42 Spotlight 10/2019 LANGUAGE
pix
“Pix” and “pics” are short forms
of the word “pictures” and are
often used in text-speak.
Other synonyms for “photos”
include “snaps” (an old-
fashioned word for a picture
that’s taken without any great
skill, such as “holiday snaps”)
and “shots” (from the verb “to
shoot a photo”, often used for
different styles of professional
photos, such as a “head shot”
or an “action shot”).take
In English, you say “take a
photo” (not “make a photo”).in the photo
The correct translation of auf
dem Foto is “in the photo”, not
“on the photo”. You also say “in
the picture”.THE LANGUAGE OF DESCRIPTION
Cool pix!
Ein Bild sagt mehr als tausend Worte – trotzdem sollten Sie den
richtigen Wortschatz parat haben, um zu beschreiben, was Sie da sehen.
VANESSA CLARK präsentiert die wichtigsten Wörter und
Wendungen für eine gelungene Bildbeschreibung.
MEDIUM AUDIO PLUSN
owadays,
we take
more than a
trillion pho-
tos a year.
That’s a mil-
lion million
pictures of
our kids, pets and holidays, plus an awful
lot of selfies. We share them with others,
and in return, we are bombarded with oth-
er people’s photos to admire. Often, just
clicking to send a digital “Like” or post-
ing “Cool pix!” is reaction enough. Some-
times, though, you may want to say more.
The ability to talk about photos in Eng-
lish is a skill one is required to demon-
strate in many language exams, where a
photograph is often used as the starting
point of a discussion.
On the following pages, you can learn
how to talk about different kinds of pho-
tographs, and you’ll have the chance to
practise your skills as you go along. Let’s
look through a few of the photos taken by
Sophie, an arts student.admire [Ed(maIE]
, bewundern
pix [pIks] ifml.
, Bilder, Fotos
text-speak [(tekst spi:k]
, SMS-Sprache
trillion [(trIljEn]
, Billion(en)