Friends (men): Teaching personality adjectives and occupations

28th December 2018

I use this sheet for many classes, usually for personality adjectives, as well as occupations. It’s adapted from a class I took at International House, London.

For higher level classes, you could also use this to illustrate the adage ‘don’t judge a book by its cover.’

The students have to guess the personality of my friends, just by looking at them; their expressions, posture, dress sense, hair style etc. Then they have to try to guess the occupation.

This is a great way to introduce new vocabulary and job titles. Additionally, students can learn that many adjectives are not necessarily positive or negative, for example ‘serious’. Being serious could be very positive (in a professional context) but negative in other situations.

I’ve put some sample adjectives and jobs after the last photo, as well as the answers to their current occupations.

Personality adjectives:

aggressive / arrogant / calm / funny (haha) / funny (crazy) / generous / honest / humorous / kind / mean / modest / polite / quiet / reliable / rude / selfish / serious / thoughtless / trustworthy /

Occupations:

estate agent / plumber / DJ / mechanic / bouncer / surgeon / accountant / actor / cook or chef / Uber or GrabBike driver / insurance agent / bank clerk / detective / businessperson / barista / lawyer / shop manager / unemployed / slacker

IELTS STUDENTS:

Use this as a basic for building complex sentences

EXAMPLE: In my opinion, Peter, who is the first gentleman, has a white-collar job, such as banking, insurance or management. I say this because of the way he’s dressed, a suit and tie. Furthermore, he is extremely well groomed by which I mean his hair is very neat as well as being clean-shaven. He appears very diligent. I’m positive he works hard, sometimes burning the candle at both ends.

Peter is unemployed. He has an MA in Business Studies and is currently looking for work, so he is sending out his CV and photo.

David is a DJ

Alex is an actor. He is also a Buddhist so normally has shaven hair. However, he is very big and strong, so he gets cast as gangsters or bad men, despite being very gentle and soft-spoken in real life.

Victor is a self-employed plumber.

Simon is a doctor. He is highly professional and serious, but is seen here on holiday, after a few sangrias (wine cocktails). Someone took a photo with a flash, so his eyes look wide and big.