Giving opinions about football in English requires a specific set of language tools that are listed on almost every English for Young Learners syllabus and genuinely taught in almost none. The tools themselves are not complicated: phrases to introduce the opinion, vocabulary to describe the position clearly, language to acknowledge a counter-argument, structures to disagree politely. What is complicated is developing them into genuinely usable communication skills rather than a set of phrases a child can identify in a multiple choice question but never spontaneously produces in a real conversation.
The reason giving opinions about football works where opinion language exercises do not is that football provides the condition that makes opinion language practice real: genuine disagreement between people who actually hold the opinions they are expressing.
The Problem With Opinion Language Exercises
Ask any language teacher what opinion language exercises look like in a typical textbook and the answer is usually the same. Two or three model sentences using “I think” or “in my opinion,” a controlled practice activity where children fill in the frames with their own answers, and possibly a freer speaking task at the end of the unit. The problem is structural: the speaking task at the end of the unit is not a real discussion. It is a performance for the teacher, and children can complete it by producing the expected language forms without ever genuinely trying to communicate an opinion that another person might disagree with.
Giving opinions about football changes this because the opinions are real, the disagreements are genuine and the children actually want to be understood. Krashen’s research on authentic communicative motivation identifies this as the critical variable: language acquired through genuine communicative intent transfers to new contexts more reliably and is produced more spontaneously than language acquired through simulated communication exercises. Full details of the speaking curriculum are on the Premier Skills Sundays page at ILC Hua Hin.
What The Structures Look Like At Each Level
At Premier Skills Sundays, giving opinions about football structures are introduced progressively across the eight weeks rather than all at once. Early sessions focus on the simplest forms: “I think [player] is better because…” and “I don’t think [team] played well because…” Each of these requires a reason, which pushes children beyond the bare opinion statement into the supporting argument that makes the opinion communicatively meaningful.
Later sessions introduce the more nuanced structures: acknowledging a counter-argument before maintaining a position, partially agreeing while disagreeing on a specific point, asking the other person to give a reason for their claim. By the final sessions, children are conducting multi-turn exchanges that closely resemble real academic discussion, with each side acknowledging and responding to the other’s arguments rather than simply restating their own position louder.
The British Council’s Premier Skills English curriculum provides the framework for this progression, and HATRIQA’s graded materials provide the scaffolded speaking tasks that support it. Giving opinions about football in this format means children develop opinion language as a genuine communication skill rather than a set of test-taking phrases.
The Academic Dividend
Giving opinions about football in English develops skills that transfer directly into the academic communication demands of secondary school and beyond. The ability to state a position with supporting evidence, acknowledge a counter-argument and maintain or adjust a position under challenge is the core requirement of academic discussion in every subject and of academic writing at every level. These are not incidentally useful skills. They are among the most important academic communication skills children will need, and they can be developed at age seven through football discussion if the course is structured to produce them.
Take the free English level test and book a consultation before the intake begins. Premier Skills Sundays is open to any family in Hua Hin with a child aged seven to nine. For school groups, the Premier Skills Camp and ILC residential English tours are available. Contact ILC directly.
