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CleAnn	Todd

Views #1013 | Intermediate (B2)

Trinidad and Tobago

CleAnn talks about her country, which is made up of two islands in the Caribbean.

Script
Vocab
Quiz

Todd: So CleAnn can you talk a little bit about your country?

CleAnn: Sure. My country is called officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. For short, Trinidad and Tobago. And even shorter, Trinidad. However, it is best to just say Trinidad and Tobago cause sometimes people from Tobago may get offended if you just say Trinidad. People from my country are usually just called Trinidadians, but if you are, again, trying to be inclusive of people from Tobago, we say Trinbagonians.

Todd: Trini-bagonians?

CleAnn: Trinbagonians.

Todd: It’s hard to pronounce.

CleAnn: Yeah, exactly. So sometimes we just say Trinidadians. But actually, although Tobago is extremely small. I mean, Trinidad is also small but Tobago is I think probably about 1/6 the size of Trinidad and it’s actually extremely important to the country as a whole because Tobago is our center for tourism. Trinidad doesn’t have much tourism. We are more industry and oil and gas based, but Tobago is very beautiful and is known for tourism, for its natural scenery, and it’s actually an ecotourism destination.

Todd: Oh really?

CleAnn: Yes.

Todd: So Tobago has, I take it, rain-forests and beaches and...

CleAnn: Yes, small rain-forests, beaches and there is a very famous place called the Nylon Pool. And it’s famous because it’s actually out in the middle of the sea but you can stand out there because the corals have risen to such a height that it’s close to the water. So boats take you out and then you can get off the boat and just stand out in the middle of the ocean on top of corals.

Todd: Oh, how nice.

CleAnn: It’s very nice and it’s white, just white coral. So it’s really gorgeous.

Todd: Yeah, that must be beautiful.

CleAnn: Yes. It’s called the Nylon Pool because I think one of the British Monarchies, someone from the British Royal Family, visited Trinidad some years...many years ago and said that the Nylon Pool actually looks like nylon. The water reminded her of nylon so it was named the Nylon Pool.

Todd: So if people go to Tobago on vacation, which island do they fly into?

CleAnn: They fly to Tobago if you’re going...if you’re coming from England, direct flights are from Tobago. There are no flights from Trinidad to England. Only we have to go to Tobago and then from Tobago to London. From the US, I think you have to come through Trinidad.

Todd: Actually how far apart are the islands from each other?

CleAnn: By plane, 15 minutes...or less.

Todd: So there’s like ferries that...?

CleAnn: Yeah, the ferry -- the fastest one right now is about 3 hours, but it’s not a very fast ferry at all. So there’s ferry, we have air transport of course to Tobago also. There's talk now of building a bridge but I don’t know how soon that will be done.

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

for short

For short, we call our country Trinidad and Tobago.

When something or someone has a long name, we often shorten it by using only part of the word or phrase so that it is easier to say. Another word for this is “abbreviation”. Notice the following examples:

My full name is Bartholomew, but you can call me Bart for short.
Everyone just calls me “J” for short.

inclusive

If you are trying to be inclusive of people from Tobago, we say Trinbagonians.

Being inclusive means to include everyone or everything. In other words, everything or everyone can join in a particular group. Study the following examples:

The hotel we stayed at was all-inclusive, so drinks and food were included in the price.
We try to make our club inclusive so that everyone feels welcome.

scenery

Tobago is known for its natural scenery.

Scenery refers to the landscape you see when traveling. For example: mountains, deserts, lakes, rivers, and forests are different parts of the scenery. Look at the two examples below:

The mountain scenery in Switzerland is gorgeous.
If you drive through Costa Rica, you will see many different kinds of scenery.

ecotourism

Tobago is actually an ecotourism destination.

Ecotourism is tourism focused on natural areas. The money often helps to protect and conserve the plants and wildlife in the area. See the examples below:

I wouldn’t take a tour in a rain-forest unless it was an ecotourism project.
We took an ecotour through a wetland in Florida.

ferry

It’s not a very fast ferry at all.

A ferry is a boat or ship that carries people and often cars too. Usually the distance is short and there is service more than once a day. Notice the following examples:

We took a ferry out to the island. It took about 2 hours to get there.
I would much rather take a small plane than a ferry. I get seasick on ferry boats.