Praising, Encouraging and Consoling Classroom Language

Praising

Nice work! /Great stuff (everybody/ team A/ this group/ Susan)

(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 was (at least/ more than/ about) twice as good as your last attempt

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) marvelous/ 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/ commiserating/ being positive about negative feedback

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 Indonesian/French, etc, but do you know what it is in English?