TESL Snakes & Ladders

Yea!!! I've come up with a new exciting game! This one uses the concept of a Snakes & Ladders-style human-board game. It is great for getting students to produce correct sentences, both grammatically and semantically, in a fast-paced situation.

The lesson I was building on was using the future tense (will) to make predictions (It'll rain; You'll fail; She'll get mad), either in the positive or negative form.


Here is how it works:


I drew two identical Snakes & Ladders-style "boards" on the floor. They consist of different paths that could be taken to reach the finish line. The paths have varying numbers of steps so that some are longer and others are shorter. Therefore, it is in the teams' best interest to choose the shortest path and steer their human "moving piece" on the correct path. (After the first round, I re-modified the paths so that they were inter-linked and that one could also move backwards (towards the beginning), to add excitement). Each step consists of either a positive '+' sign or a negative '-' sign, representing a positive sentence or a negative sentence.


The class is divided into two teams, and each team sends a member to become a "moving piece" on the start circle of their respective boards. The goal is to be the first to get their "piece" to reach the end circle, by moving one by one on each step.

I show some pre-prepared sentences on the projected board, and the teams have to be the first to come up with a response in the form of a prediction. For example, a projected sentence could be I have an important exam to take this afternoon, and some possible permitted answers could be You'll fail or You won't pass. The teams have to choose to make a positive or negative sentence according to which step they want their "piece" to move onto (either '+' or '-'). The first team to answer gets to move their "piece", while the other team's "piece" has to stay put. Of course, on impulse, students may say a sentence in a form which may disadvantage them, for example if they accidentally say a positive sentence which leads their piece to move "down a snake" and go backwards in the board... Therefore they must always pay attention to whether they want to make a positive or negative sentence, and their minds are always working to produce sensible responses that fit the projected sentence.

In order to regulate the speakers, I give a marker to the first student of each team. When the round begins, the person who holds the marker is allowed to speak. If they cannot think of an answer, they may pass the marker to the next student beside them, who can either answer or keep passing the marker back until an answer is given.

You can play as many rounds as you'd like for this game, with a point allocated to a team every time they reach the finish mark. The team with the most points wins.


I played this game with my pre-intermediate adult class, and it proved to be highly excitable and effective in getting students to produce the target language.

The team on the left was so nervous that they huddled together in the back so that they could quickly exchange the marker to whomever had an answer!

Photo Exhibition: Con Dao, the Enchanted Island

 Almost two years ago, I made a trip to Con Dao, and island archipelago off the southeastern coast of Vietnam, about 185 km from Vung Tau (and about 230km away from Ho Chi Minh City). I knew that Con Dao had taken away a piece of my heart when I had visited it, and now, upon looking back at the photos, I feel captivated all over again, shaking my head in awe as I sift through the photos.

Con Dao has been named one of the world's nine most mysterious islands* by Lonely Planet's travel magazine, and a look at its history as well as its ecology reveals why. During the French colonial times, Con Dao was used as a penal facility to house the thousands of political dissidents who opposed the French regime. Opened in 1861 by the French colonists, the prison is infamous for its "tiger cages", small prison cells that constrained large amounts of political prisoners and held them in inhumane conditions. After the French departed Vietnam in 1954, the prisons continued to be used by the South Vietnamese government. Some of the highest ranking Vietnamese leaders were detained here. The prison closed when Vietnam became reunified in 1975.

Given its dark history, it is no wonder that people consider Con Dao as an island paradise growing from a "hell on earth". These dark beginnings aside, the island boasts beautiful pristine beaches, luscious jungles, and incredible biodiversity. The archipelago consists of 16 islands altogether, with Con Son as its largest island with an area of 51.52 km² (the second largest island is only 5.45 km²). The local population is roughly 5000 inhabitants, and tourism is modest but expanding with a lot of potential. In fact, in November 2011, the Brangelina clan stayed at the luxurious Six Senses Resort on this island during a trip meant to bring Pax closer to his Vietnamese heritage.

Con Dao is truly a mysterious island, full of natural beauty and cultural charm. There is a certain peace instilled in the atmosphere. The inhabitants are very laidback and life seems to move at a slow, happy pace. Surrounded by lush mountains basked in mist, untouched beaches and wilderness tucked away in secret locations, and with the haunting eminence of the colonial-era prisons still tinted in the air, Con Dao is truly an enchantment.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

*The eight other mysterious islands are: Torres Strait (Australia), Yaeyama (Japan), Iles du Salut (Guiana, French), Ulleungdo (South Korea), San Blas (Panama), Penghu (Taiwan), Bay and Hog islands (Honduras) and Ssese (Uganda).