How to Describe a Person in English - Spoken English Lesson

Summary

In this lesson from Oxford Online English, you learn how to describe someone in detail, covering appearance, personality, and your relationship with them. It guides you through describing height, build, hair, and distinctive features. You’ll also learn positive and negative adjectives to discuss personality traits, with examples and tips to make your description more engaging. Additionally, it teaches how to talk about your relationship with the person. The lesson provides practical examples and encourages you to practice creating detailed, natural descriptions useful for speaking exams like IELTS or FCE.

Takeaways

• 😀 Martin introduces a lesson on describing a person in English, focusing on appearance, personality, and relationship.
• 🔍 Describing someone's appearance includes talking about their height, build, hair, and distinctive features.
• 💪 'Well-built' means being broad and strong with big muscles, and adverbs can make descriptions more precise.
• 👩‍🦰 The term 'fair' is used to describe light hair or skin, contrasting with 'dark'.
• 🌟 'Striking features' refers to unusually attractive facial characteristics that are hard not to notice.
• 😄 Positive personality traits include being kind, considerate, funny, reliable, honest, cheerful, and optimistic.
• 😂 Describing someone as 'funny' or having a 'good sense of humour' means they can make others laugh.
• 🤔 When using adjectives, providing examples or reasons makes the description more interesting and vivid.
• 🚫 Negative characteristics can be described using words like unkind, inconsiderate, dishonest, unreliable, selfish, humourless, and moody.
• 🤝 Talking about your relationship with the person includes discussing how long you've known them, how you met, and why you get along.
• 📝 The lesson concludes with creating a longer answer that combines appearance, personality traits, and relationship details.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the lesson presented by Martin?

The main focus of the lesson is to teach students how to describe a person they know in English, covering aspects such as appearance, personality traits, and the nature of their relationship.

Why is it important to describe someone's appearance?

Describing someone's appearance is important because it helps others visualize the person and can be useful in various situations like speaking exams or when providing detailed descriptions.

What are some ways to describe a person's height and build?

You can describe a person's height and build using phrases such as 'tall and well-built', 'medium height and slim', or 'short and overweight'.

What does the term 'well-built' mean when describing someone?

'Well-built' refers to someone who is broad and strong, typically with big muscles.

How can adverbs be used to make descriptions more precise?

Adverbs can be used to add precision to descriptions by providing qualifiers such as 'quite tall', 'really slim', or 'a little overweight'.

What is the term 'fair' used to describe in the context of this lesson?

In this lesson, 'fair' is used to describe someone's hair or skin that is light in color, as opposed to 'dark'.

How can you describe a person's hair?

You can describe a person's hair by mentioning its length, color, and texture, such as 'short, brown hair', 'long, dark blonde hair', or 'curly, fair hair'.

What does 'striking features' mean when describing someone's appearance?

'Striking features' refers to someone having an unusually attractive and noticeable face that is hard not to notice.

Can you give an example of how to describe a person's personality using positive adjectives?

Yes, you could describe someone as 'considerate', meaning they always think about others' needs, or 'warm', indicating they show positive feelings to others.

What is the difference between 'honest' and 'straightforward' when describing a person's character?

While 'honest' means truthful, 'straightforward' implies not only honesty but also being easy to understand and get along with, not keeping secrets or gossiping.

How can you make a description of a person more interesting?

You can make a description more interesting by adding details, examples, or stories that illustrate the person's characteristics.

What negative adjectives can be used to describe someone's flaws?

Negative adjectives include 'unkind', 'inconsiderate', 'dishonest', 'unreliable', 'selfish', 'self-centered', 'self-obsessed', 'humourless', 'dull', 'insincere', 'moody', and 'grumpy'.

Why is it important to add details or examples when describing someone's negative characteristics?

Adding details or examples helps to provide a more accurate and nuanced description, making the person's flaws more understandable and relatable.

How can you describe your relationship with the person you're describing?

You can describe your relationship by mentioning how long you've known the person, how you met, and how well you get along, possibly including reasons for your relationship's dynamics.

What does the phrase 'get on' mean in the context of this lesson?

'Get on' means to have a good relationship with someone, and you can use adverbs like 'very well' or 'sometimes' to modify it.

How can you practice creating a longer, more detailed description of someone?

You can practice by combining descriptions of appearance, personality traits, both positive and negative, and details about your relationship into a cohesive narrative.

Where can one find more free English lessons like the one presented by Martin?

More free English lessons can be found on the website Oxford Online English.