EC02_Friendship

Ice Breaker: (20 min) Baggage claim. Ask your students to draw 3-4 things that you like to do (interests, hobbies, etc) on a note card. Then have your students stand up and find another person to give his or her card to. Each student must explain to the other what each drawing represents and why they drew it before exchanging cards. Now have everybody find another student. Each student needs to give their new card to their second partner and explain what the drawings represent (without giving away the identity of the person). Do this a third time if there is time. Finally, ask each student to stand up and “introduce” the person whose card they have without saying the name of the person. The rest of the class must guess whose card it is.

Large group: (5 min) Discuss the question: “What is a friend?” Have the group brainstorm different kinds of acquaintances/relationships (neighbor, best friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, relative, classmate, roommate, co-worker, spouse, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, cousin, enemy, descendent, ancestor, etc.).

Small groups: Divide into as many small groups as there are facilitators.

1.  (25 min) Qualities of friends. Divide your students into groups of 2-3 and pass out the word strips. Next, discuss the meaning of each word/phrase making sure that everyone understands the definitions. Give the first relationship category below and ask each group to choose the four most important qualities they look for in this relationship. Give each group a chance to explain their opinion. Ask about the least important quality for this relationship. After several rounds, discuss why the qualities are the same or different for the discussed relationships.

Friend of same gender

/ Friend of opposite gender / Future spouse

Univ. group-mate

/ Neighbor / Boss at work
Intelligent / Same values / Trustworthy
Good conversationalist / Polite / Same interests
Respects other people / Has the same education / Same religious beliefs
Works hard / Honest / Has a good job
Comes from a good family / Physically attractive / Has my parent’s approval
Cares about me

2.  (25 min) Discussion. Talk about the following questions as a group:

·  Read the “Are you a good friend?” quiz and ask each person to give themselves one point for each “yes” answer (except for question one, which is a point for a “no” answer). SCORE: 0-7: poor friend, 8-10: good friend, 11-13: great friend.

·  Describe your best friend using the list of qualities above?

·  Do your friends have the same or opposite personality as you?

·  How important are first impressions when making friends?

·  How do you resolve a problem with your friends?

·  How long does it take you to make a close friend?

Large group: (10 min) Idioms. Go through the following idioms:

·  Two peas in a pod / ·  We go way back
·  Fair-weather friend / ·  Buddies

Are you a good friend?

1.  Do you share your friend's secrets with others?

No Yes

2.  Do you always give your close friends a gift on their birthday?

Yes No

3.  If your friend is feeling sad, do you try to cheer him/her up?

Yes No

4.  Do you compliment your friend when they do something well?

Yes No

5.  Do you always share your possessions with your friends?

Yes No

6.  Do you spend time with a friend when he/she is sick?

Yes No

7.  Do you talk about your problems and feelings with your friends?

Yes No

8.  Do you know the families of your close friends?

Yes No

9.  Do you apologize to your friend when you do or say something wrong?

Yes No

10. Do you sometimes pay for your friend at a cafe?

Yes No

11. Your friend calls you at 3 AM and asks you to meet him/her without explaining anything, would you go?

Yes No

12. Do you know your friend's favorite color, hobby, food and movie?

Yes No

13. You are in an important job interview when you hear that your friend had a bad car accident. Would you leave your meeting and head straight to the hospital?

Yes No

Characteristics of a Friend!
Intelligent / Polite
Good conversationalist / Works hard
Respects other people / Physically attractive
Has the same education / Trustworthy
Comes from a good family / Honest
Same interests / Has a good job
Same religious beliefs / Same values
Has my parent’s approval / Cares about me