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!

Word Molecules Game

Here is a new game for English learners and word game fans.

The aim of Word Molecules is to solve a clue and find a word. To find the word, you need to click on connecting 'molecules'.

Most of the words are taken from an A2 word list, so it should be suitable for A1-low B1 level learners.

It also plays nicely on a smartphone.

Try it here:

http://roadtogrammar.com/wordmolecules/

Convos

Convos is a new activity on RoadToGrammar.com.

You can choose from 30 short conversations. In each one, you need to choose the correct response to reach the end of the conversation.

Teachers: This is a great activity for learners of A1-A2 level, especially if they do not get much chance to practise speaking. It works great on a smartboard and it will also work well on your students' phones.

URL: http://roadtogrammar.com/convos/

Vocabulary: Words to Show You Are SURE

Series of Activities to Practise Verbs

Here is a series of activities to practise verb forms:

http://roadtogrammar.com/vforms/

These activities replace the earlier Flash version and feature: 4 flashcard activities, 4 'type-the-answer' activities, 1 MCQ activity and a reference chart. 

The activities are formatted for use on any device including smartboards and smartphones.

ESL Vocabulary: Speechless

There are many words in English that end in -less, such as careless, hopeless, clueless, homeless, tasteless, useless, fearless and this one: