TEACHERS

N OT E S
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Age: Teenager/Adult LANGUAGE TIP: Here you could teach
Level: Intermediate (B1) your students the popular saying You cant
Time: 45 minutes judge a book by its cover, as this idiom exists in other
Activity: In this lesson, students will: languages. If you have time you can encourage
describe a person on first impressions students to share sayings from their language and see
discuss what they notice about people and what people if they exist in English.
notice about them
5. Students prepare to tell their own story by making notes
Language focus: look/seem/look like to describe general
or writing the story in full. Monitor while they do this to
impressions, adjectives and compound adjectives describing
check that they are using the new language correctly,
appearance and personality
offering corrections where necessary.
Materials: search online for images of famous people and
save for later access, prepare a story about an occasion 6. Students tell each other stories of meeting someone for
when you met someone for the first time the first time. Alternatively, you could ask students to
write their stories for homework and either submit them

P RO C E D U R E
to you or read them aloud at the start of the next lesson.

7. Focus students attention on the photos of the women

1. Write first impressions on the board and ask students what
in the What are your first impressions? exercise. Ask
the first thing they notice is about someone when they
students to work in pairs and brainstorm any words they
meet them for the first time. Elicit some answers and write
would use to describe them. Ask them to think about
them on the board giving the class time to discuss each
their age, physical appearance, clothes, and what they
others opinions.
think their personalities are like.
2. Hand out the worksheet and ask students to look at the
LANGUAGE TIP: For stronger students,
first exercise, What do you notice? Ask them to put the
you could introduce useful collocations here
words on the page into the first column of the table in
such as to make a good impression on someone and
the order in which they notice them when they meet a
continue with a discussion on the best ways to make
person for the first time. When they are finished, ask
a good first impression (smile, dress smartly, good
them to compare their answers with the person next
posture, friendly manner).
to them.
8. Focus on the vocabulary and ask students if there are any
LANGUAGE TIP: If you have time, with
words they dont understand. Try to elicit definitions from
stronger students you might want to brainstorm
the stronger students and drill any difficult pronunciation.
collocations and vocabulary relating to the eight
Then ask students in pairs to circle the words and
categories, e.g. a deep voice, a forceful personality, a
expressions they think best describe the women in the
winning smile, piercing eyes, spiky hair, etc. Make sure your
two photos.
students keep a clear record of this new vocabulary.
LANGUAGE TIP: This a good opportunity
3. Ask students to complete What other people notice
to introduce some extra vocabulary such as
about me and What I noticed about _____ columns on
compound adjectives related to physical appearance
their own then compare their answers with their partner.
and character if you have a stronger class. Put
Conduct whole class feedback and ask students to
students in small groups and get them to mind-map
extend their answers by justifying their views.
vocabulary (dark/fair/brown/blond-haired, blue/green/
4. As an optional extra, you could tell the students a story brown/hazel-eyed, etc). Ask if they know any synonyms
about meeting someone a friend, your partner, etc. or antonyms for the vocabulary on the page (outgoing
for the first time. Describe your first impressions and = gregarious, calm = serene).
whether these were accurate or not when you got to
know the person better.

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Impressions: First impressions
 TEACHERS
N OT E S
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
9. Explain that we use the verbs look and seem to talk about
the impression a person gives. We use look to talk about
impressions based on physical appearance and seem to
talk about impressions based on more general clues, such
as the way a person talks or behaves. We use look like to
compare the person to someone or something else.

10. Highlight the form on the board.

She looks + adjective

e.g. She looks unhappy.
She seems + adjective
e.g. She seems friendly.
She looks/seems like + noun phrase / subject and verb
e.g. She looks like a nice person. She seems like shes having a
bad day.

11. Ask students: How much can you tell about a person
by the way they look when you first see them? Then put
them in small groups and ask them to tell each other their
impressions of the two women using look/see/look like
and expressions they circled. Find out if they agree or
disagree.

12. Ask students to work in new pairs and do the First

impression tasks, parts A and B. Monitor and make sure
to check students have the correct answers, checking
pronunciation of difficult words (naughty, moody, etc.) if
necessary. Check answers as a class.

Key:
A:
1. e; 2. f; 3. b; 4. g; 5. d; 6. c; 7. a

B:
1. sensible; 2. cheerful; 3. shy; 4. bad-tempered; 5. lazy;
6. quiet; 7. naughty

13. In their pairs, students ask each other the questions

in part C. Monitor and check their understanding,
particularly of questions 1 and 2. If you have extra time,
you could ask students to look at pictures from the
magazines or newspapers you have provided and compare
their impressions of the people.

Key:
C: Students own answers.

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Impressions: First impressions
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WO R K S H E E

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
What do you notice?

Y HAIR
PERSONALIT

EYES FACE

TEETH SMILE

VOICE C LO T H E S

What do you notice first when you meet a new person? Their eyes? Their smile? Their clothes? Or something different? Complete
the table below. You can use the vocabulary above or new vocabulary.

What I notice about other people What other people notice about me What I noticed about ______________

1.

2.

3.

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Impressions: First impressions
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WO R K S H E E

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
What are your first impressions?
Look at the women in the photographs. What are your first impressions of them?

... ...
S H E LO O K S SHE SEEMS

shy outgoing moody upset

ambitious scruffy bad-tempered easy-going
selfish exhausted friendly sensible
smart worried calm confident

LIKE ...
S H E LO O K S

an interesting person an artist

someone I know shes having fun
shes in her 20s a student
shes lost she has a lot on her mind

How much can you tell about a person by the way they look when you first see them?
Use some of the vocabulary above to help you describe the two women. Add any more that you can think of.

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WO R K S H E E

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
First impression tasks
A. Personality adjectives
Match the adjectives with the definitions.
1. shy a. doesnt say much

2. bad-tempered b. is always happy, in a good mood

3. cheerful c. doesnt like working

4. naughty d. always knows the right thing to do

5. sensible e. uncomfortable with new people

6. lazy f. gets angry very quickly

7. quiet g. breaks the rules, but not a bad person

B. Personality opposites
Which words in exercise A have the opposite meaning to these?

1. silly 

2. moody 

3. outgoing 

4. easy-going 

5. hard-working 

6. talkative 

7. well-behaved 

C. First impressions questionnaire

Think about someone you met recently. Working with your partner, ask and answer the following questions about the person:

1. What type of music is he/she into? *

2. What does he/she generally get up to on Saturday night? **

3. Is he/she normally quite shy when he/she meets new people?

4. How would you describe his/her parents: strict or liberal?

5. Do you think he/she a good student?

6. Is he/she better at science or at arts subjects?

7. What sports does he/she enjoy playing?

8. Do you think that you will become good friends?

* if you are into something it means that you enjoy it, e.g. My little brother is really into football.
** when we say that you get up to something, it is an informal way of saying that you do something, e.g. What did you get up to last
weekend? I went to the cinema with my girlfriend.

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Impressions: First impressions