When you follow most ESL books meant for cram schools, you’ll see that the majority of them teach the basic tenses in this order: present, past, future.  Which means by the time your students can talk about the future, they should already have a wealth of vocabulary and ESL knowledge to use for one of my favorite activities.  

~ Fortune Telling ~

I am a big fan of fortune telling.  I must admit that I don’t believe a lick of it, but I am a big fan nonetheless.  It’s fun to contemplate what the future holds in store for you.  Will you be rich?  Famous?  Will you have a loving family?  Do you want to find out?  

There are many ways to have your kids tell each other fortunes.  You can print a basic palm reading guide and have them follow it.  Maybe you can get a hold of tarot cards and let your kids try and interpret the cards they draw.  These are tried and true methods, and it’s easy enough to google how to do both of these things.  My only problem with them is that they are real fortune telling methods used in various different cultures.  I may not believe in it, but my students and their families might….  and the last thing I want to do is accidentally offend any students or parents.    

So, I would rather use the activities below.  They are fun, simple, and total BS.  The first method is something I made up myself, and the last one is a children’s game I learned in middle school.

Scribbles

This one is a very simple activity.  Have the students ponder about the future while simultaneously scribbling on a piece of paper.  Tell them not to be forceful, but to let their hand glide in whatever way it wants to go.  I usually give them 10-15 seconds to do this. Afterwards have them switch papers with a partner.  The partner looks at the scribble and tries to see images in it. Give them a crayon to draw what they see in the scribbles.  Finally, have them use the images they see to write a prediction for their partner’s future.

Here are some example of this type of fortune telling:

Honestly, seeing what they come up is hilarious. They don’t have good enough grasp of the English language to be able to speak in symbolism and metaphor, so most of what they predict is very literal to whatever they see. This means that if a student sees an apple, their prediction will likely be “You will eat an apple,” instead of something more imaginative such as “Your life will be sweet and healthy”. Try to encourage more imaginative predictions, especially if you have a class at a higher level. For the class I did this with, their level was quite low and so I was happy with them simply using proper grammar.

One thing to be aware of is how big their papers are and if there is anything under. An overly enthusiastic kid may create big lines and go beyond the paper and onto the desk. Also, be very clear about hand movements being free flowing, or you may end up with a student whose scribbles are just zigzag lines. Other than that, this is a very fun activity that doesn’t need much time to do, so most likely your kids will ask to do to again and again.

MASH

This is a classic game.  I remember playing this with my friends in middle school, and I’m sure many Americans can say the same. Unlike the last two activities, MASH does not help practice speaking metaphorically.  What you see is what you get – and what you get is what you say.  

To play MASH you just need a pen and paper, if you have a small class you can also do this on the board. Create a table with several categories and give each category four options. The first category is always “what you live in” and the options are: Mansion, Apartment, Shack, and House (MASH). Let your students fill in the other options. Once the table is filled in, students pick a number from 1 – 10. Count out that many options and strike as you go, until you eventually have one option left in each category. Those remaining options are your fortune, so read it out loud and have a laugh.

I recommend doing it on the board first and playing it yourself as an example, before grouping your students and having them play it together. Then, bring the whole class together to discuss what everyone’s future will be. If you want this activity to go faster, have them circle the option when they count instead of striking it out.

When I played MASH as a child we usually went with these categories: type of house, job, name of future spouse, number of kids, and what type of pet you will have. As a teacher, I omit the “future spouse” category and instead put a “which country you will live”. So our MASH table would sort of look like this:

Shelter:	Mansion	Apartment	Shack	House
Job:	Teacher	Doctor	Astronaut	Chef
Kids:	1	3	15	5
Country:	South Korea	USA	Spain	Japan
Pet:	Dog	Cat	Snake	Elephant

Try these activities and let me know what you think!