MONOPOLY DEAL: INTRODUCTION AND VOCAB FILE
INTRODUCTION
Monopoly Deal is basically Monopoly, the game you know and hate, in the form of a card
game, which you will come to love. It is Monopoly without tears, and it takes about a tenth of
the time (20-60 minutes).
IN CLASS
I use this for teaching English at around pre-intermediate to upper intermediate levels.
We play the game, and they say what they are doing with every card they play. For example:
"I'll put this in my bank account," or "I'm going to put this with my properties."
The main teaching point is "I'll/I will" for on-the-spot decisions. Of course you can also say
"I'm going to do..." This gets drilled in through constant repetition. The other teaching point is
the vocab and sentences used in the game.
BACKGROUND
For fear of using my own contrived, unnatural sentences, I watched a YouTube video
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgqOw6HIxYc) introducing the game, and basically I just
kind of slurped all the vocab out of it. He says longwinded things like "I'm going to go ahead
and ..." as well as the simpler "I'll ..." so there is some variety as well as lots of easy English. I
have tweaked it a little, for example: "I'll put this with my properties" - he himself just says
(~3:45): "I'm going to put this one down." I did this to force some degree of precision to start
with: "I'll put this with my properties," vs. "I'll put this in my bank account." (Of course, you
could say "I'll put this in/with my property collection.")
If you like, you can play this game with native speakers, especially children, and get them to
talk through what they are doing. Note the things they say, then add them to the vocab.
FURTHER POINTERS ON TEACHING
As I said, the main teaching point is the future tense for on-the-spot decisions.
The future can be a little confusing, because we often say (and I always teach): "What are
you doing tomorrow?" This is called "present continuous with future meaning".
I teach this thoroughly, and the answers are often either "I am doing" or "I am going to do"
So, I tell them:
T: Maybe you are thinking: "When should we use the future tense, I will?" You don't
know??? Ok, then I'll tell you.
(I repeat this slowly, and they soon realise: I just used the future tense to say my on the
spot decision. When they understand what just happened, they remember it better)
This is of course not the only use for the future tense, but it is an important one.
VOCAB
I format this as two columns, but I can't mix different formats in this file (it can be done, but it
risks coming out badly for you). So delete this front page and make it two columns, as you
please.
A FINAL NOTE ON THE GAME
The rules are not totally clear. If the finer points start to bother you:
Google: ("monopoly deal cards rule clarifications") or head to:
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/375594/rules-clarification (Hasbro's answers bottom of
page)
http://monopolydealrules.com/ (apparently not from Hasbro, but comprehensive)
MONOPOLY DEAL CARDS - VOCAB
Updated: 25 Dec, 2018
KEY RULES
 See the box for the rules. These are special reminders:
 You can only add a hotel if you also have a house with a full set.
 You can only rearrange sets on your turn. (Some action cards enable you to take cards,
but not from a full set, so it is important to arrange your cards in sets as you desire)
 JUST SAY NO cards can "bounce": you can play a "JUST SAY NO" against their "JUST
SAY NO" and they can do the same again. This does not count as playing a card.
BASIC WORDS
 action cards
 property cards
 money cards
 wild cards
 property
 rent
 gift (birthday gift)
 bank account
 set
 full set
 complete set
 owe
 own (verb: I own that property)
 pay
 cancel
 swap
 use
YOUR TURN: BASIC SENTENCES
 I'll take 2 cards
 I still have one more turn
 I've had one turn, so I still have two more turns.
 For my first (second, third) turn, I'll put this in my bank account.
GENERAL SENTENCES
 I'll ...
 I'll take two cards.
◦ (OR: I'll draw two cards)
 I'm going to ...
 I'm going to go ahead and ...
 I'm going to take two cards.
◦ (OR: I'm going to draw two cards)
 I get to ...
◦ (eg. I get to draw two more cards)
 Have you finished your go/turn/turns?
 You still have one more go/turn.
 You still have one more card to play.
SPECIAL SENTENCES
 I'll put this in my bank account.
◦ OR: in the bank
◦ OR: in my account
 I'll put this with my properties.
◦ OR: with my property collection.
 I'll put this one down here.
 I'm going to put this in my bank account.
 I'm going to put this one with my properties.
◦ OR: with my property collection.
 Ok, I'll pay you with these properties and these money cards.
ACTION CARDS
 Swap (jiao huan) any property with another player
 Force any/every player to pay you rent.
 Steal a property card from another player
 Steal a full set of properties from another player
NOTE
 "your turn" and "all of your turns": These are the same: "your turn" = your three cards; "all
of your turns" = your three cards. Both are ok.