周一, 07/07/2008 - 3:10pm — ellenkong
Intro
Over the centuries the English language has borrowed words from many other languages. Here are just a few of them.Words
1. History (Greek)
2. Ballet (French)
3. Mosquito (Spanish)
4. Broccoli (Italian)
5. Piano (Italian)
6. Yacht (Dutch)
7. Anorak (Greenland)
8. Candy (Arabic)
9. Stripe (Dutch)
10. Sketch (Dutch)
11. Booze (Dutch)
12. Noodle (German)
13. Icon (Russian)
14. Pajamas (Hindi)
15. Embarrass (Portuguese)
16. Shampoo (Hindi)
17. Chocolate (South American Indian)
18. Ketchup (Malay)
19. Typhoon (Chinese)
20. Anonymous (Greek)
Discuss
English has gone through many periods in which large numbers of words from a particular language were borrowed. These periods coincide with times of major cultural contact between English speakers and those speaking other languages. A word borrowed from another language is referred to as a 'loanword'.
It is part of the cultural history of English speakers that they have always adopted loanwords from the languages of whatever cultures they have come in contact with. There has never been a national academy in Britain, the U.S., or other English-speaking countries to attempt to restrict new loanwords, as there has been in many European countries, such as France.
Can you think of any other loanwords from your language used in English? Leave a comment below.
周一, 07/07/2008 - 3:04pm — ellenkong
Intro
The letter Z is certainly not the most commonly found letter in English, but it's used in some interesting words.Words
1. Zap
2. Zealous
3. Zebra
4. Zen
5. Zenith
6. Zero
7. Zest
8. Zig-zag
9. Zilch
10. Zillion
11. Zinc
12. Zip
13. Zit
14. Zodiac
15. Zombie
16. Zone
17. Zonked
18. Zoo
19. Zoom
20. Zucchini
Discuss
Z is the twenty-sixth and last letter of the modern Latin alphabet.
In many dialects of English, the letter's name is zed. In American English dialects, its name is zee.
Few words in the Basic English vocabulary begin with Z, though it occurs in words beginning with other letters. It is also the most rarely used letter in the English language.
In comics and cartoons, Z is often used as symbolism for sleep or snoring; this has led to the American expression "getting some Zs" as a slang term for sleeping.
周一, 07/07/2008 - 1:23pm — ellenkong
Intro
Did you know that 60% of English words have a silent letter in them? Here are just 20 of them.Words
1. Debt (b)
2. Raspberry (p)
3. Castle (t)
4. Ghost (h)
5. Island (s)
6. Cupboard (p)
7. Thumb (b)
8. Wednesday (d)
9. White (h)
10. Answer (w)
11. Knee (k)
12. Knowledge (k)
13. Listen (t)
14. Half (l)
15. Whole (w)
16. Campaign (g)
17. Foreigner (g)
18. Yacht (c)
19. Autumn (n)
20. Writing (w)
Discuss
So why are there so many words in English with silent letters? To answer this question we have to look at history.
Old English was 90% phonemic (words that sound the same as they look). But from the beginning of the 15th century, we began to borrow words from other languages. Because grammar and usage rules are different in other languages, adopted words did not follow the rules of English pronunciation.
The English language 'borrowed' the Latin alphabet, and so we have only got 26 letters to represent around 41 different sounds. This means that we must attempt to use combinations of letters to represent sounds.
The result is a bit of a nightmare for learners as it is not always clear from the spelling of a word exactly how it should be pronounced.
周一, 07/07/2008 - 1:17pm — ellenkong
Intro
William Shakespeare has had a great influence on the English language even though his writing is more than 500 years old. Many of the words that he first used are still in common use today. Here are twenty of them.Words
1. Accommodation
2. Gloomy
3. Apostrophe
4. Bloody
5. Bump
6. Lonely
7. Exposure
8. Monumental
9. Obscene
10. Critical
11. Dwindle
12. Eventful
13. Generous
14. Misplaced
15. Submerge
16. Suspicious
17. Road
18. Majestic
19. Assassination
20. Dishearten
Discuss
There are also many expressions used today that were first used by Shakespeare, for example:
catch a cold
hotblooded
longhaired
all that glitters is not gold
heart of gold
周一, 07/07/2008 - 12:55pm — ellenkong
Intro
Making an opposite word in English is often as easy as adding a suffix. Do you know these opposites?Words
1. Visible – invisible
2. Successful – unsuccessful
3. Practical – impractical
4. Patient – impatient
5. Reliable – unreliable
6. Regular – irregular
7. Social – antisocial
8. Attach – detach
9. Respect – disrespect
10. Exhale – inhale
11. Possible – impossible
12. Cooked – uncooked
13. Introvert – extrovert
14. Voluntary – involuntary
15. Responsible – irresponsible
16. Do – undo
17. Important – unimportant
18. Precise – Imprecise
19. Shaven – unshaven
20. Predictable – unpredictable
Discuss
On the subject of opposites, did you know that some words in English can have opposite meanings? For example,
with can mean alongside and against.
Tom fought with John. (against)
Tom fought with John against Peter. (alongside)
left can mean departed from and remaining.
Ten people left the room. (departed from)
Five people were left in the room. (remaining)
周一, 07/07/2008 - 11:25am — ellenkong
Intro
2008 the year of the Beijing Olympics. How well up are you on your Olympic sports?Words
1. Aquatics
2. Archery
3. Badminton
4. Baseball
5. Boxing
6. Canoe
7. Equestrian
8. Fencing
9. Gymnastics
10. Handball
11. Hockey
12. Judo
13. Modern pentathlon
14. Rowing
15. Shooting
16. Taekwondo
17. Triathlon
18. Volleyball
19. Weightlifting
20. Wrestling
Discuss
The summer Olympics consists of 28 sports with 38 disciplines. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) establishes a hierarchy of sports, disciplines, and events.
For example swimming and water polo are disciplines of the sport Aquatics. In their turn, disciplines can be subdivided into events, for which medals are actually awarded.
周一, 07/07/2008 - 11:14am — ellenkong
Words
1. Accessory
2. Accommodate
3. Address
4. Argument
5. Acquire
6. Beautiful
7. Belief
8. Business
9. Changeable
10. Committee
11. Calendar
12. Definite
13. Desperate
14. Eighth
15. Embarrass
16. Extraordinary
17. Friend
18. Foreign
19. Grateful
20. Guarantee
Discuss
Test your friends with the 20 words in the list and then leave a comment and tell us how well they did. Intro
English spelling can be tricky at the best of times for learners. Here are 20 commonly misspelt words.
周一, 07/07/2008 - 11:01am — ellenkong
Intro
How well do you know your jobs? Check out our list of 20 here.Words
1. accountant
2. actor
3. athlete
4. author
5. barber
6. beautician
7. broker
8. butcher
9. carpenter
10. chauffeur
11. dentist
12. editor
13. engineer
14. farmer
15. fire fighter
16. judge
17. lawyer
18. mechanic
19. pharmacist
20. veterinarian
Discuss
Do any of these jobs appeal to you? Leave a comment and tell us about the profession you'd most like to do.
周一, 07/07/2008 - 1:18am — ellenkong
Intro
Most nouns in English simply add an s to make them plural, but there are a small group of irregular plurals that don't follow this rule.Words
1. Child – children
2. Man – men
3. Datum – data
4. Criterion – criteria
5. Medium – media
6. Foot –feet
7. Tooth – teeth
8. Mouse – mice
9. Sheep – sheep
10. Crisis – crises
11. Stimulus – stimuli
12. Thief – thieves
13. Wolf – wolves
14. Leaf – leaves
15. Person – people
16. Life – lives
17. Goose – geese
18. Thesis - theses
19. Potato – potatoes
20. Cactus – cacti
Discuss
As we all know the plural of mouse is mice, but is that true when we are talking about a computer mouse?
The answer is yes and no. Some people say computer mice and some say computer mouses. Which one is correct? It's anybody's guess!
