Vocabulary – the words which make up our language.
This category of articles is all about these words and how we use them and sometimes how they affect the way in which we teach English.
The word real on which this word is built gives a big clue to what realia is. In foreign language instruction realia are real-life objects used in the classroom to illustrate and teach vocabulary or to help students learn and produce. Realia can consist of almost anything including both objects […]
Twenty Questions is a simple game which can be played in class with minimal preparation. It is ideal for practicing both vocabulary (notably semantic fields) as well as making questions. Preparation Collect a group of pictures or photographs with different objects on them. (You can laminate these to make them […]
In 1953 the General Service List was published. This was a list of about 2,000 most commonly used words in English. For many years this was used as a basis for materials writing. This list was useful in learning because anyone who knew all the words on the list would […]
The English Alphabet contains 26 letters. These can be divided into vowels and consonants. The vowels are: a, e, i, o, u The consonants are: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z Every word has at […]
When Teaching Vocabulary, many teachers still resort to long word lists which the students are expected to translate into their mother tongue, learn and remember. This approach to teaching vocabulary is rather dull and mechanical. It has limited impact and there is very little student involvement. On the other hand […]