[New]: Using string cup phones to practice speaking and listening

Getting young students to communicate with each other in English can be difficult. Many factors may make them hesitant or nervous to speak to their classmates in another language. One way to encourage them to practice their speaking and listening skills with each other is to make it fun.

When I was young, my brothers and I used string cup phones to “order” food or a drink from the kitchen when one of us was in a different room (usually the youngest brother was in charge of delivering these orders). Similarly, this low-tech and easy-to-make prop can encourage communication in the classroom. For example, here is how string cup phones can be used when learning the topic “food”:

After practicing the target vocabulary and language split the class into teams and have them stand in line at opposite ends of the room.

• Have one team be ‘customers’ and the other be the ‘restaurant’.
• The ‘customer’ team can then take turns using the string cup phone to order food from the ‘restaurant’ team.
• The teacher or teaching assistant can even act as the ‘delivery person’ and bring the ordered food from the ‘restaurant’ to the ‘customer’.
• Once all the students on the ‘customer’ team have ordered, the teams can reverse roles.

Using this simple prop can make practicing target language fun, exciting and memorable for young learners. String cup phones could be used to practice language from any topic or theme. Students can even help make and creatively decorate the string cup phones as a craft activity.

Materials needed:

• two large paper or plastic cups
• cotton string or fishing line
• paper clips

How to make string cups:

1. Cut a long piece of string
2. Poke a small hole in the bottom of each cup.
3. Thread the string through each hole and tie knots at each end to stop it pulling through the cup (you can also use a paper clip).
4. Hold the cups at a distance that makes the string tight.
5. One person talks into the cup while the other puts the cup to their ear and listens. Can you hear me now?

Authored By

Christopher Smith

Senior Teacher

I Can Read Hanoi

[:]