字幕表 動画を再生する
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(modern pop music)
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- Hello everyone, and welcome back to English with Lucy.
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Today, I've got a slightly longer video lesson for you.
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We're going to be talking about vocabulary,
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and more specifically, how to describe people's appearances.
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Now, this is a really, really important topic.
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It's normally one of the first things that you learn
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when you start to learn English,
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but I want to go a bit more in depth.
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Normally, people are able to describe basic appearances.
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I want to teach you slightly more advanced vocabulary
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so that you can really give an accurate description
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of people's appearances.
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If you find understanding me slightly difficult,
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you can switch on subtitles, and so you'll be able to
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see the words at the bottom of the screen.
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Quickly, before we get started, this video will help you
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with your speaking and your writing and your vocabulary.
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It will also help you with your listening,
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because you will be listening to me
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and learning more vocabulary.
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But if you want to take your listening
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and your pronunciation to the next level,
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why not try audible.com.
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Audible is a website where you can
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download and listen to audio books.
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They've got thousands of titles.
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I listen to them myself when I go on my long runs.
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It takes me about a marathon to finish a book,
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but I really enjoy it.
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If you download books in English, it's an excellent way
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of improving your listening and your pronunciation.
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They are giving you a free audio book.
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All you have to do is click on the link
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in the description box and sign up.
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And if after one month you don't want to pay,
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you can cancel it, it's completely free.
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I've recommended some books
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in the description box with British accents.
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Let's get started with the lesson.
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So, firstly, we're going to talk about people's bodies.
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And I think I'm going to start by
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talking about height, how tall somebody is.
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So you might already know these basic terms,
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short and tall, short and tall.
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But what about if somebody is a normal height?
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Well, there are a couple of ways that you can express this.
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You can say they are of average height,
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they are of medium height.
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If you want to be more precise and say
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their actual height, in centimetres,
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or feet and inches, you can say, "around".
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So I would say I am around five foot six.
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I'm actually five foot five and a half, but
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sometimes I say I'm five foot six.
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Other words that you can include are very or quite.
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So, he is very tall, or she is quite short.
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Next, we have body type and weight.
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Now, you have to be a little bit careful
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when describing somebody's body type or their weight,
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because you can hurt their feelings.
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So firstly, I'm going to give you some positive adjectives
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to describe somebody's weight, and then afterwards,
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I'll give you the more negative ones,
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so that you can understand when or when not to use them.
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But, I will warn you, weight, in the UK, especially,
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and many other places in the world,
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is a very sensitive subject, so,
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if you think you might insult somebody,
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it's often best not to say anything at all.
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But that's not my role here, I'm teaching you words.
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So, let's get started (laughs).
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So, we have thin and fat.
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These are generally considered to be negative words.
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So let's talk about some positive alternatives.
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For thin, you can describe somebody as slender or slim.
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They are really nice words.
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If somebody called me slender or slim, I'd be flattered.
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Another word is lean, and this means
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that they're just skin and muscle.
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It's a positive word, because it means they're in shape.
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They're muscly, there's no fat on them, they're lean.
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You can also call somebody petite, and this
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is when somebody has a small build.
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It's normally used to describe females
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who have small shoulders, they're quite short.
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They're just like a woman, only smaller.
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They're petite.
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If somebody is very thin, you can call them slight.
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They're very slight.
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And another one is lanky.
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This means that somebody is tall and very thin.
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It means they've got long limbs, lanky.
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If somebody has got a bit of meat on them,
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you don't want to call them fat, but some nice words
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you can use are curvy, this means that women have curves.
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Curvaceous, as well, womanly, voluptuous,
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this means normally that they've got
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quite a big bum and big boobs.
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They're normally flattering when used in a non-creepy way.
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For a man, stocky, well built, muscly.
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Okay, now to touch on the negative words.
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Some quite soft ones for somebody who is larger
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are plump, chubby, round.
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This doesn't mean fat or big, it just means
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that they've got a little bit extra on them
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You can also say overweight, large, big, heavy.
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And if somebody is very thin, you can call them
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underweight, skinny, bony, if you can see their bones.
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One word that is often used to describe very thin people
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that shouldn't really be used is anorexic.
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It's a medical term, it's not actually an adjective
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to describe somebody's physical appearance.
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So try to avoid that one.
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Okay, let's move on to hair.
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Now, there are two ways in which
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you can talk about somebody's hair colour.
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You can say to have, adjective, hair,
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or to be, adjective, dash, haired.
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For example, I have blonde hair.
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I am blonde-haired.
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The second one is a bit of a mouthful actually,
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to be blonde-haired.
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I am blonde-haired.
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You can also just say, I am blonde.
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But that's better to use for colours
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that are very specific to hair colours,
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like blonde, and ginger, and brunette.
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So I am blonde, I am ginger, I am brunette, that's fine.
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But if you say, I am white, or I am black,
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it could be confused with skin-colour.
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So it's best to say I am black-haired, I have white hair.
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So we've got a huge spectrum of colours that you can be.
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I'm going to talk about the most common ones,
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but they are quite specific, and you might not
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have heard of them all before.
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So let's start with the lightest, and move to the darkest.
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So, we have white, then we have grey, then we have
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platinum blonde, and this is white-blonde hair.
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It's normally not a natural colour, but some people
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are lucky enough to have naturally white-blonde
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or platinum hair, it's a really interesting colour.
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Then we have blonde.
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If it's a bit darker, it could be called golden.
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And then, if it's a bit darker than blonde,
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there are two ways you can describe it.
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If it's blonde, almost brown, you can say dirty blonde.
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If it's blonde, almost ginger,
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you can say strawberry blonde.
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Then we have ginger, which is more orange,
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and red, which is a darker red colour, obviously.
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After that, you have mousy brown,
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which is a light brown colour.
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Then brown, then brunette, as well,
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which is another way of saying brown hair.
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It's normally a bit darker.
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Then, dark brown, and then black.
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Now, if you don't want to specify a colour of hair
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or skin or eyes, and you just want to say light or dark,
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you can say fair for light, or dark for the darker colours.
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So, I am fair, I have fair eyes, fair hair, and fair skin.
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This means I am just light.
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Somebody else might have dark hair, dark eyes, dark skin.
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So, we normally use fair or dark.
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So, what about hair length.
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Well, if you have no hair, then you are bald.
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I am bald.
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In a video that I did on Aly's channel,
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Papa Teach Me English, I was bald.
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If you would like to see me with no hair,
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and, well, no feminine makeup, different makeup,
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then you can click up there.
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See if you recognise me, I look slightly different.
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Then you have short hair, long hair.
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But then in between, you can have a bob,
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I have a bob haircut, in my first videos,
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I had very short hair in a bob haircut.
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I didn't ask for that haircut, it was a surprise.
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Shoulder-length hair, medium-length hair, long hair.
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If you want to say how long your hair is,
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you can say, "My hair goes down to my ..."
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So, my hair goes down to my armpit.
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My hair goes down to my waist.
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As far as hair texture, you can have straight hair,
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wavy hair, curly hair, afro hair,
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which is really, really dense curls.
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The quality of your hair can also be described.
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If your hair is very soft, it can be silky or shiny.
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If it's not soft, if it's quite damaged,
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you can say you have dry hair,
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or you can say it's straw-like.
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So, let's move on to the subject of skin.
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This again, is a more difficult one.
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So, we have the spectrum of white and black.
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But different people like to be called different things.
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So, I would call myself white.
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I have a lot of friends with darker skin
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who are often called black, but
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they would actually prefer to be called brown.
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I would say when in doubt, use fair or dark
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to describe somebody's skin tone.
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Now, in the middle, we have tanned.
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This means that you've been blessed by the sun,
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you've caught a sun tan, you've gone brown in the sun.
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And in British English, we say tanned,
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and in American English, they say tan.
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If you're not tanned, then you are pale.
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And that is what I am all of the time.
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I am always pale, even when I go on holiday.
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Now, let's move on to eye colour.
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Again, you can use fair or dark.
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Fair eyes, light eyes, dark eyes.
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So you can say, to have, adjective, eyes,
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or to be, adjective, dash, eyed.
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So, I have grey eyes, I am grey-eyed.
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I am dark-eyed.
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Most of the colours are pretty simple,
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blue, brown, green, black, grey, brown.
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I've said brown, haven't I?
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But one colour that's used quite frequently is hazel.
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If you have a sort of a browny-green eye,
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it can be called hazel.
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So, they have hazel eyes.
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Now, lips.
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You can have thin lips, but if you want to talk about
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somebody with big lips, you can say they have full lips.
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So if somebody has big, kissy, pouty lips,
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you can say they have very full lips.
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If somebody has really sticky out lips and speaks like this,
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you can call them pouty lips.
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But yes, full or thin, really.
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Next, you can talk about noses.
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So, big or small, obviously, are the basics.
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If somebody has a bend in their nose,
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it can be called a crooked nose, a crooked nose.
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If they haven't got a bend in their nose,
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it can be a straight nose.
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If somebody has a small nose, you can call it a button nose.
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If they've got a hook, a hooked nose.
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If somebody's nose is like this,
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it's a turned up nose, or an upturned nose.
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Face shape, I looked online, and apparently
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there are nine different face shapes,
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but we're going to talk about four today.
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You have oval, round, heart-shaped,
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which ends in a point, and square,
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if somebody has a square jaw.
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What about general appearance.
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I did do a video with Anna from English like a Native