Have you ever seen a pirate? We know that they were and still are real, but what do they actually look like? Is it a man with an eye patch, a wooden leg and a parrot sitting on his shoulder? Most of us probably have a surprisingly similar picture in our heads. This is the reason why I wanted to celebrate September 19th – Talk Like a Pirate Day, while exploring pirate vocabulary and talking about the most popular pirate stereotypes and compare it with historical reality.
I think that this is one of the most popular unusual holidays that you may want to discuss with your students. I based this lesson an authentic article, Pirate Lore – Fact & Fiction by National Maritime Historical Society. It explores some of the most famous pirate myths, including the stereotypical Arrr, Matey! accent, buried treasure, parrots and walking the plank. It is also a great opportunity to combine reading, vocabulary and speaking while also getting students to think critically about how historical figures and popular groups are represented.
If you’re looking for a Talk Like a Pirate Day lesson that goes beyond Ahoy, Matey! scroll to the end of the post to download the worksheet, teacher’s notes and presentation.
Warmer: Draw a Pirate
The lesson begins with a simple challenge – draw a pirate from memory. Students have just two minutes and are encouraged not to overthink it. They can think about clothing, appearance, accessories, weapons and animals. Then, they compare their drawings and look for similarities. What will immediately stand out is that different people will draw very similar pirates. It leads to a conversation about the origin of this image and whether it is actually based on reality.
Reading for Gist: Pirate Lore Predictions
Students are introduced to four headings from the authentic article, Pirate Lore – Fact & Fiction. The trick is that some of the key words have been removed. Students work in pairs and predict the missing words based on what they already know about pirate stereotypes. The stereotypes focus on the pirate accent, the buried treasure, parrots on pirates’ shoulders and walking the plank. Students then read the four sections of the article and check their predictions. This allows them to read the article quickly, while introducing the main theme of the lesson
Reading for Detail: Fact or Fiction?
The next reading task takes students back to the four pirate stereotypes. Instead of simply deciding whether each one is true or false, students rank them from most to least accurate and support their answers with evidence from the article. This encourages them to pay attention to the different degrees of certainty in the text. The article explains that the parrot stereotype is strongly grounded in reality, while buried treasure has some basis in fact but has been heavily influenced by fiction. The famous pirate accent is largely connected to popular culture, while walking the plank is described as more fiction than reality.
Vocabulary in Context: Pirate Language
The article introduces a number of useful B2-level words connected with piracy and stereotypes, including stereotypical, ill-gotten gains, safeguard, trope, law-abiding, mariners, mutineers and marooned. Rather than simply giving students a vocabulary list to memorise, they first work out the meanings from contextualised definitions. They then encounter the words again in a series of new pirate-related statements. For example, students need to distinguish between ill-gotten gains and buried treasure, or decide whether pirates were more accurately described as mariners or mutineers in a particular context.
Useful Phrases: Talking About Myths and Stereotypes
I felt that this lesson was a bit too short, so I decided to connect the pirate vocabulary with five useful expressions for discussing myths and stereotypes. Some of the expressions include, It is commonly believed that… and The evidence suggests that… Firstly, students analyse the phrases by matching them to their use. Then they see the expressions in action in two short descriptions of other stereotypical groups: Vikings and witches. This is an important transtion in this lesson, as students have already spent the first half questioning the stereotypical image of pirates, and now it’s time to apply the same thinking to other groups.
Writing: Create a Group Stereotype
For the final productive stage, students choose a person or group with a well-known stereotypical image. They could choose Vikings, witches, cowboys, gladiators, medieval knights, ancient Egyptians, Napoleon or another figure they know. Their task is to write a short description without revealing the name. They should use at least three of the expressions from the previous activity and include both the popular image and some discussion of how accurate it actually is. This gives students a clear reason to use the target language rather than simply completing isolated sentences.
Speaking: Who Are They?
Finally, students read their descriptions to the class without saying who they are describing. The rest of the group listens and tries to guess. Reveal the answer and then discuss how accurate the stereotype is and where it might have come from. I particularly like this ending because it brings the lesson full circle. Students began by drawing a pirate based entirely on the image they had in their heads. By the end, they are questioning those same kinds of images and recognising that what we think we know about historical people isn’t always what actually happened.
This B2 Talk Like a Pirate Day lesson combines authentic reading, vocabulary development, writing and speaking through a topic that is fun on the surface but also gives students plenty to think about. They explore where pirate stereotypes come from, discover which ones have a basis in reality, learn useful language for discussing myths and then apply the same ideas to other historical figures and groups. And perhaps most importantly, by the end of the lesson, students may never look at a pirate with a parrot and a treasure map quite the same way again.
Which pirate stereotype did you believe was true before this lesson?
