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Dixit Cards Continue to Inspire English-Language Learners

Last semester, I tried using Dixit cards to encourage students to speak in class and the results were so inspiring that I repeated the lesson this term. The cards prompted the students to access deep stores of wisdom, insight, humour and personal meaning. Their presentations affected me significantly, and I was so proud of them.

Dixit card illustrated by Marie Cardouat

In this moment, I choose this card. In this card, we can see the clean sky, and the weather is sunny. And the umbrellas have all colours of the rainbow.

I think this card is like me because the different-coloured umbrellas are like how I use different attitudes or different faces to protect my tender heart. My heart is a little weak. So I have to use the different ways to protect me because I (am) afraid to (get) hurt.

The temperature is so high, and the people have to use the umbrellas to keep out the sunshine and protect their skin. The people will think, “This weather is too hot and I have ice-cream or iced-tea.”

Everybody uses different ways to protect their tender hearts because this tender(ness) cannot face the sunshine. I chose this card because it is same as me, so I love this card. (Sunny)

Dixit card illustrated by Marie Cardouat
Dixit card illustrated by Marie Cardouat

The picture shows a little boy, mountains, and a beautiful twilight. The little boy’s bubbles are planets in the sky. He’s walking far far away.

This picture makes me feel freedom. For me, it’s very important that all people show creativity and imagination. (Lauricelly)

Dixit card illustrated by Marie Cardouat
Dixit card illustrated by Marie Cardouat

I think this cat is using magic. The cat is hungry and hopes to get a fish through magic. He is also working hard because he is trying to get a fish.

Why did I choose this picture? Because it (is) like how I’m learning English. I can’t use magic, but I can keep trying. (Christine)

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Dixit card illustrated by Marie Cardouat

We can see this picture has a white candle on the table. In this picture, it is mostly dark. (The candle) is the only light in this dark. When the smoke goes up, the candle goes down and he dies.

The picture made me feel hope and made me feel a little sad because time is cold. (It doesn’t care) if you are a rich man or poor man, a teacher or student. Time doesn’t see you or feel you.

I think this picture is very important for us because I think we are like candles. We just have a short life, but we can be a light in this world. (Jerry)

Dixit card illustrated by Marie Cardouat
Dixit card illustrated by Marie Cardouat

This is a picture of a boy and a white horse. The boy (is) riding a white horse who is walking on the dry ground. He comes to eat and drink on the cliff. There is a beautiful oasis on the other side of the cliff. There is blue sky, sunshine, clean air, and a lot of trees.

The boy wants to go the oasis, but in front of him is a bottomless chasm. He thinks, “How can I follow the rainbow across the cliff?” Finally, through hard work and wisdom, he arrives on the other side.

The picture made me think, “When we (are) in trouble, don’t give up. We should think of the ways to solve it.” Rainbows come after the storm. The same is true of life. I chose this picture because it give(s) me a positive outlook on life. (Mandy)

Dixit card illustrated by Marie Cardouat
Dixit card illustrated by Marie Cardouat

This is my picture. My picture doesn’t have any people or animals, but it has many eggs. You can see small house(s) near the grass. Living in this house are very small animals like the ants. I like ants very much because they very work hard. They are small animals, but they can work hard and make these houses.

We have an opportunity to come to Canada. In my country, many students don’t have money and their parents can’t afford to send them to Canada. They are very poor, can’t go to school and can’t eat too many foods. We are not very rich, but we have a choice. We can eat two eggs for dinner. We need to use this opportunity to study in Canada to work hard.

In China, if you finish the high school we have a final exam. That exam is very important. We call it “Gaokao.” If you get good marks, you can go to a good university. If you maybe have a little mistake, you get little marks, so you lose. Maybe you can’t go to university. For me, I did not work hard enough on my studies, and I got very little marks. I think we need to work hard for the life.

My superhero is my classmate Sunny because I think Sunny very work hard for English. Not just for study, but for everything we need to work hard, like for jobs and even for getting a girlfriend. For example, why does R. have a girlfriend and why we don’t have a girlfriend? It’s because R. works hard for clean his face and clean his body.

Why did I choose this picture? I think this picture is very important and very good for me. If I watch this picture, I can think I need to work hard more. (Paul)

Dixit card illustrated by Marie Cardouat
Dixit card illustrated by Marie Cardouat

This picture is talking about the desert. Someone put this anchor in the desert. I don’t know why, but I think it wants to explain to us how to survive anywhere.

The picture makes me feel afraid because there’s no life in the desert, no water, no food. When I see this, I remember my country because we have a lot of desert. (Anas)

Dixit card illustrated by Marie Cardouet

This is a merry-go-round. There are four kids playing on the merry-go-round. When I saw the picture, I recalled my grandmother. A very long time ago, I went to a fairground with my grandmother. Now my grandmother is dead. I very miss her.

When I saw the picture, I missed her. I believe each person has a special childhood. This time with my grandma, that was my best time. When I saw the picture, I missed her so much. It’s a very beautiful picture. (Haiking)

4 replies on “Dixit Cards Continue to Inspire English-Language Learners”

Hello !
I enjoyed reading your article … I am a French as a Foreign language teacher in Marseille (France) and I also use Dixit cards a lot with the adults I have in class.
I use them the same way you do.
cheers!

Hi Laetitia,

I’m thrilled that you enjoyed the article and that it resonated with your work teaching French as a foreign language. Thank you so very much for your comment.

Hello. I am going to use Dixit in Palermo Next october in my school with children. How to use it? Do you give one card for everyone and everyone writes something?

Hello Antonio! You could give a card to each of your pupils and they write or tell a story about the card. You can also assign groups and have them collaborate with each other to make up a story about one card or a series of cards. I haven’t tried playing it as a game in class because the instructions seemed very complicated, but this video might be useful for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvpU5j5hF_Q

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