20-21 October, 2010: C1 Class

Lesson 2

In this lesson, we reviewed how to describe people.  We learned the difference between asking what someone looks like and what someone is like.


Example: What does Tuguldur look like? (you should tell about his physical qualities like his height [short/tall], weight [slim/chubby], hair, and eyes)
What does Tuguldur look like? --> He is tall and slim and he has dark hair and brown eyes.
What is Tuguldur like? (you should tell about his personal qualities, like his intelligence, humour, etc)
What is Tuguldur like? --> He is kind, polite, and intelligent. 

We also reviewed the difference between "he/she is..." and "he/she has...".  If we say "he/she is...", we have to continue with something about their height, weight or their personal attributes (kind, funny, polite, etc).  If we say "he/she has...", we have to continue with something about their eyes or hair.  If we say "Tuguldur is dark hair", we are saying that "Tuguldur = dark hair", that he is just one big blob of dark hair and nothing else, so please remember and practice this distinction!

We finished the class by doing a class survey, which was a lot of fun.

 


Lesson 1

In this lesson, we reviewed and practiced how to describe people.  


Remember that we use "have" + hair and eyes, and "be" + height and weight,

Example: I am short and chubby and I have long brown hair and blue eyes.

If we say "BE" + hair or eyes (as in "I am blue eyes"), it sounds wrong because it sounds like I = eyes, that I am just two big eyes, and that I don't also have a nose, a mouth, ears, arms, legs, etc.  People have eyes the same way they have a t-shirt, a jacket, a hairstyle, or a book.


We also noticed that when we describe someone's hair, there is a special order we need to use:

length > type > colour

Example: long curly dark hair, short straight blond hair, short, wavy dark hair, etc

We also have to be careful because fair hair only describes hair that is extremely light in colour, such as hair that is blond, red, or possibly extremely light brown (but I have yet to see someone in Mongolia who has fair hair, so we can all safely say that we don't have fair hair).

One more point to note is that we never say that we have "black eyes", no matter how dark brown our eyes are.  Even if our eyes are extremly dark brown, we will always say that we have "brown eyes."

Example: I have black eyes. (wrong) --> I have brown eyes. (correct)