Describing Appearance Listening, Vocabulary and Language Exercises
6th May 2025
Learning the language and vocabulary for describing people and their appearance is useful because:
It helps you communicate with others about the people you see.
It helps you to identify people.
It helps you to express yourself.
It helps you to connect with people.
It helps you to better understand the people around you.
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Describing Appearance- Age
Every day, we need to describe people we meet or talk about. Whether you’re telling a story about someone you saw, explaining who will meet you at the airport, or describing a new colleague, knowing how to talk about a person’s age helps others picture them clearly. This activity gives you practical words that people use in everyday conversations about age—from describing children and teenagers to middle-aged adults and seniors. These terms appear everywhere from casual chats to formal introductions, making them essential for clear, natural communication in English.
Office Appearance and Dress Codes Critcal Thinking
Have you noticed how office dress expectations have changed dramatically in recent years? What was once a simple “wear a suit” rule has become a complex mix of policies that differ between industries, companies, and even departments. This lesson helps you understand the vocabulary of workplace appearance so you can navigate these expectations confidently. From formal business attire to business casual, you’ll learn exactly what these terms mean and how to discuss appearance appropriately—knowledge that matters whether you’re interviewing for jobs, meeting clients, or adapting to a new company culture.
Elements of appearance vocabulary worksheet (with audio and answers)
In today’s social media world, describing physical appearances has taken on new relevance. From profile photos to video calls, students constantly encounter situations where they need vocabulary to describe themselves and others. This worksheet builds essential appearance vocabulary through engaging visuals, connecting words like “tattoo,” “spiky hair,” and “well-dressed” to relatable cartoon characters. By mastering these descriptors, students gain confidence for everything from describing friends in conversation to navigating modern dating apps where appearance descriptions are commonplace.
Elements of appearance vocabulary (PDF)
(see this exercise on YouTube)
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What do they look like ? (with audio and answers)
In today’s social media world, describing physical appearances has taken on new relevance. From profile photos to video calls, students constantly encounter situations where they need vocabulary to describe themselves and others. This worksheet builds essential appearance vocabulary through engaging visuals, connecting words like “tattoo,” “spiky hair,” and “well-dressed” to relatable cartoon characters. By mastering these descriptors, students gain confidence for everything from describing friends in conversation to navigating modern dating apps where appearance descriptions are commonplace.
Describing people and appearance listening and writing (PDF)
Clothes and accessories listening/vocabulary (with audio and answers)
In today’s social media world, describing physical appearances has taken on new relevance. From profile photos to video calls, students constantly encounter situations where they need vocabulary to describe themselves and others. This worksheet builds essential appearance vocabulary through engaging visuals, connecting words like “tattoo,” “spiky hair,” and “well-dressed” to relatable cartoon characters. By mastering these descriptors, students gain confidence for everything from describing friends in conversation to navigating modern dating apps where appearance descriptions are commonplace.
Expressing opinions about appearance
What hidden messages do our appearance choices send? This exploration invites students to examine the appearance-based judgments we make daily. As students consider statements like “People who wear makeup look more interesting,” they uncover their beliefs about self-expression and conformity. The images challenge conventional thinking, revealing how appearance choices reflect cultural values, personal identity, and social belonging.
Create a conversation exercise
In this create-a-conversation activity, students build a dialogue using descriptive language to identify a person. Rather than just memorizing vocabulary, students must select appropriate terms and phrases to create a realistic conversation about finding someone in a crowd. This hands-on approach helps students master the natural back-and-forth pattern of questions and descriptions used when trying to help someone locate a person they’ve never met.
What do they look like 2? (writing activity)
Welcome to the Visual Vocabulary Universe, where words paint pictures more vivid than any camera! In today’s emoji-filled, selfie-saturated world, can your students translate what they see into descriptive language that brings characters to life? This collection of quirky illustrations – from security guards to punk rockers – transforms into a playground for linguistic portraiture. As students craft their descriptions, they’re not just learning vocabulary; they’re developing the superpower of observation that helps them navigate our image-driven world with precision and confidence.
Describing appearance writing 2 (PDF)
Is that him over there?
“Is that him over there?” This create-a-conversation exercise captures the universal experience of trying to spot someone you’re looking for. Starting with a structured fill-in-the-blanks dialogue, students learn the natural progression of questions and descriptions people use when identifying others. Then students take the creative leap to craft their own similar conversation, applying the pattern to new characters and settings. This scaffolded approach transforms vocabulary lists into practical communication tools students can use immediately in real-world interactions.
Describing appearance review
This is an elementary multiple choice and /picture matching activity for talking about appearance. Multiple choice and matching activities are no-stress activities (I hope!).
What does he look like? conversation (PDF)
Describing people word sorting
This is an ESL exercise to help students become familiar with vocabulary for describing appearance. Students sort the words into the appropriate columns.
Describing appearance word sorting (PDF)
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