Aims: Describing personality I Talking about relationships

International Studies Speaking 2

Using tenses correctly I Pronunciation : Strong and weak forms of prepositions
Exam technique: What it means to 'know' a word

Describing people
Vocabulary: Character and personality
Characters and personalities

Which
1 adjectives in the box are positive and which are negative?
Use a dictionary to find the meanings of the adjectives describing character and
personality below.
ambitious blunt clever creative good fun
hard-working impatient
ambitious good judgemental nosy
fun nosy open-minded
reliable
blunt hard-working open - minded self-assured
out-going over-sensitive reliable self-assured
clever impatient outgoing sociable
sociable
creative stingy
judgemental over-sensitive stingy
Positive Negative

Which adjectives from A would you use to describe yourself? Make your introduction more
interesting by adding some examples.
• I consider myself to be…………………….
• I would say I was………………….
8 Speaking for IELTS
Relationships
Match phrases 1 – 8 with definitions a – h

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 International Studies Speaking 2

Using these phrases to make 8 sentences about relationships you have with other people.
Example: I take after my dad – we’re quite careless.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
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Listen to three people talk about their relatives. Make notes as you listen. How do they
describe their relatives and their relationships with them.
Speaker 1: _______________________________________________________________
Speaker 2: _______________________________________________________________
Speaker 3: _______________________________________________________________
Vocabulary: Modifying
Vocabulary: Adjective modifiers
0
01
7 Listen to Track 1 again and notice how the adjectives describing character and personality
Listen again
are modified. to these
Complete three people
sentences andthecomplete
1-10 with modifyingthe sentences
adverbs below.
you hear.
CD1
1 She's really outgoing and 6 She's so nosy.
sociable. 7 terribly
She's _ _ _ _ blunt.
2 She's so hard-working . S She can be _ _ _ _ stingy.
quite
3 She can be a bit impatient. 9 She's _ _ _ _ clever.
extremely
4 He was so creative. 10 She's _so_ _ _ self-assured and
5 He 's not very reliable . ambitious.

8 Read theTips: If you

following use a character
guidance adjective
on modifying to describe a person, you should
adjectives.
1 We can use adverbs like really and so before a positive adjective.
Example : She's really outgoing.
He was so creative.
2 We can use the same adverbs before a negative adjective, but we normally do this only
if we do not like the person or are angry with them.
Example : She 's so nosy
Write character
3 If we descriptions
say something ofabout
negative 2 members in e.g
someone, your family
. She using the
is impatient, words
or He you have just
is unreliable,
it can sound rude or too direct . We often 'soften ' negative comments for this reason .
learned.
Here are two ways of doing this:
_______________________________________________________________________________
• with can be a bit
_______________________________________________________________________________
Example : She can be a bit impatient.
_______________________________________________________________________________
• with not very + a positive adjective

_______________________________________________________________________________
Example : He's not very reliable .

_______________________________________________________________________________
0
01
9 Listen to Track 1 again and repeat. Pay particular attention to your pronunciation,
: ....................................................................................................................................................................................................

CD1 2ExamDESIGNED tip: If youBY use TRAN a character

LE TUYET adjective ANH (M.A.toAPPLIED describe someone in the exam, you should
LINGUISTICS)
expand on it or explain it.
Examples :
She 's really outgoing and sociable - she's always going out with friends and colleagues.
International Studies Speaking 2

Appearance
A. General appearance:
- She is a very smart and elegant woman, always well-dressed; her husband is quite the
opposite, very scruffy and untidy-looking.
- He’s very good-looking, but his friend is rather unattractive.
- This woman has a youthful outlook. Actually she seems younger than her real age.

B. Height and build

Tips:

C. Hair, face, skin and complexion

Make descriptions for 4 people below.

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International Studies Speaking 2

Structuring your talk

Match each phrase in the list with one of the functions a – d.

Practice

Describe a famous person you are interested in.

You should say:
who this person is
how you know about this person
what this person is famous for
and explain why you are interested in him/ her.

4 DESIGNED BY TRAN LE TUYET ANH (M.A. APPLIED LINGUISTICS)

International Studies Speaking 2

More practice

1. Describe a person you would like to be similar to. You should say:
• Who this person is?
• How you know this person?
• What impresses you about this person?
And explain why you would like to be similar to this person.

2. Describe a friend of your family that you remember. You should say:
• Who this person was
• How you and your family knew this person
• How often this person visited your house
And explain why you remember this person.

3. Describe one of your neighbours. You should say:

• When you two became neighbours
• How often you meet him/her
• Whether your neighbour is a good person
And explain why you like/ dislike this neighbour.

4. Describe a kind-hearted person. You should say:

• Who this person is
• How you know this person
• What impresses you about this person
And explain why you think this person is kind-hearted.

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