Describing graphs and trends
Describing graphs and trends is an area that nearly all of my clients find difficult so here are two PDFs I made to help you.
My graph vocab PDF gives you the vocab to talk about the graph itself. Is it a pie chart or a bar graph? What does the x-axis show? etc
My describing graphs and trends PDF gives you the language to talk about what graph is showing. Are sales increasing, decreasing or maybe fluctuating? Is that sharply or slowly? Or maybe they dropped off in the middle of the year? There are multiple ways to describe what is happening on each graph, so there are many other possibilities that I didn't have space to mention. I chose my suggestions based on two criteria:
-they sounds professional
-they are understandable for an international audience*
On this PDF the language is used to describe graphs. However, it can also be used to describe all trends, not just those shown on graphs. e.g.
The number of homeless people I see on the streets has increased sharply in the last ten years.
The number of potential clients contacting me always drops off in the summer.
*I read an article about a year ago on describing graphs and trends written by an American. Nearly all were references to American sports and as a non-baseball/basketball player, many of the terms were totally new to me. As a native speaker, I could work out most (but not all) of the meanings. A non-native speaker would have been totally lost..
My graph vocab PDF gives you the vocab to talk about the graph itself. Is it a pie chart or a bar graph? What does the x-axis show? etc
My describing graphs and trends PDF gives you the language to talk about what graph is showing. Are sales increasing, decreasing or maybe fluctuating? Is that sharply or slowly? Or maybe they dropped off in the middle of the year? There are multiple ways to describe what is happening on each graph, so there are many other possibilities that I didn't have space to mention. I chose my suggestions based on two criteria:
-they sounds professional
-they are understandable for an international audience*
On this PDF the language is used to describe graphs. However, it can also be used to describe all trends, not just those shown on graphs. e.g.
The number of homeless people I see on the streets has increased sharply in the last ten years.
The number of potential clients contacting me always drops off in the summer.
*I read an article about a year ago on describing graphs and trends written by an American. Nearly all were references to American sports and as a non-baseball/basketball player, many of the terms were totally new to me. As a native speaker, I could work out most (but not all) of the meanings. A non-native speaker would have been totally lost..