Today’s post is all about monsters; from big and scary to small and cute. Read on to learn some fun new English vocabulary related to monsters!
A monster can be defined as a creature, or being, that is non-human and usually ugly, scary or odd-looking in appearance. Monsters are often written about in fiction and said to be harmful to humans. Perhaps the most famous monster of all is Frankenstein’s almost-human-creation from the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Or maybe when you think of a monster you think of Godzilla, a giant lizard or dinosaur-like monster originally from Japanese films. These iconic monsters are very different in appearance from one another, but they have a few general features in common. These two, and most other monsters, are considered:
evil or bad;
people find them objectionable to look at;
people think something is wrong with them;
their physical appearance is considered scary, ugly or odd,
and
they are thought of as ‘freaks of nature.’
These same underlying attributes are true of most monsters, for example Dracula, Wolfman, zombies, Swamp Thing. The appearances of monsters also have some general or common characteristic, even though each monster is unique. Monsters are described as:
very large or over grown;
strong;
to have unusual colored skin or a lot of hair;
to have extra or missing body parts (i.e. extra eye, arms);
and
to have physical deformities.
Describing monster’s physical appearance is a great way to work on building your vocabulary in English too. Most people are used to describing humans, who all have pretty similar features, but describing monsters will stretch your mind as you try to find new vocabulary to explain a monster’s odd or unusual features. Take a look at this monster for example – how would you describe him? Below, at the end of this post, I give you my description.
Image by Nick Royer on Flickr.com.
Not all monsters are scary of course. Some very lovable monsters have been introduced to the world too. These monsters are usually child-friendly. Some of the most famous friendly monsters are those from Sesame Street, such as Cookie Monster, Elmo, and Oscar the Grouch. You might also think of Sully from the movie Monsters Inc., Shrek, from the movie of the same name, or Chewbacca from Star Wars. Although these are lovable monsters they are similar to scary monsters in some ways, such as their large size and strange appearance.
Both scary and lovable monsters alike are often ESL speakers too! And you may here them making some funny or scary sounds, for instance:
growling (a low guttural sound, like a dog may make)
roaring (a deep, long, cry like a lion makes)
howling (a long, loud, cry like a wolf makes)
Do you have a favorite scary or lovable monster? How would you describe its appearance in English? Feel free to share your description on the comment box below and I will correct any mistakes you have in you description.
Finally, here is my description of the monster from above.
This monster has green skin and a squat body shape. He has a potbelly. Although this monster has no hair he has webbed spikes on the top of his head that look a bit like hair. This monster has yellow eyes, no nose and a long narrow mouth with rounded grinding teeth. His limbs are long and skinny. He has only three finger and one thumb on each hand, and no toes. In fact his feet are oval shaped and look like they may suction onto the ground. This monster is wearing blue shorts with brown suspenders.
