[STCrowley]

35) This might only work in East Germany, but I teach the names of the common rooms in an apartment by saying I live in a WBS-70 apartment. (It's the concrete thing that communists put up literally by the millions. All of my students know the floor plan.) Then, I draw the floor plan, and point to the kitchen and say "This is where I cook, it's the kitchen." From there, I only have to point to individual rooms and they know the word.

36) In a related exercise, I make one student turn his back so that he can't see the whiteboard, and give the pen to another student. The student who can't see what's going on has to describe a room in his apartment to the one with the pen, and the class can help clarify what's meant. The student with the pen needs to draw a floorplan of the room (often living room or study) with the furniture. Lots of great 'next to' 'across from' and 'on which side?' practice, as well as the names of furniture.