Valentine Words and Phrases!

Here is a selection of romantic words and phrases for Valentine's Day. These are taken from www.roadtogrammar.com/usefulwords

Business English Activity: Prepositions for Describing Work Functions

Here is a useful activity for business English learners. You can practise matching the correct preposition to verbs and adjectives while describing job functions.

www.roadtogrammar.com/businessenglish/biz9

Space Vocabulary

Here is a short and simple vocabulary drill for words connected with space:

www.roadtogrammar.com/space

There are 18 words to practise, plus some 'Did you know...?' pages.

This activity can be used for individual practice, homework or smartboard practice.

Crying

Let's look at some words that describe crying.

The "water" that comes out of your eyes when you cry is called tears and we use this word to form many idioms:

If you are in tears, it means you are crying.

To shed tears is to cry.

If we think someone is faking when they cry, we call it crocodile tears.

To cry silently is to weep. The past tense is wept.

To cry loudly is to wail or sob.

Reckless

Sometimes, words can seem confusing. Take the word reckless, for example. It means roughly the same thing as careless. However, when we look at careless, it seems obvious that it is a combination of the word care and the suffix -less. There is also the word careful. 

Why then, is there no such word as reck, or reckful?

In fact, there is such a word as reck. Here is the Google definition:

reck

/rɛk/

verb

ARCHAIC

verb: reck; 3rd person present: recks; past tense: recked; past participle: recked; gerund or present participle: recking

1. pay heed to something.

   "ye reck not of lands or goods"

   • it is of importance.

     "what recks it?"

Notice the word archaic in the definition. This means that the word is no longer used. If it is no longer used, why is it in the dictionary? So that people reading old books or manuscripts can look it up.


There is also a word reckful. Although it does not appear as a Google definition, you can find it in some dictionaries. Again, it is marked as archaic or uncommon.

reckful

adjective

(comparative more reckful, superlative most reckful)

1. Full of careful heed or attention; careful; cautious.

Portmanteau

A portmanteau is a blend of two words that become one word.

The most famous portmanteau at the moment is Brexit - Britain + Exit. Brexit is not really an official word and is not found in many dictionaries.

Other examples of a portmanteau are:

brunch (breakfast + lunch)
skort (a kind of mix of a skirt and shorts)
infotainment (information + entertainment)
bromance (bro + romance)

Useful Words and Phrases

I have been building up the RoadtoGrammar Pinterest page, which you can check out here:

https://www.pinterest.com/do0089/

It now features ESL discussion questions, a selection of around 100 useful words and phrases, some Rebus Puzzles and even some quizzes.

In connection with the Pinterest page, I have set up a flashcard/mcq activity featuring the same selection of new words and phrases here:

http://roadtogrammar.com/usefulwords/

I hope you guys can check it out and I hope you find it a valuable way to learn some great new vocab. Teachers, please think about featuring a new vocab card every day. It will work well on a smartboard.

Screenshots:

Alphabet Activity for Kids

Here is a simple activity for kids to master the alphabet.

1 Go to:  www.roadtogrammar.com/junior/alphabet

2 Choose  the number of letters to practise (1-5)

3 Click on the PLAY button and choose the matching letter sequence:

Christmas Words Activity

Here is a seasonal activity on Christmas words:

www.roadtogrammar.com/christmas

Merry Christmas!

Words in the News: SUMMIT

A word we often seee in the news is summit.

A summit is a high-level politcal meeting. For example, this week sees the G20 Summit in Argentina:

https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-g20-summit-2018-intl/index.html

The other meaning of summit is the top of a mountain!

Common Mistakes in ESL: SAID

One of the most common mistakes that I have heard over the years as an ESL teacher, is the mispronunciation of said.

I suppose it would be logical for the word to be pronounced as 'say-ed', but unfortunately, English is not always a logical language. The correct pronunciation is as follows:

/sɛd/

I know not everyone reads phonetics - basically, it rhymes with the word bed. If you're still not sure about it, you can listen here: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/said

However, I have to admit that I have occasionally heard native speakers pronounce it incorrectly. I suspect that this is due to some regional dialects.

Two New Mini-units for Beginners

There are two new short units on Roadtogrammar.com for beginners (A1 level).

The first one is Clothes and contains six short activities. You can find it here:

http://www.roadtogrammar.com/units/clothes/

The first one is At the Beach and also contains six short activities. You can find it here:

http://www.roadtogrammar.com/units/atthebeach/



Screenshots:

Some More Idioms

Here are some more idioms, in graphic format:

Synonyms

Here is an activity for elementary level learners to practise synonyms for 50 common words:

http://roadtogrammar.com/synonyms/

Idiom: None of Your Business!

People say, "It's none of your business," when they do not want you involved in their personal issues. It's an idiom people may use when angry!