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I never had a class that didn’t ask me if I wear a kilt when I am in my country.

I wonder if Mexican teachers working abroad get asked the same thing about sombreros.

This is a silly game that I remember from my childhood. I really hope my Mexican friends forgive me for taking advantage of their national dress stereotype in the name of grammar teaching.

What are these?

Answers:

a. A Mexican frying an egg
b. A Mexican riding a bike
c. A Mexican playing the trumpet
d. A giraffe walking past a window (it’s the Mexican’s day off)
f. A Mexican visiting Egypt
g. A Mexican having a bath
h. 2 Mexicans kissing
i. A koala climbing a tree (it’s the giraffe’s day off)

This can be used in class to teach a really useful piece of language: Noun phrases containing -ing structures. Here are some more examples:

• 10 green bottles sitting on the wall (Song)
• Q. Why did the tomato blush? A. Because it saw the salad dressing. (Joke)
• Hey now, all you children, leave your lights on, leave your lights on. ‘Cause there’s a monster living under my bed (Song)
• Who’s that girl running around with you (Song)
• Have you ever seen a man-eating chicken? (A silly question that I remember from my childhood)
• On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 12 drummers drumming, 11 pipers piping, etc (Christmas carol)

It can be useful for students to be shown the difference between this structure and the present continuous:

A Mexican frying an egg (noun phrase)
A Mexican is frying an egg (sentence)

Here is a lesson plan that uses the pictures above: men-with-big-hats.pdf