The English teachers voice

  Having a wide vocabulary gives you more than just the confidence that comes from knowing that  “ adscititious ” means additional.  It’s about finding the right word — the one special word in a sentence — that will transmit an image or feeling directly into the reader’s mind. Let’s look at ten strategies to use to expand your word knowledge. 1. Keep a Vocabulary Journal Reading is an obvious vocabulary builder. But what do you do when you encounter an unfamiliar word? Rely on context clues to figure out the probable meaning. With an eBook, use the built-in dictionary. If you are reading a physical book and don’t want to search Google, then write the word on a Post-it Note to look up later or skip over it entirely, if it’s not important for understanding the sentence. The issue with this approach is that most of the words that you encounter are never encoded into your long-term memory. It is unrealistic to try to memorize every new word you encounter, so try a different t...

As an Advanced Level English teacher, one of the most common mistakes I find with many students is their inability to write sentences correctly. Today,  English classes are based upon standardized English books where everything that is taught is reduced into small teachable chunks on a subject-based page rather than as a complete lesson that addresses everything thoroughly and correctly. As a consequence of this, three things happen: (a) All students are taught in the same way regardless of their learning style. (b) Important aspects of the language such as sentence structure are taught quickly to meet the needs of a schedule rather than meeting the standards of quality education. (c) Consequently, students' knowledge of the language is often basic rather than complete. In this article, we will address part of this issue, that is specifically related to how to write sentences correctly.  All of the  parts of speech  in English are used to make sentences. All sen...

Since comprehension is the ultimate goal for language learners, the importance of vocabulary development cannot be overestimated. A robust vocabulary improves all areas of communication — listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Vocabulary is critical to a student’s success for these reasons: (a)   Vocabulary growth is directly related to all levels of achievement. (b) The size of a vocabulary predicts your ability to read and the variety and level of materials available to you. (c)   Vocabulary helps you to think and learn about the world on just about any level. (d) Expanding your knowledge of words provides unlimited access to new information. (e)   Building a strong vocabulary over time can allow you to better communicate your thoughts, verbally or in writing, to avoid confusion and to achieve clarity. Why is a strong vocabulary important? You need good communication skills to interact effectively with others, whether it be in person, through email, social med...

As a teacher who specializes in B2 to C2 level classes, I have always used reading as one of my primary tools for teaching, whether it be a National Geographic magazine, an academic paper, the biography of Barak Obama, Harry Potter or newspapers. Reading, for me, is without a doubt the best way to improve a student's level of English in an efficient and successful way.  But, for reading to be successful as a teaching tool, students must be able to comprehend what they are reading, to be able to visualize in their minds what they are reading, and to be able to summarize what they are reading in a clear and understandable way. For that to happen, we must first work on their skills of comprehension. Comprehension refers to the ability to understand written words. It is different from the ability to recognize words. Recognizing words on a page but not knowing what they mean does not fulfill the purpose or goal of reading, which is comprehension.  Imagine, for example, that a teach...

  When two words are used together to yield a new meaning, a compound is formed. Compound words can be written in three ways:   O pen compounds  (spelled as two words, e.g., ice cream),  C losed compounds  (joined to form a single word, e.g., doorknob),  H yphenated compounds  (two words joined by a hyphen, e.g., long-term).  Sometimes, more than two words can form a compound (e.g., mother-in-law). The most common spelling quandary English students face is whether to write compounds as separate words, one word, or hyphenated words. The English language has a history of the formation of expressive compound words.  Examples include sun-stroke, pick-pocket, elbow-room, land-lord, humming-bird etc.  The two parts of a compound word are usually separated by a hyphen. However, in the case of many common compound words, the component parts have become so closely connected that they are now written as one word without any hyphen between them....