Welcome to the English we speak. I'm Beth and I'm Faye Faye. We have an expression all about being very happy, particularly when your face suddenly reflects how happy or excited you are. It's a nice phrase for Christmas and it has a Christmas word in it. It's light up like a Christmas tree.

Light up like a Christmas tree. Can you give us some context, Beth?

Well, think about a Christmas tree. When you turn on the lights, it's suddenly much brighter.

It's full of life and energy. Now imagine this being your face.

Last year I got a puppy for Christmas.

It was such a shock. When I saw him I lit up like a Christmas tree.

I was so happy.

Wow, I can imagine your face, very excited.

When I was a child I really wanted a doll's house.

I didn't expect to get one, but I did. I lit up like a Christmas tree.

So in both these situations we were surprised. A happy surprise and our faces reflected that but this expression doesn't always have to be used with a

surprise or Christmas.

True whenever I see my family after a while I light up like a Christmas tree. I know I'm going to see them. It's not a

surprise but I still feel really excited about it.

Yesterday my nephew lit up like a Christmas tree when I told him we could make a snowman. He was very excited. Let's hear some more examples.

My girlfriend lit up like a Christmas tree when I asked her to marry me.

When I read him the poem I'd written, he lit up like a Christmas tree.

I lit up like a Christmas tree. I lit up like a Christmas tree when I found out I got the job.

You're listening to the English we speak from BBC Learning English and we're learning the expression light up like a Christmas tree

Which is a way of saying you look very happy or excited about something?

Now we've been using it so far metaphorically to mean you look excited about something,

but we can also use it more literally, especially when a place is particularly bright with a lot of lights.

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