Invitations- Coin Games

Invitations- Coin Games
Listen to your partner’s invitations and respond naturally, thinking about how you would
respond if someone really invited to do that thing at that time. All invitations must include a
time and preferably a place. Switch roles whenever you get a positive response and do
the same until your teacher stops you.
Suggested invitations
Do you feel like
Do you fancy
How about

doing karaoke
eating a pizza
going for a walk
going to the library
going jogging
going shopping
going window shopping
going out for an ice cream
feeding my pet
going shopping
going swimming
going to a museum
going to an amusement arcade
going to an art gallery
going to the cinema
going to the park with my dog
listening to music
playing computer games
playing the piano
playing tennis
watching a video

tonight
later
(right) now
after this class
on Saturday
at… o’clock tomorrow
at the weekend
sometime

?

Suggested responses
That sounds good.
That sounds interesting.
That sounds great.
Sure. Let’s go!
Hmmm. I don’t really feel like... (I fancy… Does that sound okay?)
Hmmm. I’m not sure. (How about…?)
I’m afraid I can’t. I have to…
Sorry, I don’t feel like… I’m feeling (really)…
Not at the moment. I’m too…

Suggested reactions to responses
Great. What time?
Never mind. Another time, perhaps.
That’s okay, I understand.

Do the same, but this time politely say “No” to the invitations as much as you can (even if
you would naturally respond positively), including a new reason each time.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2017

1

Invitations- Coin Games

Game 1: The coin decides the invitation
Before making an invitation, the person whose turn it is should flip a coin and try to make
an invitation that their partner says “Yes” to using the word in the correct column below.

Heads

Tails

visiting…
watching…
drinking…
coming to…
going… ing (…)

going to…
making…
eating…
playing…
listening to…

tonight
later
(right) now
after this class
after…
before…
the… after next

on Saturday
at… o’clock tomorrow
at the weekend
sometime (this…)
on…
next…
at…

Game 2: The coin decides how you invite someone

Continue trying to get positive responses out of your partner, but this time flip the coin
twice first to decide how you should communicate.
Tails + tails = Telephone

Tails + heads = Email

Heads + tails = Face to face

Heads + Heads = free choice

Game 3: The coin decides your response

Continue inviting each other to do things, but this time with the person who receives the
invitation flipping a coin to decide their response:
Heads = You must give a positive response
Tails = You must give a negative response
Negative reactions must include a reason that no one in your group has used before.
Switch roles whenever you get a positive response.

Game 4: The coin decides the response you want to get

Do the same but with the person making the invitation flipping the coin (secretly) and
trying to get the response below from their partner by making a suitable or unsuitable
invitation.
Heads = Try to get a positive response
Tails = Try to get a negative response
The person who receives the invitation should respond naturally. Their partner will then
show the coin and get one point if it matches the response that they got.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2017

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Game 5: Invitations bluffing coin game

The person receiving the invitation flips to decide if they should react naturally or not:
Heads = Your real reaction
Tails = The opposite of your real reaction
After listening to the response, the person who made the invitation should guess if the
response was genuine or not, then the person who flipped will reveal the coin.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2017

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