I've been looking at Mark's Big Town flash cards. They're great. There's so much you can do with them. I'm stirring this so far half-cooked idea that, if my seniors' class starts up again in the Fall, I'd like to pin a character on each participant's back so that they have no idea who they are. Then, they have a certain amount of time to find out as much as they can about themselves by asking questions with yes or no for answers. They can ask another student questions (and respond to that person's questions), but as soon as they get three negative answers, they must find a different student to ask. It'd be pair work, with the pairs shifting.
For example:
Am I a man? (not "Am I a man or a woman?").
Do I live in Australia?
Do I weigh more than a sheep? (we live in a rural community; they'll know the answer. Heck, I wouldn't!)
Anything goes, as long as you can answer it with yes or no.
"Are there kangaroos in my country?"
"Was my favorite food ever alive?"
When time's up, they tell a small group (or the class, depending on the size) what they know about themselves.

That's a great activity. I've done something similar with animals pinned to Ss backs and they have to find out what animal it is, asking 'Is it ~?'

You could also just have them find out info on the person and they could do it in the third person.
'Is he from Japan?'
'Does he study on Thrurs. evenings?'
'Does he like steak?'
'Does he have brown hair?'

Well, we did it, finally, this week. A younger audience would probably go for the Eigomon cards. At first I considered using that set, but words like "agility" or "stamina" are not the highest on my seniors' list. We just began comparatives and superlatives so Mark's flashcards worked well. I pinned a Big Town character to each student's back, and by asking a classmate, they had to find out (as close as possible) how much they weighed, how tall they were, how old they were, and whatever hobbies or foods they liked. We skipped trying to pinpoint which activity on which day.
Basically, they asked questions like "Am I taller than....", Do I weigh less than....", and "Am I older than .. and younger than ...?" I also gave them a list of possible nationalities and professions. Many of them guessed these answers as well. If you give them a list, you don't run the risk of them asking the question 100 times over "Am I from ..." and never hitting the mark.
The seniors got a kick out of it, and did very well. Some of them think so logically. One fellow figured out right away that, since he was only 8 years old, he certainly wasn't a doctor or anything adult-like. Time sure flies when they're having fun.

I like that it's possible to use the cards on different levels. I have beginners and some false-beginners in the group and I just wanted them to ask simple quwstions like What's your name? How old are you? but the students that can something more were trying asking other questions... some with success some without but the point is they wanted to know more, asked me questions and I have no choice now but prepare a lot for the next lesson. We'll see how fast they'll prove to be

When playing Big Town, the 'normal' way, how many cards do you give each student to begin with? And how long do you allow them to continue playing? Do you put a time limit on it or a card limit? - first to collect 10 cards is the winner for example. I've never used this game before, although I went ahead and printed all the cards and laminated them about 2 years ago! I found the cards yesterday and thought Wow! I should use these!! They seem so useful and adaptable for any age group or level. I've a group which has trouble with countries and nationalities, so I'll be using them with this group, to review this.

I usually just give them one card to start and if they lose their card, they have to come to the front and ask me for a new card.

I play until the excitement just begins to pass it's peak. Then I tell them, they have one more minute. I let it go for two or three minutes and stop it before it gets boring or if I run out of cards to give out.

I usually have photocopies of 2-4 cards blown up huge to A3. I use those to explain the cards and language we'll be using that day. When I run out of cards, I give those big papers out. It adds a little excitement/fun to the end of the game.

And, the big papers are worth 2 cards, come point time.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BIG TOWN!! The foreigners at my school have speaking classes now. They kids love the cards. They beg for them. I've played Aigoman before at my last school and they had a great time with that. These cards work for all levels and there are so many ways to play! The kids can get out of hand sometimes and I can't monitor them all, but I have them come try to win cards from me so I know they are still speaking the desired language. We have used them for almost all the classes now and the kids are begging for them. I really want the small town cards to use with my 1st graders! They will really enjoy that. BIG thanks again!

You're very welcome. I'm glad to hear that they have been so successful. I have all of the town cards on my desk, because I use them all of the time. It seems a waste of time to put them away somewhere.

i love this idea with these cards and i might try it in my next class i also love these cards as they are great in the fact that you can use them in so many ways

i used these cards in my one on one class last night the young girl i have absolutly loved them she liked all the characters and playing the game thank you so much for them i will definately be using them in future classes

These cards are fun. I agree with the previous posts that they are great for all levels.

Another possible option is to do different sequencing activites.

Students can practice letters and numbers as well as asking questions by putting themselves in order according to name (alphabetically), age, weight, and height (numerically, lowest to highest).

This is fun, because they must ask each other ¨How old are you?¨ and answer ¨I am ___ years old.¨ And physically line themselves up in the correct order youngest to oldest. I time them to see how fast they can finish. Then I go down the line to make sure the order is correct.

Also, with older more advanced groups, these personality cards are fun for a matchmaking type activity. When learning to talk about things that are the same or different, He likes to read and she does too. She eats sushi, but he doesn´t. Students can choose pairs that they think would be good friends or couples and explain why they chose them.

I really like these cards, however, when I print them out, the last line of the schedule of the second person per page doesn't print. Am İ doing something wrong?

These cards are great. I have not yet used them however, I am planning on using them in my year 2 class to assist with developing characters descriptions in their narrative writing. Most students don't often give information about their characters and these cards really do give the students regardless of their level some very helpful assistance

Hi there! first time poster, long time user. i think that the Big Town game cards are great! I was also thinking that you could have a blank template for the students to create their own character. I am doing this, however my cards do not look as nice as yours. I also have some board games I have created, that the kids love! I use them for students ranging from elementary and Jr, high. How would I be able to share these with you?

Just wanted to let you know that I printed the cards out and used them for my ESL class in Kyiv, Ukraine. Thanks for all the hard work you put into this. My kids want to make their own cards, so we'll be expanding on this a bit.