Hi there, this is Harry and welcome back to my advanced English lessons with Harry,
where we try to help you to get a better understanding of the English language help
you with your conversational English or business English preparation for those proficiency exams,
or indeed even those job interviews, whatever you need, we're here to help.
So what are we looking at today in this particular lesson? Well, in this advanced English lesson,
we're looking at core locations to do with size, dimensions and quantity. There's some
of them are a little bit tricky on the tongue for pronunciation. So we'll try and practice that at
the same time. Any problems, you know, the way we do it by now you come back and you can ask
me and we can go through it again. Okay, so let me go through we've got 12 situations here that
we can use and examples. I'll read through them, and then come back and give you a situation when
you can use them and what they mean. Okay, so let's start and minuscule piece of cloth,
a minuscule piece of cloth. So that's the first one difficult to pronounce. minuscule, minuscule.
A mammoth task. Again, a little bit tricky, a mammoth task. A vast room. Not so tricky
to pronounce would you got to get that sound a vast room. A gigantic wave, a gigantic wave,
a gargantuan meal. Now this one's really difficult. Gargantuan meal even tricky for me
gargantuan. Itsy-bitsy spider. And I'll tell you a little fairy tale about that. Itsy-bitsy spider.
Tiny spot. A colossal sum. Dainty feet. Bulky luggage. Now this one next one again,
tricky in the pronunciation. And infinitesimal, an infinitesimal dose, infinitesimal.
And then finally, a bit tricky, because it's a sounds, a dwarf cherry tree have to be really
careful because sometimes I say, a dwarf twerry twee. We know it's a dwarf cherry tree. Okay,
so we're going to go back through them, explain and give you a situation when you might use them.
Okay, so a minuscule piece of cloth. Minuscule means really, really small,
really, really tiny. So you might see somebody walking along the beach. And they're almost naked,
because they've got a really, really small bikini on it's a minuscule piece of cloth.
Okay, minuscule, really, really small, minuscule, like the size of a stamp miniscule.
Next, a mammoth task. Mammoth like the ancient elephants that lived at the time of the dinosaurs,
they were called mammoths, yeah. So a mammoth task is a very large or very big task. So lots
of these words have to do with size. So it could be something very small, or something
very big. So mammoth is very big, a large large task a lot of work to do a mammoth task.
Getting all of the emails up to date, or transferring all the data from one
system to another system turned out to be a mammoth task. It took several days
and almost a week when we thought it might only take hours a mammoth task.
Next, a vast room again, this is about the large size of vast room. So you've ever been
to one of these old old palaces that have been built like the Palace of Versailles.
When you go into one of the dining rooms, they are huge. They stretch for many, many,
many many metres. So these will be described as a vast room very large, a large expanse of vast
room and make sure you pronounce the sound that that's okay, a vast room. A ballroom could be
a vast room. The parliamentary meeting rooms and government buildings can be a vast room.
Next we have a gigantic wave. Gigantic, gigantic wave. Tsunamis produce gigantic
waves that come on to the shore and destroy all the buildings in
close proximity to the shore. Gigantic Okay, get the pronunciation gigantic.
Next, gargantuan. And be really, really careful. Gargantuan. Gargantuan means really enormous,
very, very large. Here we're talking about a gargantuan meal. So perhaps somebody is
sitting down to one of these 12 course meals where they're gone to test all the
little courses that are available in the restaurant. And really by the end of the
sixth or the seventh course, he's absolutely stuffed. A gargantuan meal fit for a king.
Now itsy-bitsy spider. This means something really small itsy-bitsy. Okay, and it comes from an old
nursery rhyme. Itsy bitsy spider climbing up the spout. Down came the rain and washed the
spider out. Out came the sun and dried up all the rain and itsy bitsy spider climbed up the
drain again. Okay, so this is about itsy bitsy spider means something really, really small,
itsy bitsy spider climbing up the spout or the drain the drain outside the house. Itsy-bitsy.
There's a song as well. Itsy bitsy, teeny, weeny, yellow polka dot bikini. Okay,
so there's an old old song so ask somebody who can remember it. Itsy Bitsy something really,
really small, itsy bitsy, teeny weeny, something really, really small.
Tiny spot tiny means, again, really, really small. So you take your coat to the dry
cleaners because you spilled some wine on it. Or you think you did but when you look at it,
there's only a tiny a very, very small spot on the coat. You'd hardly notice it you notice it
because you know you spilt it but nobody else can see it. Or if you prick your finger on an a
nail or pin you might get a tiny spot of blood. Oh, it's so awkward. There's only
a tiny spot of blood something really really small almost impossible to see.
A colossal sum. Well, colossal again means something really
big. The Colosseum in Rome really, really big, colossal, giant. Okay.
A colossal sum of money. So if somebody wins the Euro lotto of 122 million people go wow,
that's a colossal sum of money. What could you possibly do with that? It's absolutely gross.
Means it's really really immoral to win so much money, colossal sums of money won on the lotto.
Dainty feet. Dainty is another word for neat and tidy and quite small. You couldn't describe
my feet as dainty. My wife describes my feet and lots of ways but dainty isn't one of them. dainty,
very small, very twee, very nice and neat and tidy. Somebody with a very neat waist
or knit figure could have a dainty figure so dainty fits this shoe size could be quite
small three or four or something like that. So they have dainty feet good for dancing dainty.
Bulky luggage bulky means heavy, but also something that is not packed correctly
and there are lots of things sticking out so it's a little bit bulky. Okay,
so if you don't pack your luggage correctly, then it can be bulky if you have four or five suitcases
then could be bulky because you just have lots and lots of things in it. Not packed correctly,
not packed neatly so bulky. Bulky means big but awkward and difficult. So sometimes the
luggage even though it's heavy, it's easy to carry because it's neat and well packed. But if it's not
so well packed and it's bulky and sticking out at different angles, then it's difficult to carry.
Could you help me with this luggage. It's really bulky and it needs two
people one on one side and the other on the other side bulky.
And if you go to the airport, usually bulky luggage has to go in the special section for
overly large bag so bulky items, bicycles or things like that have to go into a special
section and you can't check them in in the normal check in desk bulky luggage.
Next this is a really difficult one now I'm going to try and pronounce it for you really slowly.
Infinitesimal. Infinitesimal. And here we've got an infinitesimal dose of something. Okay,
infinitesimal. Infinitesimal means so small, that it's almost impossible to see it. Okay? So for
example, if we're talking about energy, which lots of people are talking about these days, we might
say that at the moment, solar panels or indeed, wind turbines provide an infinitesimal amount of
the necessary energy, meaning we use most of the energy because through gas or oil or electricity
other ways, whereas wind and solar panels are these new or renewable sources provide currently
an infinitesimal something almost too small, okay. So we have to increase or improve the level of
energy we take through the sun and the wind and the the ocean, okay? But at the moment, it might
be described as very, very small or infinitesimal, infinitesimal. Okay, so meaning very, very small.
And then finally, we've got this tongue twister, a dwarf cherry tree. A dwarf,
cherry tree, not a dwarf twerie twee, okay. Dwarf, as in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Okay, the small little people that were in the fairy tale of the Disney cartoon,
okay. So a dwarf cherry tree is something really small, that has a limited growth,
okay, so like these trees that the Japanese the bonsai trees, that they grow their dwarf trees,
and they only grow to a certain size and never any bigger, so dwarf small.
Okay, so we've got lots of these expressions, these collocations that are connected with
dimensions, sizes, and quantity, okay? Some of them meaning small are very small, some in some
of them meaning big or very big. So let me go through them again. minuscule piece of cloth,
something really, really small. A mammoth task, something really really big. A vast room a huge
room that spreads from left to right. A gigantic wave a huge wave like a soon army
or gargantuan meal gargantuan something fit for a king a big fist covering the whole table.
Itsy-bitsy spider something really really small. Itsy-bitsy spider climbing up the spout. A
tiny spot really, really small something you can hardly see a tiny spot of ink tiny spot
of blood. A colossal sum. Massive, massive sum of money that they want in the lotto.
Dainty feet small, neat, tidy, dainty feet. Bulky luggage. Big and awkward,
difficult to carry bulky luggage. Infinitesimal dose a really, really small dose. So the doctor
would give an infinitesimal dose of medicine to try and cure somebody with not too much.
And then the dwarf cherry tree that limited in the size that it will grow a dwarf cherry tree.
Well, hopefully you can enjoy those particular collocations in his advanced English class,
you'll probably have to listen to it a couple of times because those are really difficult not
only because of the meaning, but also in terms of the pronunciation. So pick a few of them,
practice them. If you're going to practice the pronunciation try practising in front of the
mirror or indeed use your mobile phone. Record yourself. Listen back and see where you have
to make changes and listen to my pronunciation as well. And if you need any further examples,
you know the drill by now come back to me and I'll help you www.englishlessonviaskype.com.
And as I always say to you, if you liked this particular lesson, then please please like
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this is Harry signing off until the next lesson. Thanks and goodbye.