Let's Learn English! Topic: This Amazing World! 🏜️⛰️🌋 (Lesson Only)

Well hello and welcome to this English lesson about this

amazing world. I don't know about you but I think the world

is amazing and in this lesson I'm going to talk about some of

the amazing things. In some ways it'll be a little bit like

a geography lesson. So if you like talking about lakes and

cliffs and valleys. This will be a good lesson not only for

you to learn English but also to learn a little bit about the

natural world around us. So once again welcome to this

English lesson about this amazing world. Waterfall. So I

put this word first. A waterfall is when a river goes

over the edge of a precipice. That's a big word eh? Or a

cliff. So I put this one first because I live close to Niagara

Falls. One of the largest waterfalls in the world. So a

waterfall is beautiful to watch. When I go to Niagara

Falls I can stand and watch the water fall for a long time. We

would probably use words like mesmerizing. When you watch the

water just continually flow over the edge and fall. When

you watch the waterfall when you watch the water fall. Did

you know you could use it together waterfall or separate?

You watch the waterfall. Anyways it's pretty obvious

why. It's called this a waterfall is simply a beautiful

thing to see. If there's one near you I suggest you plan to

go have a look at it sometime this month or in the future.

Always a good experience when you go see a waterfall. Now a

rapids when you see rapids it's not a waterfall but it's

certainly water that's moving quickly and usually over rocks

and other things. There might be some logs, some fallen

trees, there's rocks and it creates what we call white

water. So this is what I would call rapids when the water gets

foamy like this I would call it white water. So rapids are

found usually in mountainous areas or areas where the Water

can flow very quickly either in a river or stream over and

around rocks. One of the most popular things to do is to go

kayaking. A lot of people will kayak down a river that has

lots of rapids. So rapids would be much smaller than a

waterfall. But certainly another form of flowing water.

A canyon. So a canyon is typically an area where there

are very steep sides and usually there's a river at the

bottom but it might be dried up at certain times of year. Um

but a canyon is just a beautiful place to go because

it's very serene. That's how I would describe it. It's very

serene. Uh it's very beautiful to see. In the United States

there's a place called the Grand Canyon. I have never been

there. But I would love to go and visit the Grand Canyon.

There aren't very many canyons in my part of Canada. But if

you go to the Western United States you'll be able to find

something called the Grand Canyon. Fun place to visit I

would assume. So you might be wondering what's a gorge. Let

me say that word again. A gorge. A gorge to me is a

smaller type of canyon. A gorge to me is something that you

would find close to me there is actually a few gorges. It's

another area where the sides are very very steep. And a

gorge almost always has flowing water at the bottom of it.

Usually fairly fast flowing water. So near me there are a

few places where you can go see a gorge. There's Allora Gorge

about two hours drive from here. Um again gorge. Kind of a

funny word to say. But a place with very steep sides and

flowing water at the bottom. A cliff. So a cliff is where the

land ends and then goes almost straight down. As you can see

here if you were to be afraid of heights like I am you

wouldn't necessarily want to walk to the edge of a cliff. I

would be afraid to stand at the edge of a cliff because I am

afraid of heights. I don't like being in high places. But this

is a great example of a very steep cliff. We often describe

a cliff as being very steep. Because it's all Most vertical.

Um definitely a little bit of a scary place to stand. Don't go

stand by the edge of a cliff. So a simpler one here. A

mountain. A mountain is simply a very very tall rocky I'm

trying to think of another word. A tall rocky outcropping

from the earth maybe. But all of us are aware that if you

want to go to one of the highest natural naturally

occurring places in your country you will want to find

one of your country's mountains. I think in Canada

the highest mountain is Mount Logan. I think it's up in the

Yukon up north. Um we all are probably familiar with Mount

Everest. That's another mountain that is very tall. And

mountain are places where people are drawn to because

they like some people like the challenge of trying to climb

the mountain. They like mountain climbing. Now a hill

is simply a very very small mountain. Am I allowed to say

that? Is that how you would define it? Um a hill is

something as simple as it might take you four or five steps to

get to the top of a hill. It might take you a hundred or two

hundred steps to get to the top of a hill. If a hill is more

steps than that. At a certain point we would start to call it

a mountain. Um and by the way a mountain doesn't have to just

be made of rock in the earlier of the mountain. It will be

hilly and there will be some grass and other things as well.

Possibly trees. Uh but a hill I would say is any mound of dirt

big enough that it would take you a few steps to get to the

top or many many more. Um we have a hill behind our house

and that's the hill that we use when we go sledding. Uh it's

really nice to slide down that hill on a sled. So a valley a

valley occurs between two hills or between two mountains. It's

definitely bigger than a gorge. And it's definitely a little

more green and habitable. Usually you can live in a

valley. Not every valley. But when I use the word valley I'm

thinking of something that looks a little more like this.

You can see the mountains on each side. You can see that

there's a road in the valley. So it's a low area between two

higher areas. Sometimes the valley will wind a little bit

and valleys are very very beautiful. We don't have many

valleys near me. But I know there are countries like I

think Switzerland and other places in the world where there

are many many mountains and because of that there are many

many valleys. Very very fun and enjoyable. To go to a valley

and see the beautiful view. So a couple flat areas to talk

about. Uh a plane is just a very flat area with almost no

trees or no trees. In Western Canada there are plains. Um so

it's just flat areas of land. And there are no hills. There

are no mountains. There might be a few trees but usually not

very many trees. It's just a big huge flat area. Um it's a

little bit boring I've heard to drive across Saskatchewan the

province of Saskatchewan because it's very flat and the

roads are very straight and there's not a whole lot of

variation. Um no hills, no mountains, barely any trees.

And then we have what's called grassland. Grassland is similar

to a plane. Uh except that it definitely has grass. So it's

basically a plane that has a lot of grass. Grassland is

often used for grazing cattle or sheep. Um there are parts

North America where there is just a lot of plain and it's

mostly grassland where they feed have cattle on pasture we

would say. Beach. So this is a pretty simple one. You'll

notice I've put some words in here that you probably know and

I've put some words in here that maybe are new to you.

Beach should be familiar for a couple of reasons. First of all

it's a place by a lake or ocean or sea where usually there's

lots of sand. Although we do beaches here where it's really

really small rocks or pebbles as well. There's usually waves

coming in and it's a beautiful place to go in the summer. I

will say the word again beach. If you listen it's beach.

Beach. So when you see you know the little insect called a bee.

That's how it starts. Beach. You don't want to mispronounce

this. Because if you let me let me give you an example. Right

now I'm going to itch my shoulder here. If I say the

word itch but I start with the letter B instead that's not a

good word to say. And sometimes when people say beach they say

it in a way where it rhymes with itch. Don't say that. It's

not a very nice word or kind word. But a beach a place near

the sea or a lake or ocean where there's sand or really

small stones and waves and it's a fun place to go on a summer

day. So coast we also say coastline is a more general

term. A beach is on the coast. The coast refers to the place

where water this hand is water. This is lead. Where water and

land meet. So it can be a rocky coast like in the distance. It

can be a beach like in the forefront here. But a coast or

coastline. Sometimes we say coastline. Um is the place

where again a lake. I'm not sure if I would use it for a

lake. Let me think about that. When I go to the lake I go to

the water's edge. I think coast is primarily when talking about

a sea or ocean. And I'll talk about the difference between

those two at the end. Um I'm clicking and one sec here. An

iceberg. So in the world there are large chunks of ice or

compacted snow mostly ice that float in the ocean. Um these

come from either the North Pole or the South Pole or the

northern part of the planet or southern part of the planet. I

think there's icebergs in the south. But where there is a lot

of accumulated ice. Definitely in the north. Occasionally that

ice will fall into the ocean and it will float because ice

floats actually that's one of the amazing things about our

world when water freezes it floats when you put ice cubes

in a cup they float icebergs float in the ocean they're very

dangerous for ships because apparently there's more iceberg

underneath the water than there is above the water but an

iceberg is a big chunk of ice floating in the ocean if you

know about the Titanic. The ship that sank many many years

ago. Um it is because it hit an iceberg. Volcanoes. So a

volcano is a place where lava from underneath the surface of

the earth comes to the surface. There's a lot of pressure

because of that molten lava. Lava is like melted rock. And

when that pressure builds to a certain point the volcano will

erupt. And the lava will shoot lava and ash and maybe water

vapor or steam I'm not sure. But definitely lava will erupt

from the top of the volcano and the lava will then flow down

the side of the volcanoes. Um I would say a volcano looks like

a mountain but it has the potential at the top where

there is the I guess you would call it the crater. This is an

a science lesson by the way. It has the potential to erupt. And

there are two types of volcanoes. There are inactive

volcanoes which haven't erupted for many years. And there are

active volcanoes that erupt occasionally still today. The

desert. So the desert is usually a place where there is

a lot of sand. It's a place where it does not rain very

often. And even though there is life in the desert. There's not

a lot of life. There aren't a lot of plants. There aren't a

lot of animals. And everything that lives in the desert has

adapted to that environment. So again a desert is a place where

it does not rain very often. Um it's a place that's very very

hot during the day. Uh and usually there is a lot of sand.

Now an oasis let me say that again. An oasis is a place

where there is water in the middle of usually a desert. We

use oasis to describe other things in life. Sometimes a

restaurant will be called an oasis if they choose that for

the name. Bob's oasis. That would be the name of my

restaurant if I started it. But the full definition or real

definition is a source of water in the desert which allows some

trees and other vegetation to grow. So if you are ever lost

in the deserts. You hope that you will eventually find an

oasis or more importantly that you'll find civilization. So an

oasis a place in the desert where maybe it's a lake or pond

or maybe there's water a spring where water is coming up out of

the ground. So glacier. By the way at the front here I think

you might call that an iceberg. But at the back you have a

glacier. So notice how I'm saying it glacier. I pronounce

it with an SH sound glacier. A glacier can be found near the

the North or South Pole but also in mountains. And it's

just kind of a slow moving river of ice. That would be my

best description. It's definitely a fast flowing river

of water but it's a lot of ice or compacted snow by the way

compact it means if you have this much snow and you squish

it it's compacted snow so it's a river of ice or snow that

slowly moves down the side of a mountain or just moves across

the land. I've never seen a glacier but it would be fun. I

think you can go on a cruise ship and see icebergs and

glacier in the North Atlantic. Maybe someday I'll do that

although Jen doesn't really like boats so we'll see. A

cave. So a cave is a natural shelter or place in a rocky

area. It can be in dirt as well but normally rock that you can

go into. You can go into a cave. If you're lost somewhere

and there are caves in the area. At night you could sleep

in a cave. You could find a nice cave to sleep in. So it's

a place where in the past for some reason the rock has moved

to create an opening or maybe used to flow through and the

water has created an opening in the rock. So a cave is a dark

place underground where you could explore or you could even

seek shelter if you were lost. A geyser. So I'm not sure if

you know what a geyser is. But there are places in the world

where water will shoot out of the ground. I think I tied that

really really well. Um so for some reason there is water

under the ground under pressure. It might even be hot

water. Generally geysers are in the same places as hot springs

which I'll talk about in a moment. Uh but a geyser is a

place where every once in a while water will just shoot out

of the ground. Um I think there are geysers in the western

United States. I think one is called Old Faithful because it

the geyser it it goes off like at the same time all the time.

Again not a science lesson. Just a lesson for English

learners with some pretty videos. Um and then a hot

springs. So hot springs are places where water hot water

naturally comes out of the ground. Um and sometimes it's

the right temperature for people to enjoy. Sometimes it's

too hot. But you probably know of a place in your country

where there might be hot springs and then there might be

a spa there or some other thing that you can visit. Um hot

springs are pretty cool and definitely a fun source of

heat. In fact I think the oldest business in the world is

in Japan and it's at a hot springs. You'll have to look

that up. Um but I think I saw a little video on that earlier

this week. Uh a video about the most or the oldest Hot Springs

are the oldest business in the world. Sorry I'm getting

confused there. A bay. So a bay is a a body of water where

there's kind of a curve to it. So it's a kind of a natural

harbour. A harbour is a safe place for ships to go because

it's protected. A bay is a place where like you can see

here there's the land kind of curves around. A true bay would

have land on three sides. Um but it could also just be an

area where the land curves and you end up with part of a lake

or the ocean that's a little bit protected the wind and the

waves. So as you can see here in this picture there is a nice

bay. It has a nice beach it looks like as well and it looks

like people enjoy visiting here. So again a bay is any

type of part of an ocean or sea or even lake where there's like

a curved area along the shore to create a bay. A reef. So a

reef is a formation below the water or above. Um kind of a

rocky formation where animals can live and little plants can

grow. Usually in ocean. I think the most famous reef is the

Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. Again do

your research. This is I keep apologizing because I just keep

spewing things off the top of my head as if they are facts.

So anyways a reef is kind of an area in the ocean where there

are rocks and coral. I should be more specific. It's made of

coral. Um and it kind of looks like this. It's kind of cool to

watch the fish swimming around. Um by the way I can watch fish

swim for hours. It's very very enjoyable. A ravine. Now I

should have put ravine with canyon and gorge. Sorry I

should have had it earlier in the lesson. Uh a ravine is very

similar to a gorge. In fact for me the two words mean the same

thing. But I would probably say a gorge is deeper than a

ravine. A ravine can be small or large. Um and it's basically

an area like this. Steep sloping sides of rock or dirt.

And then sometime water at the bottom. Although sometimes the

water dries up. So there isn't always water at the bottom of a

gorge or ravine. But typically a ravine would be a place like

this. Let me say the word one more time for your

pronunciation practice. A ravine. I fell in a ravine when

I was a kid. I didn't actually fall. I rode my bike down the

side. I hit my head. So ravines can be dangerous.

So we have a forest and we have a jungle. Both of these are

similar in the sense that a forest is a place where there

are lots of trees growing naturally. There will be a lot

of really old trees. A lot of younger trees. There will be

what we call undergrowth. Things growing on the ground.

Small plants. Small trees. Maybe grasses as well. Um but a

forest is generally found in an area where it's not tropical.

Let's just say that way. In my area there are a lot of

forests. We sometimes call it the woods or we even say the

bush. So a bush is a little plant but a bush can also be

like a forest. Um but a jungle would be similar. It's a lot of

trees growing naturally. But it's usually in a tropical

area. So there's more vines and other types of plants that like

a lot of rain and a lot of heat. So a forest and a jungle

are places where simply you would see a lot of trees

growing naturally. It's a lot of fun to go for a hike in the

forest or in the jungle. It's nice to get out in nature.

Although you should be careful when hiking in the forest or in

a jungle. Uh Because there might be animals that are

dangerous there. So be careful. Island. So I'm going to finish

the lesson with a few really easy ones. I put the easy ones

at the end. The ones you would probably know. An island is

simply a a piece of land surrounded by water. It can be

any size. This is a small island. I believe that even you

would consider Japan an island. So it's a or it's a piece of

land surrounded by water. If you're rich you can buy a

private island. Um in the Caribbean there are many people

who well many. There are people who own private islands. That

means that they own the entire island. I do not own a private

island. I will never own a private island. That is for the

ultra wealthy in the world. A peninsula though. Let me say

that again. Peninsula. A peninsula is an area where it's

still can to a bigger land mass but it's surrounded by water on

most sides except for one. So the simplest description would

be a peninsula has water on three sides or a peninsula has

water on most sides but it's still connected. So it's not an

island. It's not completely surrounded by water. But it's

surrounded by quite a bit of water. I actually live on a

peninsula. I know this is going to kind of funny but I

live in the Niagara Peninsula. I don't live near an ocean but

I live near the Great Lakes. There is a lake to the south of

me there is a lake to the north of me. Lake Erie is to the

south of me. Lake Ontario is to the north of me and to the east

of me there is a river. So it's not a true peninsula but it

it's called the Niagara Peninsula. A creek sometimes

called a stream or a brook. We have many names for small small

tiny tiny rivers. Okay. If I saw this I would call it a

stream. It's a general term for a small amount of flowing

water. I think a brook is smaller than a creek. Um brooks

by the way babble. A babbling brook. But a creek would be

anything like this. A place where there is a little bit of

water flowing. It's not very deep. If it was a small you

could probably walk through it and just your feet would get

wet. A creek you might get wet up to your knees. Um but a

creek is just a place where there's a small amount of

flowing water. There's a creek down the hill behind my house.

And there's a river by my house. Oh did you know that?

You've seen the river. But I should someday make a little

video down by the creek. There's also a creek behind my

house. So a river then is one of the most common forms of a

flowing water. Rivers take are in every country of the world.

I live on a river. Um we use the word river instead of

stream when it becomes much deeper and much wider. So I

don't know exactly when you decide to call something a

river instead of a creek. But generally if the water is up to

your waist and it would take you a little bit of time to

swim across. We would probably call it a river. So a large

flowing amount of water. And then a lake. Now this maybe

isn't the best video to show this because I think there's a

river at the end. But a lake is simply a large body of fresh

water. So a couple things I just said there. We often talk

about water and use the word body. A body of water. So a

lake is a body of water. Um an ocean is a body of water. A

lake is usually though made of fresh water. There's no salt or

the salt contact content is very low. In Canada we have

many fresh water lakes. Um and so the water is drinkable. It

should go through a water treatment plant. But a lake

would be a large body of fresh water. A sea then is usually a

large body of water near land. So it's usually off the coast.

We have things like the Mediterranean Sea. Um it can be

salt water. It might be a mixture of the two right? When

you have a sea it might have a lot of fresh water rivers

flowing into it. Um but lot of times people ask what's the

difference between the sea and the ocean. So it's simply size

and how close it is to land. Or how it was named. That's really

what it comes down to. So a sea is usually located close to

land relatively. Um and then we use ocean to describe our

bigger bodies of water. The Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific

Ocean and those kinds of things. So body of water. Not

sure why we use the word body but we do.