Hi
everyone, this is Ceema (your English teacher for the day)
And in today's lesson, I'm going to talk about
giving and receiving compliments.
Well, the fact is that
every single day we have to receive compliments
and we have to give compliments.
But most of us in non native English speaking countries,
we have this habit of just saying you look good and we
respond with a thank you and that is the end of the
conversation.
Well those are really basic ways of
giving and receiving compliments.
But in today's lesson, I'm going to show you how
to compliment people.
Like a native English speaker, like a
total pro.
Okay, so
let's see what are the compliments
we can generally give.
Now a lot of times
we have to compliment people for the clothes that
they're wearing.
Right?
A lot
of times you wear a pretty
dress
or a really smart outfit and you want to
receive and maybe give compliments.
What do you say?
You could say?
I love what you're wearing,
right?
That's a really nice thing to say.
Or you could opt for this
one which says it looks good on
you.
You know the truth is that
some clothes
look good on us?
Maybe not on
other people.
So this is a really good compliment.
Or you could say you really know how to rock that
outfit right?
Like some people,
they really
have this amazing personality and whatever they wear, they know how to
carry that off.
That's when you say you really know how to rock that outfit
or you could opt
for something really nice and formal by saying
you really carry it
well, like I said,
it's your personality, which
makes you look
so good
in the clothes that you're wearing and
that is why you really know how
to carry it.
Well of course there are times like
I said, you have to be the person who
is getting the compliment and you have to respond
to it.
What do you say
you say really thank you or really
thanks.
You could also say that's so kind of you now, a person who is
giving you compliments, I think they are very kind.
So it's the best
thing to say, that's really kind.
Or you could say you totally made my day.
Do
you know sometimes when you get a compliment,
it really makes you so happy
that your entire
day seems to
be going so well just because of the compliment and that's when you can
say you totally made my day.
Now sometimes people
compliment you on your skills or your abilities, they could be
athletic abilities, your singing abilities, anything really,
what do you say,
wow, you are so natural or you could say
you are
totally gifted or you are gifted with that you are
blessed with the best of the best.
That's true.
Some of us are really blessed with our natural abilities
and then you can also say
it's magical
to watch you code if you're good at coding or it's magical to watch you dance
or it's magical to watch you sing, You can replace this with any
skill
that you are complimenting someone with, to which you will respond.
Thanks for those kind words.
Like I said, compliments are kind.
So you want to thank them
or you could say, I feel really grateful,
thank you.
Or you could say really,
I thought it was normal to do that.
You know, a lot of
people sometimes don't
realize how gifted they are
and they think that
their skills
are really normal, but it's not.
So you could use any
of these
ways to reply to the compliment.
Okay, But sometimes you may have other
kinds of compliments, like
maybe four
your haircut, like
you had a nice haircut and you look nice
or maybe just generally
for the way you look, okay, you're a pure, it's, what do you say?
Then
you can say
you
look so different
in a nice way.
Of course.
Now the
word different,
it's kind of like a very slippery
slope because different could be like a weird different
or a nice
different.
So make sure you specify in a nice way, of course.
Or
you could say, hey,
this haircut or
this cut
accentuates your features.
Now, a lot of times your haircut can really bring out your
facial features and make you look more appealing.
So let's see if you've got nice high cheekbones, a certain
haircut could
make it look more prominent and
that's when you say
your haircut accentuates or really shows
up your features or you could say this
cut is
doing wonders to your
face.
It's kind of a variation of this
phrase, but
I think you could use either of them or you could also
say that's something new.
You look so different, okay, you look so
different.
So
maybe you've
never seen somebody with
a new haircut or maybe the makeup that they've worn
has never,
you've never seen them do that before.
That's when you can say
that's something different, that's something new.
So you look so different.
Of course you have to respond
to this.
So
what do you say?
You can say thanks.
I wanted
to try something new.
That's a nice way of appreciating that comment.
Or
you could say, I totally appreciate
that.
I totally appreciate that.
Or you could say thanks, I'm glad
it turned out the way it did.
What does that mean?
I'm glad the haircut or the makeup
I wore really ended up
looking
as good as I wanted it to because sometimes
let me tell you
all haircuts don't
end up looking really well, but I'm glad it did.
Okay.
Alright, A different kind of compliment
where sometimes you need to compliment people for a good
choice.
It may be books
or in movies.
I read a lot of books, I read a lot of movies, but sometimes I get
compliments.
Sometimes I don't, So what do you compliment
people?
You say
you have a great taste in movies
and books.
Taste is another word for a great choice.
Okay, so
choice and taste really mean the same thing.
You could also say you seem to have an eye for
the best.
Okay, so there are some
people who really seem to choose
good things.
Why?
Because they have an
eye for the best.
Some people also
say I must say
that's a great playlist.
Right?
So a lot of people
they tend to listen to such amazing music.
That's when you can see
this to them.
Some people also say
you
can tell a lot about
someone
by their taste.
That's a great compliment because you're indirectly
telling them that they have a good taste.
So they are really good.
People are really cultured people.
Okay, so this is a really good compliment to give, use it.
But
if you are at the receiving end of the
compliment, what do you
say?
You can say thanks.
My parents got
me interested in
reading or possibly in music which
is actually true in my case because my parents got me
interested in reading or you could simply
say, hey, I appreciate that
without the d I appreciate that.
Or you could say I can't imagine reading or watching
anything else.
Okay you don't want to use the two.
You could simply say
I can't imagine
reading or watching
anything else which means that
that is the best thing that you are always going
to be watching
or reading.
Okay, well I hope
you use all
these compliments
when you have to give them and I
hope you are also ready
to respond to
them appropriately and end up sounding like
a nice,
natural
English speaker.
Okay.
Use them and tell me what
is your best compliment and what
you are going to be using.
I'll be back
with some more lessons
until then this is me saying keep practicing and go on
compliment as
much as you can.
Take care.
Bye!