Use this fun lesson to introduce your students to informal contractions and help them sound more like native speakers. Your students will have fun practicing pronouncing these informal contractions and using them in a short conversation and dialogue with their classmates.

Step 1: Say the following sentences out loud to your students. Have your students try to guess what you’re saying. Answers at the bottom.

1. Watcha upta tanight?
2. I dunno what I’m gonna do.
3. Gimme that coffee and lemme drink it.

Step 2: Use this chart to practice pronouncing the American informal contractions with your students. Practice making and saying some sentences with your students too. (The chart is adapted from this excellent page from 7esl which focuses more on British pronunciation.)

Watcha (or Wadya) (what are you / what do you)	Hafta (have to)	Lotsa (lots of)
Waja (or Wajia) (what did you)	Don’tcha (don’t you)	Useta (use to)
Innit (isn’t it)	Shoulda (should have)	Gonna (going to)
Gotcha (got you)	Woulda (would have)	Wanna (want to)
Dunno (I don’t know.)	Coulda (could have)	Gimme (give me)
Kinda (kind of)	Odda (ought to)	Lemme (let me)

Step 3: Next have students look at the following questions and practice saying these sentences using the informal contractions. Answers at the bottom.

1. What are you going to do after class?
2. What do you have to do this week?
3. Is there anything that you should have done today that you didn’t?
4. Is there anything that you would have done today if you could have?
5. What do you want to do this weekend?
6. When you were a kid, what did you use to do on the weekends?
7. What’s something you ought to do this year?
8. What do you think, does this class have lots of homework?
9. Don’t you have to do your homework tonight?
10. This class is fun, isn’t it?

Step 4: After figuring out all of the contractions, practice asking and answering all of these questions in pairs. For extra fun, try using some of the contractions in your answers, such as, “Gotcha. Dunno. Kinda…etc.”

For example: “Wajia gonna do after class?” “Dunno. I kinda wanna see a movie.”

Step 5: If you have some spare time, put students into pairs and have them come up with a dialogue using as many contractions as they possibly can. Have fun!

Part 1 Answers:

1. What are you up to tonight?
2. I don’t know what I’m going to do.
3. Give me that coffee and let me drink it.

Part 3 Answers:

Did you have fun speaking with these informal contractions? Well, you’ll have even more fun studying American slang with your students.

1. Watcha gonna do after class?
2. Watcha hafta do this week?
3. Is there anything that you shoulda done today that you didn’t?
4. Is there anything that you woulda done today if you coulda?
5. Watcha wanna do this weekend?
6. When you were a kid, waja useta do on the weekends?
7. What’s something you odda do this year?
8. Watcha think, does this class have lotsa homework?
9. Don’tcha hafta do your homework tonight?
10. This class is fun, innit?

If you enjoyed this speaking lesson, check out more by clicking here!