ISMS and ISTS

I spent a class going over some words ending in -ism or -ist, words such as 'capitalism' and 'theist'.

Afterwards, I got to wondering how many such words there are in English.

It turns out that there are plenty.

morewords.com lists 887 words ending in -ism and 1201 words ending in -ist. There are more ending in -ist because of words like 'list' or 'mist'.

Words ending in -ism: http://www.morewords.com/ends-with/ism/
In order of how common they are: http://www.morewords.com/most-common-ends-with/ism/

Words ending in -ist: http://www.morewords.com/ends-with/ist/
In order of how common they are: http://www.morewords.com/most-common-ends-with/ist/

Updates for mobile pages

Road To Grammar now works on mobile devices including the iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets.

Etymology on Google

I noticed something very interesting today when I googled the etymology of the word 'restaurant'.

If you type into Google, 'etymology' and another word, Google provides you with a little infographic and a summary of the etymology of the word - right there in the search results.

This is what I got:

Isn't that fun? It's another way that Google can be a useful tool for educators!

Using Visual Language

Have you ever noticed how some words or phrases in English bring up a visual image?

English is an expressive language and we have many ways of getting a point across. Perhaps the most powerful way to get a point across is to use a phrase with a strong visual element. Here are five examples:

1 "It took my breath away"

"The sight of the Grand Canyon was so amazing that it took my breath away!"

Can you imagine seeing the Grand Canyon and being so mesmerised that you can't breathe? What a great expression this is!


2 "Torture"

"Sitting through Professor Droneworth's three-hour lecture was torture!"

The lecture was not only boring, but it was equivalent to being tortured, perhaps in a Medieval dungeon!


3 "The Green Light"

"After much persuasion, my boss finally gave us the green light to go ahead with the project."

Here is one for business English usage. Imagine your boss holding up a traffic light. And it's green!


4 "A breakthrough"

"Scientists have made a breakthrough in the fight against Cancer."

Imagine scientists trapped in a locked room and they're bashing the door, trying to get out. Finally, they break through the door! Our example sentence has even more visual imagery with the word 'fight'. Scientists are 'fighting' Cancer. This is great, expressive language.


5 "My lips are sealed"

"I won't tell anyone your secret. My lips are sealed!"

Imagine having sealed lips. Any secret would surely be safe!


So here we have seen five examples of visual imagery in language. There are many more; these are just to give you some inspiration.

Use these and any other examples you find to become more expressive and therefore a better conversationalist!

Updates

The reading web app now has a notes section. Just like the main app, it can be viewed on mobile too!

Also, and unfortunately, some of the activities developed in HTML5, including the reading app, will not work in Chrome if you refresh the page. This is a problem with the current version of Chrome and will be fixed when they update Chrome in a couple of weeks. If you face this issue, please try using Firefox, Safari or Internet Explorer instead!

Ultimate Reading Practice

Introducing a new activity on RoadToGrammar: Ultimate Reading Practice:

Click here to try it

Ultimate Reading practice is a web app that has 50 short reading activities for upper-intermediate and advanced learners.

The passages are 100-200 words each and each one has four or five questions, mainly multiple choice. Each one has a word count and the difficulty level shown according to the CEFR levels.

These should provide great practice for any learner who will be taking the IELTS or TOEFL tests, or similar.

The web app can be viewed on tablets and phones, including the iPad.

A guide to answering these types of questions will be available next week on the site.

Screenshots:

Words have lives, too

Just like us, words have lives. They are born, they struggle for survival and eventually they die.

Words have to come from somewhere. They are born when a new word is coined. 

Words might need to compete with other words for survival. For example, you could say 'maybe' or you could say 'perhaps'. I think you would agree that the word 'maybe' is more popular. Everyone seems to say 'maybe', but only a few people use 'perhaps'. As a word becomes less popular, it could begin to sound old-fashioned and it's decline is hastened. Eventually, nobody uses it anymore and the word is 'dead'.

The Darwinian-style life struggle of a word is influenced by coevolutionary social, technological, and political factors (see this link for empirical research).

A word most often lives longer than we do. A word can live for a few hundred years or more. Many Latin words have even outlived the death of their own language and live on in other host languages to this day, in phrases like alma mater.  

I'm trying to think of some words which are currently in their death throes and what comes to mind are the words used to describe groups of animals. After all, when was the last time you heard someone talking about a clowder of cats?

Language of Truth and Lies: Performatives

I found a fascinating video description of 'performatives'... and how they are used to tell lies that are technically true!

Describing Products

Introducing a new vocabulary activity: Describing Products and Services.

This activity is suitable for adults studying Business English who wish to expand or test their range of vocabulary. It can also be used for General English learners. This activity is recommended for Intermediate Level and up.

Try it here (mobile friendly): http://roadtogrammar.com/describingproducts/
Download it here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/140577053/ESL-Vocabulary-Worksheet-Describing-Products-and-Services


Sample screenshot:

Updates

A couple of updates to Road To Grammar:

1 Quiz #327: They're, There or Their has been expanded to 20 questions. I found that this is a very good topic for elementary level students, especially those who learn by listening and find it hard to distinguish between the three.

The quiz is at: www.roadtogrammar.com/?327

The notes are here: http://www.roadtogrammar.com/notes/?REF=230



2 There was a problem with the direct linking system, which I have fixed. Now you can go directly to a quiz by adding a question mark and the quiz number to the roadtogrammar.com url.

For example, to go to quiz 50:

www.roadtogrammar.com?50

New Tablet Page

Road To Grammar is now accessible on all tablet devices.

www.roadtogrammar.com

Emphatic Adjectives

There is a new activity on RoadToGrammar today for English learners to practise the topic of Emphatic Adjectives.

The activity can be found here: www.roadtogrammar.com/emphaticadjectives

The pdf worksheet can be downloaded here: http://t.co/ZExkyG3vot

Screenshot on desktop:

Screenshot on mobile:

You may notice that this activity can be done on any device - PC, tablet or phone. Over the coming months, all content on RoadToGrammar.com will be reformatted to be accessible on any device.

New Notes Pages

All the grammar notes pages on RoadToGrammar.com have been reformatted to be readable on any device - desktop, laptop, tablet or phone.

See here for an example: http://www.roadtogrammar.com/notes/

This is the beginning of a project to make ALL the content on RoadToGrammar readable and usable on any device.

Mobile Grammar Glossary

The Grammar Glossary is now updated so that it views smoothly on mobile devices.

The Grammar Glossary can be found at: www.roadtogrammar.com/glossary

The Wisdom of Kindergarten

I just wanted to share one of my old favourites: a poem about the wisdom of kindergarten!

Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

By Robert Fulgham

Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school.
These are the things I learned: Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work some every day.

Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the plastic cup. The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the plastic cup ~ they all die. So do we.
And then remember the book about Dick and Jane and the first word you learned, the biggest word of all: LOOK. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation, ecology and politics and sane living.

Think of what a better world it would be if we all ~the whole world had cookies and milk about 3 o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation and other nations to always put things back where we found them and clean up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

If you like it, here's a nicely formatted version on the RoadToGrammar site: www.roadtogrammar.com/kindergarten

Please go ahead and share it!