How to say
LIST OF PHRASES TO PRAISE, ENCOURAGE AND CONSOLE STUDENTS
PRAISING
– Nice work! /Great stuff (everybody / team A / this group / Maria)
– (You did a) good / great job
– You (all) did very well
– (Very) well done (all the girls / teams that have already finished)
– Perfect/ (A) perfect score / No mistakes! / You didn’t make any mistakes (at all) / You didn’t make a single mistake.
– Ten out of ten / 100%
– It’s a (class) record! / That’s the best this year/ this term / this week / today
– That’s better than (all) my other classes
– That was (at least / more than / about) twice as good as your last attempt
– Give yourself/ yourselves a pat on the back
– Let me shake your hand!/ Give me five!
– This team was the fastest, this team was the neatest, and this team wrote the most. Well done (everybody)!
– (That is/ was) (really/ absolutely) excellent / fantastic / fabulous / great / superb
– (That’s) (so / very / really) good!
– Not (too) bad (at all)
– That’s right! / Exactly! / That’s (exactly) the correct answer!
– Give him a big hand! / Give her a round of applause / I think that is worth a round of applause / Put your hands together for…
– Congratulations
– Bravo!
– Hooray!
– (You) got it first time!/ You did it on your first attempt!
– You (finally) did it!
– (You finished) just in time!
– I’m impressed/ That’s (very / really) impressive
– You’ve been a great help / I couldn’t have done it without you
– O.K, I’ll accept that (as an answer)
– That’s a (very) good / great / original / imaginative suggestion / idea!
– I like that (very much)!
– I like this one best/ This one’s my favourite (because…)
– That’s (a) nice drawing / story / ending / handwriting
– That’s very neat / imaginative / carefully done / long / accurate / intelligent / creative
– (That is/ was) marvellous / magnificent / terrific / fabulous/ superb/ fantastic
– Wow (that was quick)!
– I’ll give that a gold star
– 100/ 1000/ 10000/ a million points for that
– I’ll put this up on the wall
– (You are) the winner/ the champion(s)! / You have won the game!
– (That’s a) good/ great question!
– You have made a lot of / good/ excellent progress.
– That’s more like it / That’s much better / That’s a lot better.
– You’ve improved (your grammar/ accuracy/ fluency/ pronunciation) a lot
– Don’t change your mind, that was correct/ I think that’s the right answer, I just couldn’t hear you
– That’s exactly the point / That’s just what I was looking for
ENCOURAGEMENT
– Keep going/ Don’t give up/ You can do it!
– (You’re) nearly there / almost there / getting there/ getting warmer/ getting closer
– (You’re) getting better
– (This/ that is/ was) much better than last time/ last week/ yesterday
– Next time we’ll do it perfectly!
– (That was a) nice try / attempt
– Don’t be shy/ No need to be shy/ Don’t hold back
– No one in the other class managed that/ to finish either
– Try again (after looking in your books for 30 seconds/ at the beginning of the next lesson/ after I give you this hint)
– Don’t worry about your pronunciation / how long it takes/ your spelling / neatness
– There’s no need to rush / There’s no hurry / We have plenty of time
– Good try, but not quite right / Not quite right. Try again / Do you want to try again? / Have another go?
– You were almost right / That’s almost it / You’ve almost got it. Try again
– You’re halfway there / You’re on the right lines. Try changing the…
– Go on. Have a try / Have a go / Have a guess
– If you don’t know, just guess
– You won’t lose marks for wrong answers
– Numbers 1 to 7 and 9 are correct. See if you can correct the others.
– (That is) nearly/ almost (right / perfect/ finished)
– 90% right/ finished. I’ll give you two minutes to finish/ correct the rest
– The drawing is great, now try working on the text (a bit more)
– Only one mistake
– Third time lucky!/ Last try!
CONSOLING( being positive about negative feedback)
– That’s a shame/ That’s a pity. Better luck next time
– I’m sure you’ll do it/ manage next time
– Never mind. (You won the game last week, remember?)
– You did very well (but there were more people in their team/ Juan just knew all the answers)
– (That’s a good idea but) not quite what I was looking for
– That’s good English but it has another meaning
– Not exactly
– I understand what you mean, but we don’t say that in English
– You can’t say that, I’m afraid / (That’s a good word/ Well remembered, but) you can’t use that word here
-That’s the right word in Russian or Esperanto, etc, but do you know what it is in English?