STOP Speaking Basic English | Advanced Vocabulary to Sound Smarter in English

Hi, this is Harry, and welcome back to  Advanced English Lessons with Harry,  

where I try to help you to get a better  understanding of the English language and  

the lesson that we have today is about descriptive  English. So advanced English, descriptive English,

something outside of the ordinary, something  outside the normal words that you might use.

It's all very well using  words like interesting and 

big and

long. And that is that the normal  adjectives we use and usually when  

we're describing something we use use  adjectives to describe those nouns.

We use adverbs to describe verbs, but we use  adjectives to describe nouns. And people often  

get stuck in a rut where they use the  same adjectives all the time. I said,  

when students send me their written  work, yeah, it's good, the grammar  

is good. The construction of the sentences  is good. The use of prepositions. Whatever

they have is good. Where it falls down to where  it isn't so interesting is when the language  

is very simple or very plain, and something  that they haven't had the ability to improve.

So if you're preparing for exams, it's always nice  to be able to throw in or drop in some phrases,  

some expressions or language that is a little  bit different than you normally use. So this is  

what this lesson is all about. So I'm going  to go through some simple statements. So  

neutral type of language if you like. And  then we're going to give you something a  

little bit more progressive or a little bit more  descriptive or even a little bit more persuasive.

Okay.

So let me start give you one example. Yeah.  If you're going to travel to the city centre  

or you're in the city centre. So it doesn't  describe anything in particular. It's the  

centre of the city. Yeah. But you could use  an expression like in the heart of the city

Or the real heart of the city, or the business  centre of the city, or where the old city used to  

be. So you can use different ways in which you can  describe the centre of the city that you're going  

to visit, or the centre of the city in which you  live, or the centre of the city in which you work.

Okay. So you can describe it in a different  way. So instead of saying in the city centre,  

you can say, in the heart of the city or.

Deep in the city.

The different ways to describe it.

Let's give you another example. If we said I want  

to have a different experience. So  if you're planning your holidays.

And you've had all the sun holidays. And you want  something a little bit different. You might say  

to your partner, I want a different experience.  So how could you express that in another way,  

a different experience? Well, you could say, I  want a unique experience or an unusual experience

Or something a little bit off the beaten  track. Okay. That will something to describe  

something very different. Yeah. Very  strange. Was something that's not  

your norm. Something that you don't  usually do. So a unique experience.

If you always set high standards. Okay.  So maybe you have high standards for  

yourself. High standards for the work you  do. High standards expected from your kids.

How else might you express that high standards.  You could use the word exacting. Okay. Exacting  

standard. He has very exacting standards,  meaning he has very high standards of  

what he expects from other people, or  indeed what he expects from him. Self,

is exacting, very exacting standards. Okay.

If somebody is well trained, a well-trained team,  

a well-trained individual, a well-trained dog, how  else might you express that? Well, you could say

a highly trained dog, a highly trained  team, a team trained to very high standards,  

or an expression like you have set  the bar very high in a bar, you know,  

in the Olympic Games as the the bar that  they jump over when you're using the,

pole vault.

Okay. So when you set the bar very high,  

it means your standards have been raised.  They have increased. So you can have

Highly

trained people. You can have

very well trained people. And you can set the  bar very high for those people who you expect  

to achieve a certain standard. Yeah. Okay. So  setting the bar high highly trained individuals,

if we talk about cooking in the home, we always  talk about to make a dish or make up a dish.

Yeah. So what other way can we describe  make a dish. Well we can simply use the  

word create to create a dish. What are  you going to create this weekend? What,

food are we going to have? How are you  going to cook it? How are you going to  

present it? We have guests coming and  they always love to taste your cakes.

They always love the way you present the  table. So you create wonderful meals. They  

are an experience in themselves. So it's just not  about making dinner. It's not about making lunch  

or getting the food ready for a party. It's  creating a dish. Yes, to be creative. Yeah,  

inspirational. Something that would not only  taste good, it it, but it will also look good.

Okay, so when you look at those  cookbooks and their recipes online,  

then you can see that the photography is  exquisite and they really see the colors.  

You can almost taste and smell the food  in the photographs because they are very  

creative to create a dish, something  that everybody would want to taste.

would ask you, if you do like this particular  lesson, then please like the video and if you  

could subscribe to the channel, I'd appreciate  it a lot because it really, really helps.

If we're talking about,

holidays again and you, you know,  we often go to spend our time in,

hotels and hotels always have  very attractive web pages.

They have lots of mission statements  as to how they're going to look after  

you. And often you say, we promise to  provide you with this. We promise you,

a really relaxing time. We promise you,

top class food, top quality  accommodation. So how else  

can we explain that? So what words  can we use instead of. We promise.

So we can use an expression like our commitment  to you is to provide the best of everything.  

Our commitment to you is to give you an  experience that would be second to none.  

Our commitment is to give you a service that  would be head and shoulders above anything  

else available in the market. Okay, so really  deeper type of language, much more descriptive  

rather than are we promised to give you  a clean bed and nice room and good food.

That's okay. That's what you want. I mean  that's the minimum you will expect. But if  

you can read something that says our commitment  is to provide you with a service second to none,  

that really grabs your attention. It would  grab my attention. I am much more likely to,

try and reserve a room and  that hotel than the hotel.

It just simply tells me your room  would be clean and there'll be hot  

food available for you at 9:00. Okay,  so our commitment to you is as follows.

Companies always have mission statements,

particularly American companies.  You go into their offices and on  

the wall and the reception area  will be their mission statement,  

whatever that is, to be the best, to  be the greatest, to be the quickest,

the

fastest, the most profitable,  whatever it is. Okay, so

often companies mission statement is around  some basic ideas or some basic concepts.

Okay. But you know Americans are great for  using an expression core values game. So,  

you know, our basic idea is to provide you with

really good,

accurate customer care and customer satisfaction.  That's fine. That's good. But the Americans would  

talk about our core values, those values  that get right deep to the center of our  

business. Our core values are to look  after our customers in a very special  

way that anything that they want, you know,  within reason, we'd be able to provide it.

Customers come first. Answer that. It's  the customer satisfaction that is the,

utmost importance to us. You

We put our core values on the line every  day. We're there to serve the public,  

to serve the people, to serve our client base.  Okay, so they're very descriptive words that  

we can use. And that's really important  because when you become a customer of  

a company, whether it's a legal firm, an  accounting firm or whatever, it might be.

Yeah. You like to think that you are  treated a little bit differently,  

that they're glad to have your  business and that they will look  

after you when problems arise. So  our core values are the following.

Now some other expressions we, you know, often  say when we want to to rent or buy a home, we  

want a safe place for ourselves and our family to  live. Okay. So a safe place can also be a secure  

home. So there's a very strong word to describe  secure. It's not just that the windows close

And the doors lock, which is a simple  definition of secure. But secure is  

something that's peaceful, something  that's worn, something that's safe,  

a safe environment, a secure environment  environment for our children to grow up  

in. And so that's really a nice way to  describe our whole not just a safe place,  

but a secure environment in which we can  bring up our children with love and affection.

Okay. So safe place, a secure home

we can talk about, a good place to meet, a good  place to have our office event, a good place to,

Take our staff a good place to locate a business,  but and a better way, we could use the word ideal,  

an ideal venue. Okay, so an ideal location.  An ideal venue. So if we're planning something  

simple, just like the office party at Christmas  time, or we're thinking of moving our office on  

a permanent basis to find something that's  more accessible to our clients or our staff,  

then we would talk about locating and  finding and ideal venue and ideal location.

If you're planning a wedding, you want something  special. You want something that surrounded  

perhaps by trees, nice lawns and gardens where  you can walk, your guests can walk, and you can  

have your wedding photographs and video taken.  Something to look back on in the years ahead. So  

in that situation, you'll certainly be looking for  the ideal venue to host your wedding reception.

Okay, so much better words and saying a  good place or an attractive place where  

we can invite our guests to. Okay, so try  to think of something more descriptive,  

something that's going to add value and paint  a really, really good picture that when people.

read it and they'll have an  immediate picture in their mind.

And then finally we can talk about that  when we talk about a lot of something,  

we can talk about plenty.

Okay. So a lot of is a great word to describe,  you know, a lot of money, a lot of people,  

a lot of food, a lot of time, a lot of energy.  We can use it for lots and lots of things. We  

can substitute it with plenty of time, plenty of  food, plenty of money, plenty of energy. Okay.

But if we want something a little bit  more descriptive, then we can talk  

about an extensive range. Okay. So you  want to buy new pots and pans for your  

kitchen. So you go to your Ikea or you  go to another department store that has  

a lot of choice. They've got pots and pans from  every country, every manufacturer up and down,

And across Europe. Okay. But if you use an  expression like an extensive range. Well, this.

top class shop

Has an extensive range of kitchen  equipment. Okay, so it has everything  

you could possibly need. Smaller pans, large  pans, round pans, square pans, oblong plans,

pans for fish, pans for meats,

pots and pans for soup and stews.  So they've got an extensive range of  

kitchen utensil tools, kitchen equipment,  anything and everything that you could  

possibly need so that you can decorate  your kitchen in the way that you wish.

Okay, so instead of saying a lot of or  plenty of, try to use that extensive.

Okay, so let me give you a quick rundown. Some  

of those words again in the city  centre in the heart of the city,

A different experience, a unique experience.  High standards. Exacting standards. Well-trained.  

Highly trained. Highly trained team. Make a  dish. Create a dish. We promise to our commitment  

is to give or provide. Our basic  idea. Our core values are as follows.

a safe place, a secure home, a  good place, an ideal location,  

and then finally, a lot of an extensive range,

mouthwatering air.

Okay, so it's all about using,

adjectives, adverbs, but often is about  getting a little bit more descriptive.  

And it's one of the great things I try to  teach students when they get the basics  

right. And that's really important. You  need to get the basics right. You need  

to have the grammar. You need to know  how to set out a letter or an email.

You need to have structure. Okay, I want you've  done that. What's next? Well when you do that,  

what's next is the language you use not  to be repetitive, be more descriptive,  

be more interesting. It's a good challenge.  It's a good game to play to see which words  

fit in. Look for synonyms all the time.  Okay, well, you know the drill by now.

If you don't know, I don't understand. Or you want  some more examples, then just get in touch with  

me at www.englishlessonviaskype.com and I'll  try to help you along. Writing good emails,  

writing good letters, writing good essays.  Really, really great way for you to improve  

your English. So this is Harry saying  goodbye and thanks for listening.

Join me again soon.