Talking about Skills in English

Talking about Skills in English: Useful Vocabulary & Examples

Sooner or later, everyone has to talk about their skills in English. Maybe it’s in a job interview, maybe in a CV or cover letter, or maybe in a Cambridge speaking or writing exam. And this is where many learners suddenly feel… a bit lost. They know what they can do — but they don’t always know how to say it naturally and confidently. In this lesson, you will learn the most useful and natural ways of talking about skills in English: how to describe what you’re good at, what you’re not so good at, and what abilities you have — with clear structures, common adjectives, and plenty of real-life examples.

Let’s make your English sound confident, professional, and precise.

Talking about skills with good at / bad at

The most common and natural structure is:

be + good / bad + at + noun or -ing form

Examples with good at:

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

Examples with bad at:

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

Useful adjectives for talking about skills

Instead of only saying good or bad, English often uses stronger, more precise adjectives:

• She is excellent at managing people.
• George is great at playing the piano.
• John is efficient at his job because he manages his time well.
• Sandra is brilliant at dealing with patients.
• He’s no good at giving advice.
• Terry is terrible at basketball but fantastic at table tennis.
• Farmers are often terrible at
• I’m useless at remembering names.
• I’m hopeless at this game — can we play something else?
• Are you skilled at giving presentations?

These adjectives are perfect for CVs, cover letters, and speaking exams because they sound more specific and more natural. Talking about skills in English

Talking about skills with good with / bad with

We use good with / bad with + noun when we talk about how someone handles things or people:

• Monica is very good with She’s a great accountant.
• For this job, you need to be good with
• Politicians have to be good with
• You need to be much better with computers for this position.
• Patrick is terrible with time management — he’s always late.
• Our boss is bad with

Talking about skills with have + skill(s)

Another very common and professional way to talk about abilities is:

have + (adjective) + skill(s)

• Tony has good listening skills. He’s a very supportive colleague.
• Our staff have excellent people skills.
• Tim has strong leadership skills.
• People who have presentation skills can explain ideas clearly and confidently.
• The hotel staff don’t have very good customer service skills.
• People working in tourism should have strong language skills.
• Kevin is a successful agent with great negotiating skills.
• This course will help you improve your problem-solving skills.
• Not all drivers have good communication skills.

This structure is extremely useful in professional and academic English.

How to talk about strengths and weaknesses

In real life and in exams, you often need to talk about both:

• I’m quite good at organising things, but I’m not very good at multitasking.
• She has excellent technical skills, but she’s not very good with people.
• I’m improving my presentation skills, but I’m still a bit nervous when I speak in public.

This kind of balanced language sounds honest, mature, and natural — exactly what examiners and interviewers like.

You will need this language when describing yourself, talking about work or studies, discussing strengths and weaknesses, doing B2 First or C1 Advanced speaking tasks or writing CV-style or opinion essays.

Being able to talk about skills clearly and naturally makes your English sound more confident and more advanced.

Talking about skills is not about showing off. It’s about describing yourself clearly, realistically, and confidently. And in good English, that means using natural structures, precise adjectives, and the right vocabulary.

If you really want to learn English but don’t know how to do it and where to start, don’t hesitate to contact us. Book an online English lesson with one of our certified and experienced English teachers and take a test and consultation! Click the button to learn more!