Cliche Finder Have you been searching for just the right cliché to use? Are you searching for a cliché using the word "cat" or "day" but haven't been able to come up with one? Just enter any words in the form below, and this search engine will return any clichés which use that phrase... Over 3,300 clichés indexed! What exactly is a cliche? This is Morgan, creator of the Cliche Finder. Or, you might like my crazy passion project: Spanish for Nerds: Learning Spanish via Etymologies! Back to cliches... if you would like to see some other Web sites about clichés? © S. Special thanks to Damien LeriAnd to Mike Senter Morgan's Web page
Koprowski - Ten Good Games for Recycling Vocabulary The Internet TESL Journal Mark Koprowskimarkkoprowski [at] yahoo.com Introduction Learning is remembering. If we respect this axiom, the review and recycling of new language items will be critical if they stand a chance of becoming readily accessible in long-term memory. In fact, students do the majority of their forgetting shortly after the lesson and then the rate of forgetting diminishes. Experts these days concur that learners actually need as many as 5 to 16 'meetings' with a new language item in a variety of contexts before it can be truly learned and activated for genuine use. 1. Divide the class into Teams A and B. Variation: To ensure a slightly quieter and less chaotic game, the teams can take it in turns. 2. Put the students into pairs or small groups. Variation: To add a spelling accuracy component, teams can also earn an extra point for each correctly spelt item. 3. 4. Divide the class into Teams A and B. 5. 6. Divide the class into Teams A and B. 7. 8. 10. Bibliography
IdiomSite.com - Find out the meanings of common sayings Sometime vs. Some time vs. Sometimes Sometime, some time, and sometimes are the words that are frequently used in everyday lives, but because of the similarities in their spellings, even native speakers get confused with them SOMETIMES. Sometime An indefinite time in the future or an unspecified point in the past Example: We should hang out sometime. It happened sometime before noon yesterday. Some time A period of time. Example: Can you give me a call when you have some time? Sometimes on certain occasions or in certain cases but not always now and then; from time to time; occasionally Example: Sometimes he acts like a child. Hannah Yoon Hannah is a Pedagogy & Curriculum Associate and a graduate student at Teachers College, Columbia University pursuing a Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics. (Visited 755 times, 2 visits today)
Idioms – as clear as mud? Miranda Steel is a freelance ELT lexicographer and editor. She has worked as a Senior Editor for dictionaries for learners at OUP and has also worked for COBUILD. In this post, she looks at some of the weird and wonderful idioms in the English language. Idioms are commonly used in spoken and written English. They add colour and interest to what we are saying. Native English speakers are usually confident that their readers or listeners will recognize the idiom, so well-known phrases rarely need to be given in full. Some idioms can be shortened in other ways such as long story short (to cut a long story short). “Anyway, long story short, it turns out Drake isn’t really his father.” Sometimes only a fragment of the original idiom remains. Another common way of changing an idiom is to reverse its meaning. Many idioms are very versatile and can be changed in a variety of ways. “Why use a stick when a carrot will work better?” “Their approach is all stick and no carrot.” Like this:
Expanding Vocabulary, One Schools Creative Idea (ARTICLE) Expanding Vocabulary, One School's Creative Idea (ARTICLE) We are always looking for clever and creative ideas for supporting children as they work on expanding their vocabulary. We received permission from Darlene, a literacy coach from Canandigua, New York, to share with you her school-wide vocabulary initiative call "Big Dog Words." The initiative is grounded in the research by Isabell Beck, PhD and her work with 'tier two' words. (you can read more about these types of vocabulary words in her book: Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction by Isabel L. Beck, et. al.) Darlene writes, "Our "Big Dog" vocabulary words were taken school wide last year as I created 2 Big Dog words lists (one for primary and one for intermediate). This summer we even had a Big Dog Vocabulary Reading Challenge for students where they looked for their big dog words in the books they read. We do lots of other exciting things with our schoolwide Big Dog words. Vocabulary Game
French Words and Expressions in English Updated October 16, 2015. Over the years, the English language has borrowed a great number of French words and expressions. Some of this vocabulary has been so completely absorbed by English that speakers might not realize its origins. Other words and expressions have retained their "Frenchness" - a certain je ne sais quoi which speakers tend to be much more aware of (although this awareness does not usually extend to actually pronouncing the word in French). The following is a list of French words and expressions which are commonly used in English. The literal English translation is provided in quotation marks and followed by an explanation. adieu "until God" Used like "farewell": when you don't expect to see the person again until God (when you die and go to Heaven) agent provocateur "provocative agent" A person who attempts to provoke suspected individuals or groups into committing unlawful acts aide-mémoire "memory aid" 1. allée "alley, avenue" A path or walkway lined with trees
Vocabulary Instructional Strategies: Marzano's 6-Step Process by Kimberly Tyson, Ph. D. Vocabulary and its strong relationship to comprehension has been verified over and over again. Vocabulary plays an important part in learning to read as well as reading to learn. Effective vocabulary instruction is a key foundation to helping students acquire a wide and diverse vocabulary. Additionally, active engagement helps students take part in the learning process and begin to “own” the words and understand word meaning in multiple contexts. Teachers need a variety of instructional strategies for teaching vocabulary. Vocabulary Instructional Strategies: Marzano’s 6-Step Process The six-step process includes the following steps: For several years, I’ve been teaching this process to teachers and helping them implement it in their classrooms. Lessons Learned As a teacher, you can’t teach every word which is why students also need to be engaged in independent reading to build their vocabulary. The process works best when you don’t skip any steps.
a word a day A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg We equate French with sophistication and when we import French words into English, we look at them with rose-colored glasses. We often give them special meanings. In French, concubin/concubine are simply people living together. In English, a concubine has a more specialized sense: a mistress. This week we'll feature five terms from French that relate to love, lust, and sex. risque or risqué (ri-SKAY) adjective: Bordering on indelicacy or impropriety, especially in a sexually suggestive manner. From Fremch risqué (risky), past participle of risquer (to risk). "A woman who was fired from her job at a NY lingerie business says she was fired because her employer complained her work attire was too risque." "The normally pristine Senator Evan Bayh made a risqué joke about a fellow Indianan from a town called French Lick."