C O O L I N G  O F F It was hot yesterday, so these two boys and some of their friends took off their clothes and jumped into the water fountain near Makhawan Rangsan bridge. But the other boys played a trick on them and ran off with their clothes. The embarassed boys, who would not identify themselves, had to take a tuk-tuk home.— SAROT MEKSOPHAWANNAKUL

Here's a fun activity you can do with your friends. Choose one of the following roles: one of the boys in the tuk-tuk; or the tuk-tuk driver; or one of the boys who took the clothes away.Tell the story from that person's point of view.

From the phrases below choose ones that will help you talk about how your character felt.

felt so embarrassed
felt sorry for them
thought it would be so funny
felt shocked and mad
thought we'd play a trick
couldn't understand how some boys could be so mean
didn't know what to do
thought I should help them out of an embarrassing situation
wanted to help
couldn't believe they would do that
thought I might have done the same thing when I was a boy

Clearly these boys don't have money to pay for their tuk-tuk ride home. What do you think will happen when they arrive there? What would you do if you were the tuk-tuk driver?

Oh, by the way, if you have never been to Bangkok, or seen pictures of the city's famous tuk-tuks - here's a picture of a parade of them carrying goods and people to market.

When you find a good picture, just think of the different people who might tell the story from their perspective. Supply a few phrases to help your students make lively and interesting conversations.

If your students are not yet confident about speaking, you could let them work in groups, figuring out how best to tell the story and first practicing until each can tell the story. Then you can regroup them so they can hear the other versions. The stories could easily be extended into a fun writing activity too.

Go back to the top

•This lesson was prepared by Maureen Paetkau, a professional teacher of English as a Foreign and Second language and Assistant Manager of the Educational Services Department at the Bangkok Post.