Zapp! English Vocabulary & Pronunciation 2.9 - Describing Appearance

One of our speakers gets to the end of her thoughts on facial hair and concludes: "if I could have my way, I would make both of them illegal!" Before that, one of the hosts owns up to being "worried about going bald", and the other admits, "I would love to be lovely and slim, but unfortunately...that's not true." Describing people is one of the first things learners try to do in real conversation, and one of the easiest places to say something accidentally rude. This unit covers the words, the pronunciation and the tact.

What you'll hear in this episode

The episode opens with Katie and Tom describing themselves, which turns out to be a very honest few minutes. Hair gets negotiated in stages — short hair that's "getting longer", then "almost medium length hair now" — and there's a shared confession that neither of them is thin. There's a nice aside about teenage hairstyles, described as "Big blonde spikes", and a resigned summary of hair that is "a little bit curly, brown hair that's going grey", answered with a flat "Boo."

After that, we teach the language directly: slim versus thin, the pattern He's got... / She's got... for hair, the two forms fair-haired and has got fair hair, and a warning that some people won't enjoy being called bald.

The second conversation is Clare talking about physical appearance and how much it matters to people. She covers pale skin and the wish to be tanned, and why she no longer sees pale as a problem. She talks about spots, including the memorable detail of getting one "on my chin, or in a really, really uncomfortable place", and about acne leaving scars. Then comes facial hair: "for me there's nothing nice about moustaches or beards", partly because of the scratching. On bodies, she prefers slim as a sign of an active lifestyle, and is unimpressed by extremes: "I would never want to be with a man that spends more time in the gym than with me!"

Quick facts

What you'll learn

The grammar of appearance is simple but easy to get wrong, so we drill it: He's got dark hair, She's got medium length hair, He's fair-haired — and the fact that fair works for both hair and skin, while pale is only for skin.

The pronunciation work is specific rather than general. You'll practise the /θ/ at the start of thin, the /s/ /l/ cluster in slim, the /ɔː/ in bald, the final /d/ in tanned, and the weak /ə/ ending in muscular. Spiky gets its stress marked out: stress on the first syllable /spaɪ/, with /kiː/ second.

Just as useful is the politeness layer. We say plainly that fat is rude, that overweight is more polite but still needs care, and that softening it with a bit — "I'm a bit overweight" — makes it less strong. The same warning applies to bald, and to commenting on someone's spots. The safest option, as we point out, is to use these words about yourself rather than about other people, which is exactly what Katie and Tom do in the opening conversation. You'll also pick up the British/American split: spots in British English, pimples in American English.

Vocabulary from the workbook

• slim /slɪm/ (adjective) – a positive way to say thin, not fat or overweight. Used by both speakers as the flattering option.
• thin /θɪn/ (adjective) – not fat, maybe underweight. The version that can sound like concern.
• medium length (hair) /miːdiəm leŋ(k)θ/ (adjective) – not long, not short.
• spiky (hair) /spaɪki/ (adjective) – sticking up straight into the air.
• bald /bɔːld/ (adjective) – no hair on the head.
• fair /feə/ (adjective) – the opposite of dark, used to describe hair or skin.
• pale /peɪl/ (adjective) – light coloured, to describe skin, maybe because of illness – can be negative.
• tanned /tænd/ (adjective) – brown from the sun.
• a spot / a pimple /spɒt/ /pɪmpl/ (noun) – a small red mark on the skin.
• a scar /skɑː/ (noun) – a mark on the skin left from an old cut.
• muscular /mʌskjʊlə/ (adjective) – strong looking, with a lot of muscles.

In the workbook

The workbook for this unit gives you the full transcript of both English conversations, so you can go back and see exactly how the hair descriptions were built up, plus a glossary with phonetic transcription for all nineteen items.

Then three practice sections. Practice 1 is a gap-fill with five sentences that only work with the right word — "He used to have lots of hair, but now he's totally _", "She's been on holiday, she's got lovely _ skin". Practice 2 asks you to underline the word or words that fit, which is where the collocations bite: you can have blonde or dark hair, but not slim hair. Practice 3 is pronunciation: match the rhymes (straight, thin, hair against overweight, slim, fair), then count syllables in overweight, spiky, medium and muscular. Answers are included at the back.

This workbook comes with the Zapp! English all-in-one pack, which covers every episode across our courses for €39.

Get the complete courseAll workbooks and audio — €39

Common questions

Is the audio scripted?

The conversations are unscripted — Katie and Tom describing themselves, and Clare on how people look. The teaching sections that ask the questions and give the answers are scripted, so the instructions stay clear.

What level is this episode?

Level 2, from the Vocabulary and Pronunciation 2 pack. The vocabulary is everyday, but the natural speech is full real speed.

Can I use this episode without the workbook?

Yes. The audio is free and the questions are answered aloud. The workbook adds the transcript, the phonetics and the written practice.

Why so many warnings about being rude?

Because words like fat, bald and spots land badly in English. We show you the safer alternatives and how to soften them with a bit.

How should I use the pronunciation drills?

Repeat after the beep, out loud. The target sounds are marked individually — /θ/, /ɔː/, final /d/ — so you know what you're aiming at.

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