This is a list of phrases you can use to add positivity to an English class without the need for other languages. The most useful phrases are underlined.
Useful classroom phrases for praising
- “Nice work (everybody/ team A)”
- “Great stuff (this group/ Maria)”
- “Good job (on…)”
- “(You did a) great job”
- “You (all) did very well”
- “(Very) well done (all the girls/ teams that have already finished)”
- “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”
- “Give yourself/ yourselves a pat on the back”
- “Let me shake your hand!”
- “Give me five!/ High 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”
- “OK, 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/ a nice story/ a nice ending/ nice handwriting/ (a) nice…”
- “That’s very neat/ imaginative/ carefully done/ long/ accurate/ intelligent/ creative”
- “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(s)/ the champion(s)!”
- “You have won (the game/ that game/ the whole game/…)!”
- “(That’s a) good question/ great question”
- “(You have made) a lot of progress/ good progress/ excellent”
- “That's more like it / (That's) (much/ 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”
Useful classroom phrases for encouraging
- “Keep going/ Don't give up/ You can do it!”
- “(You’re) nearly there/ almost there/ getting there/ getting warm(er)/ getting close(r)”
- “(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”
- “Don't be shy”
- “No one in the other class managed that/ to finish either”
- “(Don’t worry, you can) 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.) (Do you want to) try again? / Have another go”
- “(You were) almost (right)”
- “You're halfway there/ You're on the right lines. (Try changing…)”
- “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.”
- “90% right/ 90% finished. (I’ll give you) two minutes to finish the rest/ to correct the rest”
- “The drawing is great, now try working on the text (a bit more)”
- “Only one mistake”
- “Third time lucky!
- “Last try!”
Useful classroom phrases for consoling/ commiserating/ being positive about negative feedback
- “That’s a shame/ That’s a pity. Better luck next time”
- “I’m sure you’ll do it next time/ 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…, but do you know what it is in English?”