The standard 52-card deck is believed to have been invented in Persia. The design on the back usually resembles a Persian rug.
Many English speakers do not realize that a club was a soldier’s symbol of war. Act out the use of the club (bonk! bonk!). The shovel or shovel is a symbol of the farmer, the economic base of feudal society (it represents digging. A shovel is a sap-jil in Korean). The heart symbolizes romance or love and the diamonds symbolize wealth or commerce.
Some (very few parents or bosses) oppose the use of cards in class, but I always defend this position saying: “We don’t gamble and we don’t play poker. We use cards to motivate children and help them learn English.” After that I have had no problems.
I present the letters asking:
How many there are? (52 or 13×4)
how many colors (2)
How many types or sets (4)
First class:
In the first class I just randomly throw cards and the kids say the type. This is challenging enough for beginners. Korean children normally drop the s at the end of words and pronounce with their Konglish saying heart-uh, sword-uh, di-a-mond, club-uh. So the first game or class is very much about re-teaching pronunciation (hard voice training).
Teach them to say diamonds, hearts, clubs and spades correctly. I do not introduce the word suit. Types or sets is enough for ESL students.
Next, teach that the cards make up a pack or deck. You can also tell them that a pack is like a backpack or a pack of wolves. Tell them about shuffling or shuffling (be-bim in Korean) the cards.
Finally, have the children say the Ace 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Jack Queen and King. This is easy. Jack is a royal servant. Ace is generally not known. Most kids call it A. Teach them ace driver, ace shooter, ace golfer, etc. Royal in Korean roughly translates to yang-ban.
First game:
The first real game I play with the kids is SNAP, where a child has to say “snap” and hit the cards with their hand as I distribute them into a stack.
They love the exciting anticipation of this game. To start with, just play and don’t explain the rules. When the teacher shouts SNAP and slaps the first pair of cards, the children quickly understand.
This game is best played around a small table with the children standing. They will fight for space. If they speak Korean, I kick them out for a round of letters. They find this funny.
Sometimes I get kicked out for speaking Korean. They find this even more fun!
Second game:
Sometimes we play the Go Fish game with regular cards. It is a short dialogue like this: “Do you have an ace? No, go fishing.” If readers don’t know the game Go Fish, do an Internet search or ask another teacher. It is very useful.
Older children:
I play poker or 21s (Blackjack) with older kids/adults, but we use my tokens and they give them back to me at the end of the class (so I don’t play). Kids learn: bet, cheat, cheat, bluff, bluff, kitty, close, fold or out, hit me, bust, I’m out, I’m the winner. All of this is common English, as are many sports terms, and children need it to fully understand the language.
Flashcards are a wonderful way to motivate students and teach English. They don’t even consider it a class assignment. The fascination with card games is that they involve mental calculations, luck, skill, social interaction, and sometimes cheating or bluffing. They combine these things and have the appeal of interactive computer games. Little children are amazed and shocked that the teacher cheats sometimes. Heh heh :o). You will be surprised by his indignation.