Hi, Tim here with another 9 to 5 English lesson Today, we're going to learn how to describe people and their characteristics in English.

Listen in on any office conversation or meeting, and you'll hear a lot of talk about people who we like, who we don't like, who's right for a team who should get a promotion, who is going on vacation?

The list of topics goes on and on, and one aspect of people we often discuss is their appearance or how they look.

To do that, we use adjectives like tall or short or well dressed or heavy or thin.

When we describe people, we also talk about the color of their hair.

And here's a couple of special hair words for you.

Brunette means someone with brown hair and blonde refers to someone with light or yellow hair.

Let's try describing people's appearance using some of this language.

Listen to each example, then repeat it for yourself.

Ready?

Let's get started.

Gary is a tall, red haired guy who usually wears glasses.

Bob looks a little bit like Dave R.

Former manager.

Jordan is really well dressed and always smiling.

Tina has long brown hair and green eyes.

Now did you notice that expression looks a little bit like the basic expression there is?

Looks like, as in Nancy looks like Tina.

In other words, they appear similar a couple more similar expressions for comparing people our sounds like and acts like when we say someone acts like another person.

We're talking about their behavior or what they do, just like appearance.

We often described behavior with adjectives.

For example, we might say someone is eager or enthusiastic.

We might also talk about how they do things like works hard or treats people with respect.

Let's try some examples of describing people's behavior.

Remember to repeat the examples after you hear them.

Charlie is always eager and ready to help.

I tend to work harder when I'm under pressure.

Kendra is the most enthusiastic person in the office.

Joe treats everyone with a lot of respect.

As you heard, it's not only other people that we describe.

Sometimes we describe ourselves, especially in situations like job interviews, and not only do we describe behavior, we also describe character.

Character is about what type of person someone is.

It might include behavior, but it also includes someone's overall personality to talk about character.

We rely once again on adjectives and the more adjectives you know, the better you can describe people's character.

Some people are serious, while others are fun loving.

Some people are hard working, while others are lazy.

Some people are shy, while others are outgoing.

Let's practice some of these adjectives for describing character once again repeat the examples after you hear them.

Nancy seems pretty serious, but she's always fair.

The right candidates should be hardworking and flexible.

I would describe myself as a good learner and resourceful.

Daisy can be quite shy, but she's very smart.

You probably know most of those adjectives, but resourceful might be a new word.

If someone is resourceful, it means they are good at finding ways to solve problems.

That's a great way to describe yourself in a job interview.

Okay, so we've practiced describing people with some examples.

But how does this sound in a conversation?

Let's listen to a short dialogue between Kent and Paula.

They're talking about a person who has applied for a job at their company.

Let's listen, remind me again.

Which candidate was Jason?

Jason was the tall guy with blond hair.

Oh, right.

And how is his interview?

Well, he seems smart, but I wonder how flexible he is.

That's not too difficult, right?

When Kent asks Paula to describe Jason, she says that he's call and has blonde hair.

And when Kent asks how Jason's interview it, she says he seems smart, but she wonders if he's flexible.

Now it's your turn to practice.

We'll repeat the dialogue.

But this time we're going to be about the second speaker's words.

You will have to say those parts yourself.

Remember to describe Jason as tall with blond hair and say he's smart, But you wonder if he's flexible.

Remind me again which candidate was Jason.

Oh, right.

And how is his interview?

All right, that's it for this lesson.

We've learned some great ways to describe people's appearance, behavior and character.

We'll be back soon with some more useful English expressions.