Learn nature VOCABULARY in English with The Lord of the Rings

Danh-danh-duh-duh-danh. Duh-duh-danh. Duh-duh-danh. Duh-danh-danh. Danh-danh-danh-danh. My precious.

Come on. Thanks, Steve. He loves this book. Hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking,

and welcome to this lesson on "Nature Vocabulary with Lord of the Rings". Lord of the Rings

by J. R. R. Tolkien is one of the greatest, most important, most revered not just fantasy

novels; but novels, period, in the English language. It is wonderful, beautiful, full

of lush landscapes and scenery. And the reason I've decided to focus on nature vocabulary

for you guys is: Even if you're not a Lord of the Rings fan, this video is still useful

for you because I'm going to give you some vocab that is common, but also not so common,

and all of it is in this book.

Now, if you like this book that I have in my hand, and you want to know: "Alex, where

can I get one?" you can get either the physical copy or the e-book version at the Amazon link

that is attached to this video. Or another option is, if you want to listen to the audiobook

version of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring... There're also two more books

- The Two Towers and The Return of the King. If you want any one of those books, you can

get the audiobook version by checking out the link to Audible that is also attached

to this video. You can get the book for free by clicking at the link, and you will also

sign up for a free 30-day trial.

So, if you like the book, if you like the audio quality, and... Which I think you will,

because the narrator who, you know, does Lord of the Rings-Rob Inglis is his name-he's wonderful.

I have the book on my own phone, I've listened to it. He does, like, the songs that are in

the story, he does the poems, and he has this deep, baritone voice when he reads the book,

which is just beautiful. It makes you feel like your grandfather is reading the book

to you. So, the audiobook is totally excellent. Check it out if you want at the Audible link

that is attached to this video. I think that's all I wanted to say before we got into things.

So, I'm going to put this down far away from Steve, over here. Okay. I'm watching you.

And we're going to talk about some of the flora and the fauna of The Lord of the Rings

series. And this vocabulary is found throughout the entire series. Okay? So, what I wanted

to do, really, with this video and what I want to do for you guys is to make you feel

comfortable in the world of Middle Earth, because there is a ton of travelling; there

are a ton of natural, physical features that are described in the book. It's very beautiful,

it's very poetic, and if you're... If you like nature, this is the book for you. If

you like fantasy, and action, and magic, and adventure, this is definitely the book for

you.

So, I thought I would start with some of the wetter parts of the geography in Middle Earth,

which is the fictional fantasy land that Lord of the Rings takes place in. So, we'll start

very simple, a word you might already know, and that is a "river". Now, a river is a large

channel of water that flows into a sea. So, around Montreal, you have the Saint Lawrence

River. The Nile is a river. The Amazon is a river. So, these are long channels of water

that flow into the sea, and there's actually some debate over whether the Nile or the Amazon

is the longest river in the world, depending on how you choose to measure them. So, those

of you in Brazil probably see it one way; those of you in Egypt might see it another

way. They're both rivers, though - that's the most important thing today.

Next: a "stream". Think of a stream as a smaller, more narrow river. Okay? So, they talk about

the characters walking past streams - a small, narrow river. So, this is how it would look

like on a map. All right? You have the blue, you have the thin lines representing the water

flowing, either a river or a stream.

Next: "bank". Not the bank where you get your money, but a river bank. Okay? So, a bank

is a piece of land that slopes into a river or a lake. So, here's a picture of a river

bank. Think of, you know, the land here, it slopes down and you have the water here, so

this is called the river bank. In Lord of the Rings, the characters sometimes walk by

the river bank or they rest near the river bank when they are travelling to deliver the

ring. Okay?

Next: a "slope". So, here, I used the verb "slope" - land that slopes, goes down; and

a "slope", the noun, is basically anything that rises or falls; a surface that rises

or falls. So, we have a rising or falling surface. So, this is a slope right here. All

right? So, you can have a steep slope or a gradual slope. So, steep, it goes up very,

very, you know, steep - the angle is very steep, like this, like almost 90 degrees;

or you have a more gradual slope, maybe 20 degrees, if you're into geometry. Okay? So

they talk about slopes, and river banks, and streams.

And now, this part is tough, so we talk about: "fens", "marshes", "bogs", and "mires". What

I'm going to do is start with the word "mire" first, because a mire is basically the word

that describes the category of these three things on top of it. So, a mire is a stretch

of swampy or boggy ground. Now, to know what a "mire" is and know what "swampy" or "boggy"

means, you need to know what a "marsh" or a "bog" is. Basically, this refers to a stretch

of wet land. Okay? This is a type of wetland.

So, let's start with "fen" and "marsh". "Fen" is a frequently flooded area. A "marsh", similar

to a fen, is an area of low land that is flooded in wet seasons. Now, a fen... The difference

between a fen and a marsh, a fen is typically flooded almost the entire year-okay?-whereas

a marsh gets flooded during specific times of the year. So, here you have an example

of a marsh. Think of, you know, the land is low, it's the wet season, so the water comes

up above the land, and you can grow plant life. Both of them can support plant life

and grasses, so fens and swamps can support plant life and grass.

The difference between them and a bog... Now, a "bog" - wet, muddy ground that can't support

a lot of weight. The soil, the earth is very poor in a bog. It has what's called peat growing

on top of it. "Peat" think of this little clump of green as peat. You know that really

soft, almost furry grass? Okay? That's called peat. So, a bog is basically just a big chunk

of peat that, if you step on it, it can't support your weight.

Now, the difference between a bog, a marsh, and a fen: So, fens and marshes we'll put

together - they can support grass, they can support plant life; a bog can't really grow,

like, weeds and grasses. Okay? All it has is the peat, which is this really furry, soft

stuff, but it can't grow, like, green plants that pop up like this. Okay? So, marshes,

bogs, fens, they are all examples of mires, which are stretches of this wetland. Okay?

Was that kind of clear? Pretty good? Okay.

So, before we go on, let's just do some pronunciation of this kind of water-based vocabulary; these

water landmarks and landscapes. First: "river". Not really landscapes. I'll say geographical

features - that's a better term for it. So, repeat one more time: "river", "stream", "bank",

"slope", "fen", "marsh", "bog", "mire". Excellent.

One more thing I will add to this. There are actually four types of mires; bogs, marshes,

and fens are three of them. The other one that is not here is a swamp. The only thing

you need to know about a swamp that is different than a marsh, a bog, or a fen is that it can

also support tree life, so trees can grow in a swamp; they can't grow in a marsh, a

bog, or a fen.

All right. Now let's talk about some mountains, and cliffs, and hills, and trees. Let's get

into the green stuff now. So, we did the blue stuff; let's do the green stuff.

Again, Steve? He's faster than he looks. Okay. Now, let's look at the green stuff that I

was talking about. So, these are geographical features, such as hills and mountains. You

might know what a mountain is, you might know what a hill is. Did you know there's something

even smaller than a hill called a "knoll"? "Knoll" - the "k" is silent. So, if you ever

go to a park, for example, and you see a piece of land, like the grass, it goes up a bit,

goes down, and it's not really a hill - it's called a knoll. Okay? So, think of it in terms

of size, getting bigger. "Knoll", "hill", "mountain". Okay? So let's just repeat those

after me one more time: "knoll", "hill", "mountain". Good. All right.

And another important part of Lord of the Rings is "roots". Okay? So, roots are basically

these things under the ground that help, you know, hold a tree or hold a plant or hold

grass to the earth; that connect it to the earth. Okay? So, these are, repeat after me:

"roots". Good.

Okay, next we have "valley". So, a valley is a low area of land between hills or mountains.

So, think of this area, here. This would be a valley, so the area between two hills or

between two mountains is the valley. It's the lower part that's between hills and mountains.

And we'll learn a little more about valleys a little later in this board.

Next: "turf". So, when you see soccer games or football games, typically they are playing

on turf of grass. Sometimes it's artificial, like, not natural. So, turf is basically the

grassy layer and the surface of the earth that is held by roots. So, you can go to almost

any, like, garden shop and you can buy turf. So, this grassy part that is held by roots.

Remember roots go down into the earth? And that's simply the turf - it's the top green

layer of grass. It's basically grass. Okay? Think of it as that, but it's held down to

the earth by roots. So, you can buy turf if you want to have a nice green lawn in front

of your house.

A "dell", so... Not Adele the singer, but "dell"... Not the computer either. A dell...

I'm out of jokes for a dell. A dell is basically a small valley. You guys remember a valley

is between hills or mountains; it's the low, low land. This is a smaller valley that is

usually among trees. So, usually you have, like, trees around a dell. It's a small valley

with trees surrounding it. Okay? Or trees in the middle of it. All right.

"Bush", so, think of a bush as a short tree. I drew a little picture, here. Steve, you

see that? Yeah. All right? So, it's a short tree. You don't see, like, the... You know,

you don't have the trunk of the tree. This is called the trunk. It's very low to the

ground; it's a short tree. So, it's a clump of shrubs or basically a short tree. Think

of a short tree. Okay?

Now, a "hedge", think of many bushes together. If you have many bushes together, you have

a hedge because this is a boundary-okay?-or a frontier that is formed by closely-growing

bushes. So, if you have a lot of bushes together, they make a hedge. Okay? So, one small tree

is a bush; many small trees, like many bushes, make a hedge. Some people, you know, who live

in suburban areas will have hedges in their backyard or around their house so that the

neighbours can't see them for some reason. I don't know. Anyway.

Okay, so next we have a "thicket". Okay. Now, so much green stuff; we have bushes are small

trees, hedges are rows of bushes. A thicket is a dense or closely-packed group of bushes

or trees. So, I tried drawing a little picture for you with trees that are close together

and bushes. And if you try walking through... Think of the word "thick" which is in the

word itself, so think of trees and bushes being very close together, and when you walk

through them, you know, you hear the branches scratching against you. A couple of times

in the book... More than a couple. Many times in the book, you know, you will hear or you

will read someone saying, you know: "They went into the thicket." Or the narrator will

say: "They cut through the thicket", so they have to chop the branches from the trees or

the bushes to make progress in the forest, for example. Okay? So that is a thicket.

"Brambles". Brambles are a pain in the butt. They are basically sharp, prickly, pointy

vines. Okay? So, prickly vines. For example, blackberry bushes have brambles. I tried drawing...

You see the... The points, the sharp points, those are basically the prickles... The prickly

part of the vine, and those are called brambles. So, you know, the brambles might get stuck

to your clothes because they're pointy and they're sharp. So, I hate brambles. If you're

walking in the forest, they try getting caught against your pants and stuff. Yeah, anyway.

Okay.

Last of all: "vale". This one is easy because you think: "Huh, 'valley', 'vale', 'valley',

'vale'". "Vale" is just a synonym; another word for "valley". However, sometimes, specifically

in fantasy books, but in real life as well, "vale" is used in place names instead of "valley"

and it's also a very poetic word, so you often hear the word "vale" used in poetry instead

of the word "valley". It just sounds more poetic, I guess. "Valley", "vale". "Valley

of... The vale of". To me, they're both nice words, but I guess poets prefer "vale" for

some reason. Okay, we got a few more, so come on with me. We're almost... We're almost at

Mount Doom.

Last time. Come on, Steve. Okay. Next we have "cliffs". So, what is a cliff? So, a cliff

is a steep rock face... So, here's a steep... Remember the word "steep" as a very sharp

angle up, it goes 90 degrees? So, a steep rock face, usually near the edge of the sea.

So, this is the cliff. So, you hear about, you know, TV shows and movies ending on a

cliff-hanger. So, you want to know: What happens next? Think of a person hanging onto a cliff,

and if the movie or the show stops there: "Oh no! The end? What's going to happen next?

I have to watch next week." So you hang on a cliff. So, this is a cliff.

"Eaves". So, eaves, in our world, they are overhanging edges of a roof. I drew a little

picture, here. If you have a house, this is the roof. The eaves are these little pieces

that hang over the roof. Maybe they're not, like, you know, so long. Some of them can

be very short. You can have very short eaves. But basically any part of the roof that hangs

over the side of the house, like this, is called an eave. In Lord of the Rings, J. R.

R. Tolkien uses it to talk about the eaves of the forest. So, think of standing outside

a very thick, dense forest, and you see, like, the leaves and the branches coming off the

sides of the forest - he calls those the eaves of the forest or the eaves of the trees. Okay?

Next: "hollow". A hollow is just a very beautiful, nice way of saying a hole or a depression.

So, in a tree, for example, sometimes you have little holes or depressions that can

be considered a hollow. Hollows can be bigger, like a cave, technically could be considered

a hollow. So, any little hole that you can kind of, like, climb into or maybe, you know,

birds live in - that's a hollow.

And, finally, we have "fog" and "mist". Now, I was trying to figure out the difference

between these two for you guys, because quite honestly, I didn't really know either. But

the only difference that I was able to find is how far you can see, so the level of visibility.

Now, both of them, you think of fog, think of, like, a low-hanging cloud. Okay? It's

not actually what it is, but both fog and mist are caused by small drops of water in

the air, humidity in the air. They can also be formed by, like, little ice crystals.

The difference, according to the U.K. by law: Fog, if the visibility is one kilometer or

less in a plane-if you're in a plane and you're in the middle of, you know, one of these phenomena-then

you are in fog. Or if you... The visibility is 100 meters or less when you're driving,

you are in fog. If it's more than one kilometer when you're in a plane, or more than 100 meters

when you're driving, it's called mist. That's what the internet told me, guys, so now I'm

passing that knowledge on to you. All right? So, fog and mist.

I always assumed that mist had more, like, water in it, I guess, and I think it still

does because if you go on, for example, to Niagara Falls and you see all of the mist

coming off the water when the waterfalls hit the bottom, that's still mist. But I guess

the U.K. laws say something different. Ah, well. Okay.

So, before we finish, just repeat after me: "cliff", "eaves", "hollow", "fog", "mist".

All right? And fog and mist, it's hard to see. Right? Okay. So, that's it for today,

guys. Steve, you excited? Yeah? Do you want to read The Lord of the Rings right after

this? Huh. You do? Okay. Let me tell you how you can get that book.

So, as I mentioned at the start of this video, if you want a copy of The Lord of the Rings,

either The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, or The Return of the King, you can

get a physical copy or an e-book copy at the Amazon link attached to this video. If you

want to get the audiobook version, which is narrated by the very talented Rob Inglis,

you can do so by clicking the Audible link attached to this video ( https://www.engvid.com/out/audiblealex

), and you will get The Lord of the Rings audiobook for free by clicking that link and

signing up for the free 30-day trial. All right.

If you feel comfortable now in the land of Middle Earth, I really recommend you check

this book out. And maybe even if you're not into Lord of the Rings, maybe you learned

something today, and that's awesome. That's great.

So, if you want to test your understanding of everything we did today, though, check

out the quiz on www.engvid.com. While you're there, please support us by donating or consider

donating; and check me out on YouTube where you can subscribe to my channel, click that

bell, and also check me out on Facebook and Twitter where I do a bunch of stuff and keep

in touch with you guys. So, till next time, thanks for clicking. One ring to rule them

all.