How to describe a person

神州侠客

Emma: Hello everyone and welcome back to English with Ben and Emma.

Ben: Hi everybody, we are so happy you are here for another lesson, my name is Ben.

Emma: And I'm Emma. Ben I was just looking at some old photos on my phone.

Ben: Oh that's always fun, did you find any good ones?

Emma: I did, I found a picture of my best friend from university Sarah it made me smile.

Ben: That's so nice, it's hard to talk about our lives without talking about our friends.

Emma: You are so right, and that is our big topic for today, we are going to teach you how to describe people in English.

Ben: This is a huge topic, we're not just talking about friends but how to describe your boss your family or anyone you meet.

Emma: We're going to teach you words for appearance what people look like.

Ben: And we will teach you words for personality what people are like.

Emma: And because you loved our new format, this is another extra long 20 minutes plus lesson.

Ben: That's right, we will have our main lesson of course but then we will have our two special new sections.

Emma: The first new section is common mistakes, we will look at the biggest mistakes learners make when describing people.

Ben: And the second new section is a culture tip, this one is very important today, we will talk about what is polite and what is rude to say about a person's appearance.

Emma: It's a really important lesson so we hope you will listen to the very end.

Ben: Okay, let's get started.

Ben: Emma, if we want to…

Emma: Let's start with the easy one physical appearance, this is what you can see? The two most common words are tall and short.

Ben: Tall TaLL short sHOrt , you can say my brother is very tall, my boss is short.

Emma: This is simple, now let's talk about hair, this is a big one, there are two things to describe length and color.

Ben: Let's start with length, you can have long hair, you can have short hair, or you can have medium length hair.

Emma: My sister has long hair, my father has short hair, notice we say has or have, he has short hair.

Ben: Now for color, this is easy, black hair, brown hair, blonde hair, blonde is a yellowish color red hair.

Emma: And some people have gray hair or white hair when they get older.

Ben: How do we put it all together? You should say the length first then the color.

Emma: Exactly, you can say she has long brown hair, he has short gray hair.

Ben: What about other hair types?

Emma: You can have straight hair, straight means it is not curly or you can have curly hair, curly hair is in the shape of circles or wavy hair, wavy hair is like the ocean.

Ben: Wow, so many options, Emma has medium length curly brown hair.

Emma: That's a perfect description and what if a man has no hair? then you say he is bald, BaLd.

Ben: Okay, let's leave hair…

Ben: What about eyes you just…

Emma: My best friend has green eyes, my son has brown eyes, again we use the word has.

Ben: That's a great overview of appearance, it's the easiest way to start. Now let's talk about the more important part , personality, this is what a person is like on the inside.

Emma: This is how we really describe our friends, let's start with the best words the positive words, what's a good word for a person who makes you laugh.

Ben: The person is funny, FuNNy, my friend is so funny, he is always tells the best jokes.

Emma: What about a person who is good to other people? they help you when you are sad.

Ben: That person is kind, KINd, my mother is very kind, she always helps everyone.

Emma: A person who reads a lot and knows a lot of things.

Ben: They are smart or intelligent, my teacher is very smart.

Emma: A person who is very open, they love to talk to new people and go to parties.

Ben: We call that person outgoing, oUTgoInG. I'm not very outgoing, I am quiet.

Emma: Ah, so the opposite of outgoing is shy or quiet, shy , SHy, a shy person is nervous to talk to new people, quiet, QUieT, a quiet person just doesn't talk a lot, these are not bad words, shy and quiet just personality types, I was very shy when I was a child.

Ben: Okay, what about a friend who always tells the truth? they do not lie.

Emma: That is an honest person, HOnEsT, the H is silent, you say honest, my friend is very honest, he always tells me the truth.

Ben: A friend who always supports you, a friend you can trust.

Emma: That is a loyal friend, LoYAl, my dog is very loyal, is true, dogs are loyal.

Ben: And what about a person who works hard.

Emma: They are hardworking, my colleague is very hardworking.

Ben: And a person who is not hardworking, they like to sit on the soft all day.

Emma: The word for that is lazy, my cat is very lazy, it's usually not polite to call a person lazy.

Ben: Okay, I think that is a fantastic list of words, we have appearance words like tall, short and long brown hair, and we have personality words like funny, kind, outgoing and shy.

Emma: I think it's time for our listeners to practice.

Ben: Yes, it is time for you to speak, listen and repeat after us, let's start with appearance. Tall, short, long hair, short hair, straight hair, curly hair, brown hair, blonde hair. He has short brown hair, she has long blonde hair, he is bald, blue eyes, green eyes, brown eyes.

Emma: Great, now let's practice personality words. Funny, kind, smart, outgoing, shy, quiet, honest, loyal, hardworking, lazy.

Ben: Now let's practice some key questions. What does your friend look like? this is about appearance. What is your friend like? this is about personality.

Emma: Those questions are so important, let's repeat them to ask about appearance. What does he look like? to ask about personality, What is he like?

Ben: And some key answers . He is tall and has short brown hair, she is very kind and funny.

Emma: You did an amazing job that was a lot of new vocabulary.

Ben: Now let see how to use all of this in a real natural conversation.

Emma: Okay Ben. Let's do a role play. We are friends and you are telling me about your best friend Mark.

Ben: Okay, I can do that.

Ben: Hi, Emma! my best friend Mark is visiting me this weekend.

Emma: Oh, that's great, I don't think I know Mark what's he like?

Ben: Oh,he's great, he's really funny, he always makes me laugh and he's very smart, he works as an engineer.

Emma: He sounds cool, is he the one in that photo the really tall guy?

Ben: No, that's my brother, Mark is actually pretty short.

Emma: Oh, okay. What does he look like?

Ben: Well, he's short and he's bald, he has no hair but he has really nice blue eyes.

Emma: Oh? he sounds like a great person.

Ben: He is, he's also super loyal, he's been my friend for 20 years and scene.

Emma: See that was a perfect neutral conversation, Ben used funny, smart, tall, short, bald and blue eyes and loyal.

Ben: And you asked the two most important questions, what's he like for personality? What does he look like for appearance?

Ben: now let's do a second role play. I will tell you about my friend Maria. Ben, my friend Maria is coming to the party on Friday.

Emma: Oh, cool! Maria, I don't know her, what's she like?

Ben: She's so much fun, she's very outgoing, she loves meeting new people, you will love her.

Emma: That's great! Is she outgoing and loud? no, not loud, just very friendly, she's also super kind, she volunteers at an animal shelter.

Ben: That's amazing. What does she look like?

Emma: She is tall, and she has the most amazing long curly red hair.

Ben: Wow! long curly red hair, that's very unique.

Emma: I know and she has green eyes, she's very beautiful and scene.

Ben: In that conversation, Emma used outgoing, kind, tall, long curly red hair and green eyes.

Emma: It's that easy, you just choose a few words to paint a picture for your listeners.

Ben: And now it is time for our big new section.

Emma: Yes. Welcome to common mistakes, this is where we talk about the biggest most common errors learners make.

Ben: Today's to topic has some your friend can be both but the words mean different things, let's use an example. My friend is funny, he tells great jokes, this means he makes me laugh, my friend is fun, we always have a good time together, this means I enjoy his company.

Emma: Here is the mistake, a student will say my teacher is so funny, I will say oh, he tells jokes and student says no, he is just funny, they mean to say he is nice or he is fun, if you say he is funny, it means he makes you laugh.

Ben: This is a very important difference, funny, equals ha ha ha, fun equals good time, got it?

Emma: Okay, Ben, what is mistake number B, I mean No. 2.

Ben: Mistake No.2, how to describe hair? the mistake is in the grammar, a student will say she is long brown hair, this is wrong, or she has a brown hair, this is also wrong.

Emma: Let's fix this, first for hair we must use the verb to have , that is has or have, you should not use the verb to be, that is, is, am or are, wrong he is short hair, right she has short hair.

Ben: Second, hair is an uncomfortable noun, this is a grammar word but it is very important, it means you can't say a hair or one hair, you just say hair, wrong she has a long brown hair, right she has long brown hair.

Emma: So, let's put it all together, the correct sentence is she has long brown hair, he has short black hair, I have blonde hair.

Ben: Please please please remember has hair not is hair. this is a super common mistake.

Emma: Okay, what is the third and final mistake Ben?

Ben: Mistake No.3, looks like versus is like, we talk about this in the role play but is so important, we must say it again. If you ask what is he like? this is about personality, the answer is he is kind and funny.

Emma: If you ask what does he look like? this is about appearance, the answer is he is tall and has blue eyes.

Ben: The mistake is when a student mixes them up, I ask what is your new boss like? I want to know her personality, the student answers she is tall, this is a confusing answer.

Emma: Remember what is he like? he is kind, what does he look like? he looks tall.

Ben: Those are 3 huge mistakes, if you can fix those your English will sound much more natural.

Emma: And that's it for common mistakes and now it is time for our second new section.

Ben: Welcome to the Culture Tip.

Emma: Today's Culture Tip is one of most important we will ever teach, the question is, is it rude to describe a peraon's appearance in the USA the UK or Canada.

Ben: And the answer is yes, it can be very very rude if you are not careful, this is a danger zone.

Emma: In many culture it is normal to say, oh, you look fat or you look old, in the USA or the UK, if you say these words, you might lose a friend or get in big trouble at work.

Ben: Let's give you a simple guide, what is safe to talk about, these are things that are neutral, neutral means they are not positive and not negative, you can almost always say he is tall, she has blonde hair, he has blue eyes, these are safe descriptions.

Emma: Now, what is unsafe or rude, the No.1 rule, do not talk about a person's weight, do not ever ever ever use the word fat, it is one of the most offensive rude words in English, do not say you look fat or he is fat, do not say you lose weight or you gained weight, just do not talk about weight.

Ben: The only exception is if you are describing a criminal to the police, but for friends family or colleagues never.

Emma: What about think or skinny, thin is OK, she is very thin, skinny is a little rude it means too thin, it is safer to just not talk about weight.

Ben: Okay, what is the second unsafe topic?

Emma: Age, it is often rude to talk about a person's age, especially do not say to a person, you look old, this is very rude, if you want to say this politely you say he is older or she is an older woman, but in general it is polite to not talk about age.

Ben: And the third one?

Ben: Just be careful, do not use negative words, do not say she is ugly, this is a terrible word to use, do not say his nose is big, not say her teeth are bad.

Ben: This is culture tip in America and the UK, it is not common to talk about a person's appearance in a negative way. We focus on the positive.

Emma: So what should you say? you should use positive words, you look great, that's a nice shirt, she has beautiful hair, he is very handsome, we use handsome for men, she is very beautiful, we use beautiful for women.

Ben: So the final rule is, it is safe to talk hair color, eye color and height.

Emma: It is unsafe or rude to talk about weight like using the word fat or age using the word old and negative words like ugly.

Ben: Please be careful, this is a very important cultural difference.

Emma: And that was our culture tip, we really hope that was helpful.

Ben: Okay everyone, you did an amazing job today, that was our longest lesson ever , let's review one more time.

Emma: We learned appearance words, tall, short, long hair, short hair, brown hair, blue eyes.

Ben: We least personality words, funny, kind, outgoing, shy, loyal, honest.

Emma: We learned the common mistakes, funny is ha ha, fun is good time, you must say she has brown hair, not is, what is he like, is for personality, what does he look like? is for appearance.

Ben: And we learned the culture tip be polite, do not use the word fat, do not say a person looks old, focus on positive words like beautiful, handsome or great.

Emma: You learned so much today, you should be very proud of your hard work.

Ben: And that is all our time for today, thank you so much for listening to this extra long episode of English with Ben and Emma.

Emma: We really hope this new 20 minutes format is helpful, if you liked the common mistakes and culture tips sections please tell us in the comments, your feedback is so important.

Ben: And please don't forget to like this video and subscribe to our channel, it's the best way to support us and help us make more lessons for you.

Emma: Now it is time for our question of the day.

Ben: We want you to practice the new words you learned today, the question is tell us about your best friend.

Emma: You can write one or two sentences, what is your friends like? that is for personality, what does your friend look like? that is for appearance.

Ben: For example, my best friend is very funny and has short black hair, we will read every single comment, we are so excited to learned about your friends.

Emma: Thank you again everyone, keep practicing and don't give up you're doing great!

Ben: We'll see you in the next lesson, bye bye!

Emma: Bye!