ESL WORKSHEET - Describing people’s appearances

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

DESCRIBING APPEARANCE

LinguaHouse

Jul. 21, 2025

Level: Pre-intermediate (A2-B1)
Type of language: General English
Tags: People and Places; Describing People; Paraphrasing and Explaining; Vocabulary Lesson; 13-15 Years Old; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old
Publication date: 07/21/2025

In this fully updated lesson, we learn everything about describing people’s appearances. First, students describe people using the vocabulary they already know. Then they learn some vocabulary from the listening tasks, rehearsing ways to describe hair, body, and skin. After a grammar task practicing modifiers for adjectives, and a fun game of Guess Who, they will practice speaking by describing their own family members and friends, and two extension activities call back on previous tasks while giving them the opportunity to learn different ways to change one’s appearance. (by Edward Alden)

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio 1 in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio 2 in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio 1 in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio 2 in British English.

AUDIO TRANSCRIPTS

Exercise 2 (audio 1)
Narrator: My friend Ayesha has wavy brown hair and dark skin.
Narrator: You know Olivia! She is quite tall and has straight blonde hair.
Narrator: My son Dylan! Have you seen him? He has spotty skin and is a bit thin.
Narrator: I’m so jealous of Matheus! He is so muscular and tanned!
Narrator: My sister Eun looks a bit like my mother. She is pale and has long dark hair.

Exercise 3 (audio 2)
Speaker 1: My grandma looked very different when she was young. She had short wavy hair and was quite slim. She also had pale skin, like most women in our family. I always looked at her photograph in the living room when I was a kid, and wondered if I would look like her when I got older.
Speaker 2: When I was a child, I had very long, straight black hair that I always wore in a ponytail. I had to! I lived in Colombia at the time, and I spent all day playing in the sun, so it was quite warm. I have many good memories from that time.
Speaker 3: My little brother always worried about his height. He thinks he is too short, especially since all his friends are so tall. But I told him he is still too young, and that there is still time for him to grow up.
Speaker 4: People often say I look like my brother. We both have dark skin and pretty curly hair. We’re also rather thin, which we both got made fun of at school. But I’m thinking of joining the gym soon, to see if I can get a bit of muscle.
Speaker 5: I look nothing like my parents, who both have straight brown hair and pale skin. I am fairly tanned and have curly blonde hair. I often get asked if I have a different father than my sisters. It upsets me, but I know that what matters is that I am loved and cared for by my parents.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/describing-appearance. Accessed on July 21, 2025. LinguaHouse.com © 2008–2025. All rights reserved.