Ciarán describes himself

Listen to Ciarán once (▶ on the left) and answer: the main ideas.

Where is Ciarán from?
What does he mostly describe?
How does he talk about his looks?

Listen again and choose the right answer. The last questions: read between the lines!

How old is he?
What happens to his skin in summer?
Why does he keep his hair very short?
What colour is his beard?
What colour are his eyes?
What does he have in his cheeks when he smiles?
Where is his scar?
How did he get his scar?
How did he break his nose?
What does he look like?
Between the lines. Why does he have wrinkles around his eyes?
Between the lines. “My wife says that's why she married me!” means…
Between the lines. “My face tells my story” means…

Listen and drag the missing words into Ciarán's text.

Hello there! My name's Ciarán, and I'm from Galway, on the west coast of Ireland. I'm forty-five, and I suppose I look like a typical Irishman! I've got very skin, and I get loads of in the summer. I have red hair… well, what's left of it! I'm going a bit on top, so I keep it very short. To make up for it, I have a thick beard. My eyes are green and I have eyebrows. When I smile, I've got in my cheeks, and my wife says that's why she married me! I have a few around my eyes now… from laughing too much, I think. Oh, and there's a small on my chin: I fell off my bike when I was ten. My nose is a bit too. I broke it playing hurling, a very Irish sport! I'm not very tall, about five foot eight, and I'm quite . I'm not a model, that's for sure, but I'm happy with my : it tells my story!

Step 4: new words →

Learn the new words: listen and repeat.

Words to describe the face. Click ▶ to hear them.

pale skin la peau claire / pâle

loads of plein de

to go bald devenir chauve

a thick beard une barbe épaisse

ginger roux

bushy eyebrows des sourcils broussailleux

dimples des fossettes

wrinkles des rides

a scar une cicatrice

crooked de travers

stocky trapu

the chin le menton

the cheeks les joues

Step 5: spot the wrong words →

Listen again: 8 words are not what Ciarán says. Click them, then Check.

Hello there! My name's Ciarán, and I'm from Galway, on the east coast of Ireland. I'm fifty-five, and I suppose I look like a typical Irishman! I've got very dark skin, and I get loads of freckles in the summer. I have red hair… well, what's left of it! I'm going a bit bald on top, so I keep it very short. To make up for it, I have a thin ginger beard. My eyes are blue and I have bushy eyebrows. When I smile, I've got dimples in my cheeks, and my wife says that's why she married me! I have a few wrinkles around my eyes now… from laughing too much, I think. Oh, and there's a small scar on my forehead: I fell off my horse when I was ten. My nose is a bit crooked too. I broke it playing football, a very Irish sport! I'm not very tall, about five foot eight, and I'm quite stocky. I'm not a model, that's for sure, but I'm happy with my face: it tells my story!

Step 6: your turn →

Write.

On a sheet of paper: Describe a face you know very well (a grandparent, a teacher, a famous person) like Ciarán: skin, hair, eyebrows, eyes, nose, a scar or a wrinkle… and the story behind one detail.

Write 8 to 10 sentences and use at least six words from Step 4. Start like Ciarán: say where you are from!

Useful: I have / I’ve got + hair, eyes, a scar… · I’m + tall, slim, tanned… · I usually wear + clothes · I look like my mum · I’d rather wear…