There are lots of different ways of organising this, but the system I most often use is to give groups of students around six or seven minutes to brainstorm onto some scrap paper, then ask the groups to take turns saying one word or phrase which they think other groups might not have thought of.
Instructions from security guards games
There are a few games that involve the vital skill of explaining the way to do things like how to get a security badge and how to get to the smoking area.
Instructions from security guards guessing game
One student chooses a process like “How to open the security gate” and “How to get to the basement” without telling anyone which they chose. They explain the process step by step without saying any words in the name of the process until someone guesses what they are explaining how to do.
Instructions from security guards challenge
One student explains a process like “How to get your lost property” in as much detail as they can, then other students get one point for each extra step or alternative step they can add.
Instructions from security guards turn taking
Students choose a topic, then take turns describing the next step after what their partner just said. To make this more fun and challenging, you could tell them to try to avoid getting to the end of the process.
Language for security guards bluffing game
One student is given a word like “evacuate”, a phrase like “call the police” or a sentence stem like “You need special permission in order to…”. They make a complete sentence from that language as quickly as they can, using their imagination if they can’t quickly think of something true. Perhaps after follow-up questions, their partners say if they think the sentence is true or not.
The prompt language can be chosen at random from a pack of cards, at random from a list, by their partners from a card in their hand, etc.
Language for security guards drawing and miming games
Drawing and miming are great ways of remembering language, and also useful communication skills when speaking doesn’t work. Language that students can draw and/ or mime include vocabulary in and around their building (“sliding doors”, etc), and phrases they might hear or say (“You mustn’t”, “It’s the second on the left”, etc). There are enough suitable examples that you could make a whole worksheet just for miming or just for drawing, or you could allow students to choose miming and/ or drawing each time (as long as they don’t speak and don’t write words). As well as trying to guess what the mimes and/ or sketches mean, students can compete or cooperate to create the best use of body or pencil to explain each one.
Security guards board game
As mentioned in the introduction, a perfect course for security guards will practise a mix of English for the normal daily routine and English needed to be ready for anything. These can be combined in a way that also makes roleplaying more fun by using a board game with extra cards. Make a board with a typical situation like “Explain how to use the security card”, “Send someone to reception” and “Announce that the building is closing soon” in each square. Also make a set of cards with unusual emergency situations like “The security gate stops working” and “Someone in the lobby seems to be having a heart attack” on each one. Students deal out the cards and look at their own cards but don’t show them to others.
Students make their way around the board by roleplaying the situations shown on the square that they are on and the complication on one of their partner’s cards, with their partner(s) as the other people. Progress around the board can simply be by being allowed to roll a dice if they deal with the situation successfully, or they could use a ranking that decides their progress by how well the conversation went (e.g. “Coped very smoothly = move 6 squares”, etc).
Designing places giving directions game
This is a fun way of practising giving directions and lots of vocabulary of things in the place where they work. Give students a pack of cards with “vending machine”, “fire extinguisher”, etc written on each one. Students take turns taking one card, asking where that thing is, then placing it on the table or floor by the instructions that they are given. When they finish, they can discuss how good an office building it is, how good a library it is, etc, comparing with other groups if possible.