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The document outlines strategies for describing photographs, focusing on context, focal points, speculation, and physical relationships. It provides examples and vocabulary to help articulate observations about people, their actions, and the setting. The aim is to enhance speaking skills for a summer speaking paper in 2025.

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Melisa
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26 views

Picture Description

The document outlines strategies for describing photographs, focusing on context, focal points, speculation, and physical relationships. It provides examples and vocabulary to help articulate observations about people, their actions, and the setting. The aim is to enhance speaking skills for a summer speaking paper in 2025.

Uploaded by

Melisa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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5TH YEAR

SUMMER
2025
SPEAKING
PAPER
- Animals and pets
- Food and drink
- Leisure activities
- Places and buildings
- School and work
- Travel and transport
- Daily life
- Special occasions
- Sports and games
- Nature and environment
Let's set some strategies to describe a picture…

1
2
3
4
In a sentence, summarise
the gist/the main idea of
the photograph. Answer
the questions WHO,
WHAT, WHERE.

1) Establish the Context: Introduce the photograph using a one sentence


description that provides the general context and answers the questions Who,
What, and Where?
Example: "In this picture I see a couple (who) ordering food (what) in a
restaurant (where)."
Use Present Continuous to
describe it. Use a wide
range of vocabulary to
describe the clothes. DON'T
FORGET TO USE LINKERS!

2) Describe the Focal Point: Describe in rich detail the main focus of the picture including
what the people are doing, what they look like, their clothing, and their emotional state (if
appropriate).
Example: "A waitress is taking a man’s order while his partner is reading the menu. The
waitress is wearing a white dress and an apron. She is taking notes on a small pad. The
man is wearing a formal long sleeve shirt and the other person at the table has glasses
and is wearing a sweater."
VOCABULARY FOR DESCRIBING
THE FOCAL POINT

❏ How many people do you see? Who are the people? - This picture shows…
❏ How old are they? - They are about …
❏ What do they look like? - The boy on the left/ The boy on the right/ The boy in the background/ it’s hard
to say/ out of focus/ fair/ dark curly hair/
❏ What are they wearing? - He is wearing a green/ white and blue striped T-shirt
❏ What are they doing? Why are they doing this? - I get the impression that…. / watching a video/ playing a
game/ chatting to a friend online
❏ Where are they? - It’s hard to say/as background behind them not in focus but it looks like a living
room/ sofa/ window behind them
❏ What time is it? What is the weather like? What season is it? - From what I can see/ I would say that …
❏ How do they feel? - The boys seem happy/excited/ involved in what they are looking at on the tablet
screen
❏ Do you enjoy doing the same things? Why? Why not? - If you ask me … Personally, I… In my opinion…
Use speculative language
and provide evidence for
your speculations.

3) Speculate Conservatively: Add detail to your description by making intelligent guesses when you are
not completely sure about something. Use speculative language like: may, might, could, perhaps, it
seems, etc. You can speculate about the relationship between the people, what they are talking about,
what they are doing, what they might have done just before the photo was taken, or what they might do
next. Be sure to provide evidence for your speculations, though. Use phrases like: “For that reason, I
think...”, “This makes me think...”, “Which is why I think...”, etc.
Example: "It looks like they are in an outdoor patio section of the restaurant. It is quite sunny and there
are coffee cups on the table.This makes me think that it might be breakfast time. Perhaps this is a hotel
restaurant and the diners are guests staying there."
Use prepositions of place
and phrases to direct the
teacher's attention and
identify to what you're
describing.

4) Identify Physical Relationships: Use prepositions of place (on, next to, under, behind,
etc.) to describe the placement of different people and objects in the photo. Use phrases
to direct the listener’s attention to different parts of the photo like: “in the background”,
“in the foreground”, “on the left/right”, “in the bottom right corner”, “in the center”, etc.
Examples: "On the table in the foreground there are empty dishes and coffee cups. There
seems to be a plant or flower in the center of the table. In the background of the picture I
can see other customers eating and conversing at their tables and behind them there is a
garden or green area with trees and bushes."
Prepositions of place

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