arts and media vocabulary/ positive and negative connotations/ adjectives/ advice, recommendations and suggestions
Complete First Unit 8
Decide who is Student A and Student B in your group and look at the relevant page below. When you successfully do that thing or give up, switch roles and do the same again.
Student A – The person recommending
Maybe after choosing one category below such as “non-fiction”, find out about your partner’s tastes and experiences, then recommend something they have never tried but might like. If they have tried it or don’t think they would like it, try again. Continue until you are successful or run out of ideas, then switch roles and do the same again.
Possible topics
- Animation
- Comics
- Dance
- Literature
- Magazines
- Movies
- Music
- News sources
- Non-fiction
- Online content
- Radio
- Theatre
- TV
- Visual arts
Possible questions to ask
- Are you interested in…?
- Do you like…?
- Do you prefer to…or…?
- Do you spend a lot of time…?
- Have you ever…? How was it?
- How do you feel about…?
- How… are you?
- What do you like about…?
- What do you think about…?
- What is your favourite…?
- What kind of… do you…?/ What sort of…do you…?
- What things… you when you were a child?
- Would you describe yourself as…?
- Would you prefer to…or…?
- Would you say that you…?
Language for recommending
- … is one of the best…
- … will blow you away.
- … would be worth a try.
- I couldn’t recommend… more.
- I highly/ thoroughly recommend…
- If you like…, you’ll love…
- The best… for you would be…
- You should rush out and…
- You shouldn’t miss…/ You mustn’t miss…
- You won’t be disappointed if you…
- You won’t regret…
Positive adjectives
- action-packed
- addictive
- amazing/ brilliant/ exceptional/ terrific/ fantastic/ excellent/ superb/ outstanding
- astonishing
- attractive
- award-winning
- captivating
- charming/ enchanting
- classic
- delightful
- distinctive/ unique/ original
- dramatic/ moving
- exciting/ gripping/ thrilling
- faultless/ impeccable/ perfect
- fun
- funny/ hilarious
- genuine
- impressive
- intriguing
- luxurious
- memorable/ haunting/ unforgettable
- realistic
- satisfying
- sophisticated
- stunning
- subtle
- tasteful
- thought provoking
- uplifting
- (good) value for money
- well-regarded
Negative recommendations
- … didn’t meet my expectations.
- …. wasn’t (at all) what I expected.
- …is best avoided.
- Don’t bother (with)…
- I didn’t find it very…
- I wasn’t too keen on…
- I wouldn’t (really) recommend…
- I wouldn’t bother with…
- I’d be in no hurry to…
- You should avoid…
Student B – The person being recommended to
Tell your partner about your tastes and experiences, listen to them recommend things that you haven’t tried, and react honestly on whether you think that you would like that thing or not. Continue until they have recommended something that you haven’t tried but would probably like, then take turns doing the same.
Explaining your tastes
- I ((absolutely) love…
- I (absolutely) detest…
- I (really) enjoy…
- I (really) hate…
- I (simply) adore…
- I can’t get enough of…
- I don’t (really) mind…
- I don’t have any strong feelings about… one way or the other.
- I especially like…
- I follow…
- I loathe…
- I’m (really) fond of…
- I’m (really) interested in…
- I’m (really) into…
- I’m (really) keen on…
- I’m a great fan of…
- I’m a… fanatic.
- I’m a… geek.
- I’m mad about…
- I’m obsessed with…
- My (all-time) favourite… is…
- My favourite genre of… is…
- My least favourite…
- My most hated…
Positive reactions
- That sounds great. I’ll try that.
Negative reactions
| Thanks for your recommendation I can see why you recommended that | but | It doesn’t sound like my kind of thing because It sounds a bit (too)… for me | annoying bland boring cheesy childish clichéd confusing disappointing disgusting dreadful dull forgettable irritating juvenile low brow melodramatic monotonous nothing special notorious over the top over-intellectual overlong overpriced predictable pretentious repetitive revolting sentimental tasteless terrible unbelievable unoriginal unrealistic |
When your teacher stops you, share something your partner successfully recommended and see if other people in the class like or would like that thing.
Ask about anything above you are not sure about, working together to make related recommendations to your teacher and/ or responding to related recommendations from your teacher each time.
Brainstorming stage
Without looking above, brainstorm positive and negative expressions for describing, recommending and reacting to arts and media below. Phrases from several sections above can go into each column below.
| Positive expressions for describing, recommending and reacting to art and media | Negative expressions for describing, recommending against and reacting to art and media |
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Look above for any more positive and negative expressions that you missed.
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Related pages
Positive and negative connotations page
Giving advice activites to practise other language (TEFLtastic classics Part 27)
