Who wants to be a millionaire?

Aim: to revise numbers

Level: B1/Intermediate and above

Before you watch:

1. Ask you Ss if they know the TV show “Who want to be a millionaire?”. Ask them to explain the
rules to you if they do; you may pre-teach the word ‘lifelines’ at this stage.

2. Put the following question on the board. Tell them that this was the final, 1-million-pound
question, on the show:

The Earth is approximately how many miles away from the Sun?

Ask your Ss to guess the answer.

While watching:

3. Play the video. Cover the four possible answers with a piece of paper/a scarf. Ask your
students to listen carefully and write down:
a. the four possibilities
b. the correct answer.

Play the beginning of the video a few more times if necessary.

4. Check the answers, ask four Ss to put them on the board to make sure they’ve understood
them (e.g. they may confuse 39 with 49).

Key:
A. 9.3 million
B. 39 million
C. 93 million
D. 193 million

The correct answer is C. 93 million.

Language analysis:

5. Make sure you draw your Ss attention to the following points:

1. in answer A. 9.3 million - the word ‘point’. Some nationalities use ‘comma’ instead.
2. in answer B. 39 million - the pronunciation of ‘thirty’ as opposed to ‘forty’
3. in answer D. 193 million - the use of ‘a’ (hundred) instead of ‘one’ (hundred)

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4. in answer D. 193 million - the use of ‘and’ between ‘a hundred’ and ‘ninety-three’ in British
English
5. in all the answers - no ‘s’ in the plural of ‘million’

Practice:

6. Put some more numbers on the board to give your Ss more revision and practice, e.g.:

0.5
1998 (year)
¾
8.98
3687
½
etc

Elicit correct answers.

Extra ideas for practicing numbers:

7. Dictate some numbers and then check who made the fewest mistakes.
8. Have a student dictate the numbers.
9. Play Bingo with more difficult numbers.

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