Graciela, Argentina
I learnt this activity from Dave Allan (NILE, Norwich, UK). Ask each student to introduce themselves finding an adjective that describes them which starts with the same first letter. EG. Graceful Graciela - Amazing Ana. ASk them to introduce themselves by saying their names aloud while acting out their favourite pastime. These two activities may be combined, and also, the next person to introduce himself should repeat the names and adjectives and even act out the pastime of other people in the right order, before they introduce themselves. Hope it works.

Thanh, VN
The first thing I'll do is to make my students feel at ease in my English class by telling jokes. Students should know right on the first day of my class that they are free to express their ideas, regardless of grammar or lecical mistakes they may make. I've followed this way and what makes me really happy is that my students never feel afraid of making mistakes and this is a good start for everything.

Teresa Ferrero, Italy
I place six students in a row and ask the first one to tell her/his name and then her imaginary profession. The teacher will help her/him to find the word in case of absolute beginners. The second student does the same, but he/she must repeat the name and profession of the first one, so does the third, fourth etc. This teaches the verb I'm and she/he's and the name of some jobs. The Director of the Kent School of English taught me this pleasant activity.

Mustafa, Turkey
I usually start my first lesson writing some tips about myself and my private life on the board.They are just small notes,not full information. e.g: GS (these are the initials of my favourite football team. Students,for example, ask me "What's your favourite team". I give a full satisfying answer to this question. This technique has two pros: 1.You get known by your students better. 2.It's a safe way to take the first step towards them.

Karel Adamec, Czech Republic
If I have a new group I usualy start like this. 1. I choose a student and ask him several question . 2. Then I introduce this student to the class using ... His name is... . He lives... He has never tried.... . 3. Students in pair interview each other and are able to introduce their partner to the rest of class. 4. I encourage the rest of the class to ask questions. I always find it very useful and funny.

Demostene Marinotto, Brazil
Use the humanistic-affective approach. That is, tell them who you are, what you like, what you dislike, your soccer team, if you are maried, etc. Then ask your students to tell you about them, what kind of movies they enjoy, their past-time, their family, what kind of games they play, etc.

Idit, Israel
I use a bag of Smarties and the game "meet the student" where each student gets 4. Each student must answer briefly about Sports,hobbies,songs and singers and books they love. Once they finished they can eat the sweets.

Revathi Viswanathan, India
I give pair work to students. Each one has to find out details about her partner, such as her interests, favourite dish, hobbies and so on and present her findings before the class by way of introducing her partner to others. This activity serves not only as introducing others but also as a communicative activity.

Theepa Dhas, Malaysia
I give the group numbers after observing them and make sure that their friends will not be their partner. Eg the first and middle person pair off. their pairing partners will know who their partner is only later.In the introductions that follow the partner introduces them... that way its fun as the questions and info is varied.

Charlie, Mexico
something that works at all ages is to get students to tell me thier names, and an animal name beginning with the first letter of their names. as they introduce themselves to the rest of the group the repeat their names and animal names of their own and those of who preceeded him or her, until everybody is done. the last student will tell the names of all his classmates and their animal names.

Carlos Nunns, England
When I start a new class, I introduce myself as being from Manchester, as this is my nearest city. Often students don't know much about England, but do know about football. Manchester is famous for football, so next I tell them that David Beckham is my cousin, I elaborate to make it more plausible. (It helps that I am not unlike him in stature and age, though not as handsome). Once I have lead my students to believe me, then I let the cat out of the bag, using phrases such as 'only joking' or 'just kidding', which also teaches them new phrases. I find this a great ice-breaker and the students are in fits of laughter.

Stella, Argentina
Something that most learners enjoy is working on their names. Some ideas, depending on the age and level of students, may be: Drawing simple objects whose English word starts with the letters of their names. I start with my own, a sun, a tree, an elephant, two lollipops and an apple and I tell them that there is a hidden message in those pictures. When they get to find it, I encourage them to do the same on separate pages. Then, I collect the pages and re-distribute them. Students have to guess the names hidden in the pictures and give them to their owners. Another suggestion: I call it "name acronym". Students write their names in a down position in the middle of a page. They should find words that are important for them which have the different letters in their names( no matter the position) Again, it is easier with an example: Saturday, daughTers, BarilochE,Long, hoLidays,cAr. They can also say some phrases about the words ( My favourite day is Saturday, I've got two daughters, I come from Bariloche, and so on) I hope you find these ideas useful.

Louise, Australia
I use an activity with lollies/sweets/candies (for those of you with different forms of English!) Students will love you and get to know each other! I have a bag of jelly beans, Smarties or similar. Each student takes 3. I assign a topic to each colour (eg green = family, red = hobbies, yellow = embarrassing moments). Each student must speak briefly about themself on the topics represented by the lollies they've chosen - then they can eat!

Shaun, Brasilia, Brazil
One idea is to get students to talk about there names. Brazilian students have such long and well-travelled names. After each person writes their name on a piece of paper for all of the class to see and just talks about them. I suggest the teacher talks about his/her name first as a model and then allows each student to do the same. Questions such as why were they given there name, where does it come from, do you have any problems with your name and would you change it always allow students to speak more about something they usually know about. You can find out so much about someone by talking about their name. If a student doesn´t know much about their name, (which happens with my teenagers sometimes) they can find out for the next class and tell the group what they´ve discovered. This activites is amterials light, personal and I find very interesting for students

Natsue, Japan
I like the game "Fruit Basket." To play, sit everyone in a circle. Make sure that there are no extra chairs -- there should be the same number of chairs as students. The teacher stands in the centre. Once everyone is sitting, the teacher says something to try and get some students to stand up: eg. "Everyone who is wearing shoes, stand up and change chairs!" In this case, all students who are wearing shoes must go to a new seat. While the students are taking their seat, the teacher should grab a seat as well. This means that one student will be left standing! Then, that one student must ask another question to try and sit down again. The game continues until everyone is suitably exhausted.

Shirley, Hong Kong
You can prepare an inflatable ball. Then start with a question like: Nice to meet you.I'm ________. Then throw the ball to another member. It's interesting because everyone will catch the ball and start introducing himeself.

Tim Barton, Japan
I like to play an information relay activity on the first day of class. It requires even numbers of students because it's a team activity, but it can work if players trade off times out during the activity. Here's how it works: Arrange the students into two teams. Have them form two straight lines. Tell them you are going to whisper something about yourself to a player from each team. They must repeat the information about you to their immediate teammate--that is, the person behind them. They must whisper. The information travels down the line until it reaches the last players on each team, who must race to the front and turn the information into a question before their opponent can. They don't whisper for this part. Here is an example: Teacher: "I am 41 years old." Students: (one by one) "He is 41 years old." Final players: "Are you 41 years old?" It never fails to get the students laughing and feeling at ease. Also, they learn a little about the teacher right away. I recommend writing some example phrases and corresponding questions on the board before the game. You might have to demonstrate it with a few students. Good luck!

Cristina, Brazil
Personal Information Cards: Hand out Index cards. Tell students to write their names or nicknames in the center of the card. Explain the handwriting should be big enough for someone to see from an 8 feet (about 2.5m) distance, but not too big because they will be writing other things on the corners of the cards. Then tell them (or write on the board): 1. On the top left corner write … eg. (2 things you like) 2. On the top right corner write… eg. (2 things you don’t like) 3. On the bottom left corner write … eg (an adjective that describes you) 4. On the bottom right corner write … eg. (favorite kind of music) After that students attach their cards to their shirt (sotch tape, paper clip) and then walk around trying to find what they have in common with other students. And finally, back in their seats (semi-circle,) they report one of their finding to the whole group, e.g. “Jane” and I like to cook.

Dorit, Germany
You can make the pupils in an EFL claas (no beginners) talk: distribute small pieces of paper with one question for each of the class about their last / next holidays, their professional plans, their best loved dishes / their opportunity about english cuisine etc. as a next step you can give them a funny cartoon which shall invite them to invent a very short story. Or you show transparencies with different typical images of Britain, USA or other anglophone countries, so that they try to find what they already know.

Peter, Spain
One of us: Write these on the board: One of us has:Two of us ... Three of us .... All of us .... None of us..... Groups generate true sentences then report back-can use for any structure. Partner presentatoin: Give students a couple of minutes to find out about their partner in order to give a little presentation.

Elizabeth, Cameroon
Try to ask them to say what they saw on tv the night before and as it is said, ask another student to demonstrate in action only what is said. This will amuse them and keep them alert.

Bruno, Brazil
Write some questions/topics on cards of colourful paper, one question/topic per card. Spread the cards face up on the floor and ask students to stand up. Tell them you are going to play some music and that they should walk around the classroom. When the music fades out they should stop, pick up a card and talk about its topic to a person standing near them. Allow them to speak for a minute and turn the volume up again. Repeat the procedure as many times as you feel necessary. Take care not to go overkill.

Sara, Italy
I always use an easy activity: I make a ball using a piece of paper and put students in circle. Then students have to throw the ball to each other saying their names. Another one can be the "find 5 things in common". I put students into pairs and they have to find 5 (interesting and not obvious) things they have in common. Then they tell the whole class what they have found. As already suggested here, I also think that "find someone who" is a very nice ice-breaker.

Jason Fenton, USA
I have a "Getting to know you" handout. Students circulate and ask a series of background questions: name, country of origin, etc. and then they have to locate a student who, for example, is wearing green socks, admits to having a tatoo, uses contact lenses, works out every day, etc, etc. They have to ask and respond with complete sentences and only pose one question before moving on to make sure they circulate. The first student to get a different signature by each of the (say) 20 items wins.

Rosylene Damaceno, Brazil
Dear Adriana, There's an activity that I use in my first day classes - to get to know each other.

You have to prepare as many identity cards as there are students (name, family, hobbies, something I'd like to do, things I like, things I don't like.

Then you group the students in pairs and each of them receives a blank identity card. The next thing is they have to interview each other (as well as all the pairs in the class), and after they have to introduce their partners by remembering as much information as they can. I hope this can be helpful to you.

PS: There are many possibilites of variations for this activity, so just let your brain fly!!!! Good luck

Irin David Evans, Spain
I usually begin a course with a non-conventional room layout, creating a space easy to move around in.

Step 1. With the students standing in a circle, I initiate a rapid name game appropriate for the level.

Step 2. Students get into pairs and interview their respective partners. The task is to find out something interesting about the other person. Each person then presents their partner to the rest of the group.

The final step is to divide the students up into small groups. They ask eachother questions to try and find a subject they all have in common.

Each group elects a spokesperson to present the subject to the rest of the group.

In less than an hour, everyone knows plenty about everyone else.

If this fails, use a pick axe!

Adam, Japan
In the first class, students are usually curious about who you are:

Write your first name on the board 4 times. Get the students to ask you questions about yourself. For each question I would write 4 answers, 1 of which is true.

e.g. "Where are you from?", I would write: New York, London, Paris, Sydney.

Do this for 8-10 questions until you have 4 profiles. Then put students in groups to discuss which profile they think is the real you.

This can be followed by students 'mingling' and telling each other 1 lie, and guessing what each persons lie was.

Trish, London
I have found a good way to break the ice is to play "Arrange Yourselves." I give 1 learner a criteria and they have to manage the others arranging themselves, physically, in order. So, for example "by height", "by age", "by month of birth", "by distance of their birthplace away from London".

If you start with physical characteristics and move to ones that require information gathering the interaction naturally increases. So later ones might be "by the number of letters in their first and family name"; "by number of vowels in their home address" etc.

Because this requires information exchange coupled with physical movement the students love it!...and I get a good insight into their abilities and personalities.

Renu Ragtah, New Delhi,India
Begin by writing some describing words like, gentle, calm, mischievous, controlled, envious etc on slips of paper. Fold them and ask the students to pick one each. They could begin by stating their name and using the word to introduce themselves. For instance -I am Renu and I am firmly controlled in my behaviour.-

Ranganayaki Srinivas, India
How to break the ice or warm up the cold feet will depend on the age, level, interest, etc. of the group with which we want to build a rapport.

For example, in an LKG class of three year olds it may be enough to go to the class in a bright, cheerful dress wearing a warm, loving smile and chatting with the children informally so as to get to know them personally.

In a group of teachers with twenty plus experience it may be a good idea to start with something like 'Find Someone Who'. The teachers can be given a list of specifications and asked to go round the class, find people who fit in with the descriptions and make a report to class. The list may ask for something related to the teaching experince, hobbies and interests, personal information, etc.

Example:
Find Someone Who -has taught for more than 10 years
-has taught only English
-sings or plays a musical instrument
-is good at blackboard sketches
-has used audio/video materials in class
-has tackled a problem child
-comes from a small town
-comes from a place which is more than 400 kms from here
-did not want to attend this training programme
-was looking forward to this training programme
-has lots of questions to share with others
-has tried out an innovative idea, etc.

Teachers go around the class and ask questions like, 'Have you taught for more than 10 years?' and note down the names which fit in with their descriptions and report to class.

Andrea, Argentina
My favourite ice-breaker is called 'Shout it'. To be honest, I've just invented the name but I can assure you this activity really works with students of all levels and ages but make sure there are over 14 students in the class for them to have real fun.

• First, brainstorm different things you would like to know about the people in the class, as you do this, jot down your ideas on the board.

  Then, ask the students to sit in a wide circle and tell them they will be working with the person sitting right in front of them.

  Then, tell them they will be having a conversation to get all the information previously brainstormed without moving their chairs, standing up or writing. They should all do this at the same time so it's likely to get rather noisy so make sure all the windows and doors are closed so as not to bother other classes!!

  If it doesn't get that noisy because students are too shy, play some music for them to have to speak up and get rid of all the anxiety. Set a time limit. Once they've finished, they report back to the class.

Donna Phillips Ryan, Australia
Some I have tried include:

• Pair and share: students gather information about their partner and then introduce partner to class;
• Hand out a list of 10 questions - who likes white chocolate, who has been to Spain?, who reads science fiction( make up suitable ones) and give students just enough time to mingle and find answers;
• have students arrange themselves according to height, birthdays, shoe size, etc;
• give half the students a question and the other the answer and have them match;
• match/complete numbers, full names of famous people;
• arrange students in two circls facing each other and have them share information on given topic; then move one circle on after a minute ( consider changing topic a few times during short activity);
• have students write you a postcard/ letter giving you two or three points of information about themselves/attitude to language learning, whatever;
• have students guess something about you eg you changed your hair colour, you have climbed the Tower of Pisa, you ate Yhai last night. Make sure you give clues and keep it fun.
• Play Hangman's Knot or other word games keeping it fun and not too challenging to begin with.
• Have a conversation session over coffee in the cafeteria. Sometimes this is less threatening for some students and also sets up a social group for the next imeone wanders into the refec alone?

Hamida Osman, Pskidtan.
I find that it always works to ask students to introduce themselves by citing three adjectives that could describe them. They then support one of their qualities with an example. It is also a good idea to tell them to discuss a negative trait that they would like to change. Always a challenging activity, many students are unable to analyse or even enumerate the kind of qualities they possess, let alone illustrate one.

Sue, Bali
Something I often do with my EAP students at the end of the first lesson doesn't involve speaking but does bring out some personality traits. We pass an imaginary object around the room. For example a glass of hot tea, a smelly sock, a slippery fish, a sleeping baby etc the students usually leave the room relaxed and chatting to others.

Alex, France
2 truths and a lie. I write up three sentenses about myself, 2 are true 1 isn't. Sts ask 5-10 questions to try to find the lie. After, they quess which is the lie. Then each student writes 2 truths and a lie about themselves and takes turns presenting their sentences and answering questions. This can be apadted to any level and is a good way to discover your students' life experiences.

Yousef, Qatar
I usually start my first class by introducing myself to the students. Then, I write down some clues on the board,(depending on the level.)e.g.; 40, music, for 20 years,threelanguages....etc. After that, I ask them to give me the right questions for the clues on the board.

I elicit the information from them and write it on the board as it is. Next, I ask them about any mistakes they can identify in the information which I have elicited from them. Later on, I split the class into two groups and ask each group to list down some clues and the other one to work out the questions that match the clues,& vice versa. Finally, I give feedback

Noman, Pakistan
it ususally works with the students of higher classes.i often ask questions about the personality traits of the students;their hobbies and their interests in various subjects they study.my ideas about the personalities of students through face reading and habits of theirs pave the way for me to break the ice in the class room.

Geetha Muralidharan, India
The students can be asked to form a word with their own names.They could also use their surnames. Then they could tell the part of speech and make a sentence. Children would love to do this activity and in turn learn.

Anayda, Peru
This always work with students; give different commands for example, find a person whose first name begins with the same letter as yours. Find a student whose birthday is in the same month and so on... You need students to speak so I hope this helps you.

Christopher, Malaysia
This works for all levels. I use the time-tested scavenger hunt game. On a piece of paper I draw 12 blocks, each block carrying an instruction to " find someone who has the same zodiac sign as yours; someone who shares the same interest as yours; someone who can pronounce Supercalifragisliticexpialidocious without tripping, etc". Each person has to go around collecting names of people who answer to those decriptons. To make the atmosphere more lively, I always play some music (Latin American is good)in the background and tell the students to get busy when the music starts playing.After the game, I don't have them sit down too soon. Instead, I get them to mingle around and chit chat for a minute or two with the instruction that "I want to feel like I'm at the market." It always works: they like the music and the convivial atmosphere and they get to know one another.

Khadeeja, India
I ask my students to introduce their name along with an adjective that describes something about them or their personality. The adjective must start with the first letter of the name. These then become catchy titles, and students find it easier to remember names. Examples: Pleasant Priya, Moody Masood, Khadeeja from Kerala!

Mark, Brazil
I like to use "find someone who...", you can make the list as short or long as you want and you can grade the vocabulary according to level, for example find someone who....has been to England, has a dog, hates George Bush, the variations are endless, the students have to mingle and ask eachother questions to place a name next to each activity on their form. Good ice breaker for them, good for you to monitor and hear early mistakes. Good luck.

Philippe, Belgium
Re Jimmy, Scotland. I do exactly the same with new classes, but also ask the students to say something "special" about them, like an original hobby, a famous person they have met or anything original they have done. This helps to keep the students' attention and introduces some variety.

Jimmy, Scotland
One of my favourites is the name chain. This works best with medium size classes - 10 - 20 students. It works with any level and doesn't require any material, equipment or preparation.

It's easiest if students are sitting in a circle or horseshoe, though not essential.

You first have to demonstrate to the students what they are going to do. Introduce yourself very simply to the class: for example - 'hello my name is Jimmy'. Then select a student, usually the first one at one end of a horseshoe, or if you are sitting in a circle the one next to you. Indicate that this student has to do the same as you have done, only first he has to say the name of the people who have come before him.

For example: "Hello, his name is Jimmy, my name is Pierre". Then indicate to the class that this carries on, with each student having to say the names of all those that have come before, before introducing themself.

At this point the students at the far end of the horseshoe or end of the circle get rather agitated as they realise they will have to remember up to 20 new names! The ones at the near end are rather smug as they know they will only have to remember a few names! At this point of course, you start the exercise from the other end of the horseshoe, reversing the students' expectations!

You need to set a few rules: no writing! If you forget a name, then simply ask the person "I'm sorry, can you tell me your name again>" or something similar.

It is a hugely entertaining way to begin a new class and get to know everyone's names. Of course, I always go last, after the last student and try to remember all of the names myself.

It's a great way to get the class going and lead in to the first lesson!

Mexico
I place my first name on the blackboard and ask the students to write theirs as a crossword puzzle using one letter,introducing themselves, letting the rest of the students know their names and something special the others don´t know about him/her

Claire, Canada
I started off my first lesson by making 7 question cards - What is your name, how old are you, where do you live, what is your favourite colour, food, singer, animal. I would pass the card to a student, who would ask me the question, and I would answer it. The card would then be passed to student 2, who would ask student 1 the same question..they would answer in the same way I answered, changing it according to their likes, or name or age etc etc..pass the card round until you feel it is necessary to change question . It really gets them to open up and feel comfortable around you.