Talking about Skills in English

Talking about Skills in English

Hello, English learners. Welcome to a new lesson. We will review some vocabulary you need for talking about skills in English.

You have probably attended a job interview or completed an application form. One of the most common questions the interviewers ask is about your skills. By the way, skill refers to your ability to perform a job and it usually comes from practice.

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Good/bad at

Good at

We can say that somebody is skilled by using the structure good at + gerund or noun

• Our teacher is very good at motivating students.
• Mark is very good at drawing and painting. He wants to be an artist.
• Jane is not very good at dancing, but she’s excellent at playing tennis.
• If you want to be good at football, you have to train a lot.

Bad at

We can use the same pattern to say that someone is bad at something.

• Martin is bad at Maths but his sister is even worse.
• I’m very bad at chess. Let’s play something else.
• Susan has always been quite bad at writing essays.

We can use some other adjectives + at and different phrases to talk about skills in English:

• Although she was a single mother of two, Mary was excellent at keeping her children under control.
• George is really great at playing the piano. We love listening to him play.
• John is quite efficient at his job because he has learned how to manage his time effectively.
• Sandra is a doctor who is brilliant at handling her patients.
• Key is no good at giving people advice.
• Terry is horrible at basketball, but he’s fantastic at table tennis.
• Farmers are usually terrible at paperwork.
• I’m useless at remembering people’s names.
• I am hopeless at playing this game. Can we play something else?
• Are you skilled at delivering speeches?

Good/bad with

We can use the phrases good with or bad with + noun to talk about skills.

• Monica is very good with numbers. She’s a great accountant.
• For this position, you need to be good with people.
• Politicians have to be good with words.
• You are supposed to be a lot better with computers for this job.
• Patrick is very bad with time management. He’s always late.
• Our boss is terrible with languages.

To have skills

We can also say that somebody have/has … skills.

• Tony has listening skills. He’s a very good listener.
• Our employees have people skills. They are extremely kind and helpful.
• Tim has leadership skills; he’s the best boss we’ve ever had.
• People who have presentation skills are very good at explaining things.
• The hotel’s staff don’t have very good customer skills. They can be quite rude at times.
• Individuals working in tourism should possess strong language skills.
• Kevin is an excellent real estate agent with great negotiating skills.
• This course will help you improve your problem-solving skills.
• Not all bus drivers have good communication skills.

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