Vocabulary Quiz: Confusing Words

How good is your English? Here are 5 sets of words that are often confused.

In each sentence, choose the correct word from the pair of similar terms. (If both words possibly can be correct, choose the more plausible one.)

1. He runs the _________ from slapstick comedian to arch satirist.
a) gamut
b) gauntlet

2. We went to see her perform in a musical _______.
a) revue
b) review

3. To what _______ are you willing to go to prevent that from happening?
a) extant
b) extent

4. The major ________ of the religion are listed below.
a) tenants
b) tenets

5. The place has a certain _______ to it.
a) cache
b) cachet

Answers and Explanations

1. He runs the gamut from slapstick comedian to arch satirist.

Gamut means “an entire range or series,” and a gauntlet is a protective glove, a trial or ordeal, or, in idiomatic use, a literal or figurative challenge to another to engage in combat.

2. We went to see her perform in a musical revue.

A revue is a performance of loosely related songs, dances, and skits; a review is an analysis, critique, summary, or survey (though the word is sometimes used interchangeably with revue).

3. To what extent are you willing to go to prevent that from happening?

Extent means “magnitude,” “range,” or “scope,” while extant means “existing.”

4. The major tenets of the religion are listed below.

A tenet is a belief, doctrine, or principle, generally one shared by a group of people; a tenant is a person who rents property from another.

5. The place has a certain cachet to it.

Cachet refers to prestige or a feature or quality associated with prestige (as well as other meanings); a cache is a location for hiding or storing something, or a short-term computer memory. (The words are pronounced “cashay” and “cash,” respectively.)

Source: http://DailyWritingTips.com

30 English Words Borrowed from Dutch

As a teacher, I have always been interested in word origins. English grew from many languages and cultures and we have also borrowed many words from other languages. Here are 30 English words we have adopted from Dutch.

During much of the 1600s, the Netherlands was a world power, especially at sea, and this influence contributed to the English language in the form of borrowings from Dutch into English of various nautically and aquatically themed words. Here’s a list of many of these terms (a few of which were adopted from, or may derive from cognates in, other languages) and their definitions and their Dutch origins. 

1. avast (“stop”): from hou vast, meaning “hold fast”

2. bow (“front of a ship”): from boeg (or from Old German or Old Norse)

3. brackish (“salty”): from brac (or a Low German cognate), meaning “salty”

4. buoy (“marker” or, as a verb, “mark with a buoy” or “keep afloat”): from buoy, ultimately from the Latin word boia, meaning “shackle”

5. caboose (“the last car on a freight train, used for the accommodation for the train’s crew”): from kabuis or kombuis, meaning “galley,” or “ship’s kitchen”

6. commodore (“senior captain” or “naval officer above a captain in rank”): probably from kommandeur, ultimately from the Old French word comandeor, meaning “commander”

7. cruiser (“warship larger than a destroyer but smaller than a battleship,” or “pleasure motorboat”): from kruisen (related to kruis, meaning “cross”), meaning “sail across or go through”

8. deck (“any of various floors of a ship”): from dek, meaning “covering”

9. dock (“mooring structure for vessels” or, as a verb “tie up at a dock”): from docke, meaning “pier”

10. dredge (“riverbed or seabed scoop” or, as a verb, “drag” or “scoop”): perhaps based on dregghe, meaning “dragnet”

11. freebooter (“pirate”): from vrijbuiter, meaning “robber”; the second half of the word is related to booty, also derived from Dutch

12. freight (“shipped goods” or, as a verb, “ship goods”): from a word variously spelled fraght, vracht, and vrecht and meaning “water transport”; the Dutch word is also the source of fraught, meaning “heavy” or “weighed down”

13. filibuster (“obstructive act” or, as a verb, “obstruct”): from vrijbuiter by way of the Spanish word filibuster (see freebooter above), which in turn comes from the French word flibustier

14. hoist (“lift” as a noun or a verb): from hijsen

15. jib (“spar”): from gijben, meaning “boom”

16. keel (“spine or structure projecting from a hull”): from kiel

17. keelhaul (“punish by dragging over the keel”): from kielhalen, meaning “keel hauling”

18. kill (“riverbed”): from kil

19. maelstrom (“whirlpool” or, by extension, “confused situation”): from maalstroom, meaning “grinding current” or “strong current” (the second element of the word is cognate with stream); possibly based on an Old Norse word

20. morass (“boggy or muddy ground” or, by extension, “complicated or confused situation”): from marasch, meaning “swamp,” partly based on the Old French word marais, meaning “marsh”

21. plug (“stopper” or, as a verb, “stop (a hole)”): from plugge, meaning “stopper”

22. school (“large group of fish,” unrelated to the term for an educational institution): from schole

23. scow (“small, wide sailboat” or “flat-bottomed boat”): from schouw

24. shoal (“large group of fish”; unrelated to the same word meaning “area of shallow water”): cognate with schole

25. skipper (“captain of a ship”): from schipper, meaning “someone who ships”

26. sloop (“sailboat,” either a small modern boat or a specific type of warship): from sloep, either ultimately from slupen, meaning “to glide,” or from the Old French term chalupe

27. smack (“small sailboat”): possibly from smak, meaning “sailboat,” perhaps from the sound made by flapping sails

28. smuggler (“illegal trader”): smokkelen or the Low German word smukkelen, meaning “transport (goods) illegally”)

29. stockfish (“cod or similar fish prepared by drying”): from stokvis, meaning “stick fish”

30. yacht (“small, light pirate-hunting naval vessel” or “pleasure motorboat or sailboat”): from jacht, meaning “hunt” and short for jachtschip

Source: http://esl.about.com

Robert

691 ESL Teaching Positions in 39 Countries on our Job Board this Week!

The following overseas teaching jobs have been posted to our job board as of January 10, 2017. A ‘v’ after a number means a ‘volunteer’ or likely unpaid job. All others are presumably salaried and contracted positions.

Austria 2, Belgium 2, Bolivia 1, Brazil 1, Brunei 2, Burma 2, Cambodia 2, Chile 6, China 200 +, Czech Republic 8, Egypt 4, France 110, Germany 7, Greece 4, Hong Kong 8, Indonesia 5, Italy 60 +,  Japan 24, Kazakhstan 3, Kuwait 2, Netherlands 1, Oman 4, Poland 8, Portugal 4, Romania 6, Russian Federation 16, Saudi Arabia 30, Singapore 3, Slovakia 4, South Korea 12, Spain 100 +, Taiwan 4, Tanzania 1, Thailand 1, Tunisia 2, Turkey 6, Ukraine 1, United Arab Emirates 1, Vietnam 24.

There are 691 overseas ESL teaching job openings in 39 countries posted on our job board this week around the world with positions from kindergarten teachers to university professors.  Schools in the Asia-Pacific region start their years anywhere from January to June. Then summer school kicks in followed by the August to September International schools. If teaching and making a difference somewhere in the world interests you, there is never a better time to do something about it than right now.

A degree* in any discipline, a good command of the English language and our TESOL or TEFL Certificate are all you need to apply for most of the above positions. Some schools will even hire you without a degree if you have taken one of our well-respected Certificate. Courses. Pick a country you would like to spend some time in then click our link to get started. Four to six weeks is all it can take!

http://www.teachesl.org 

Dr Robert W. Taylor

Dean of Studies

Sunbridge Institute of English

The 'Wright' Game for an ESL Class

Sometimes you need to add a little fun to your class. Most lessons are boring so if you can liven them up from time to time, it will put your students in a happy, learning frame of mind. I like to throw in a game every now and then and you can do it. I suggest Fridays to give your class something to look forward to. Adding a small gift such as a pen, notebook or book adds extra incentive to listen and try to win.

English has many words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. Two of those words are RIGHT and LEFT. One of my favourite games is The Wright Game. This teaches students to listen for the words RIGHT and LEFT. I published an article a number of years ago on EzineArticles.com and it continues to receive a lot of comments and attention from teachers. 

To read the full game details, go to:

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Wright-Game-For-an-ESL-Class&id=2862878

Look over some of my other ESL articles while you are there. You may find some additional material you can use in your class.

Robert

Words Derived from Pend

Pend, stemming from the Latin verb pendere, meaning “hang,” is used exclusively in legal terminology, as a verb meaning “be awaiting,” but it appears as the root of many other words referring to hanging or weight, which are listed and defined in this post.

Something that is pending is waiting to be resolved. A pendant is a fixture or ornament that hangs; the word can also refer to a certain type of rope used in sailing, is a British English variant of pennant (a small, tapering flag), and may also refer to something complementary or supplementary, such as a companion volume to a book. A compendium (“weigh together”), meanwhile, is a collection; it is frequently used in a literary sense.

To append (“weigh out”) is to attach something, and something attached to something else, such as a limb, is often referred to as an appendage. Supplemental content attached to the end of a book is called an appendix, and a vestigial organ of the body is so named because it hangs from the large intestine. (Its full name is vermiform appendix; the first word means “wormlike”).

To depend (“hang from”) on someone or something is to rely on him, her, or it; the adjectival form is dependable, dependent is both an adjective and a noun, and dependence is the noun form. (Antonyms referring to freedom from reliance are independent and independence, while codependent, codependence, and codependency refer to control or manipulation of one person by another.)

To prepend (“weigh before”) is to consider. To expend (“weigh out”) is to pay; the adjectival form is expendable (though it can also be used as noun). Something impending (“hanging over”) is about to occur; the basic verb form is rare. A stipend (“weigh payment”) is money given as pay for short-term work, generally a modest amount not equivalent to a salary.

To suspend (“hang up”) is to hang something or cause someone to wait for something; the feeling that results is suspense, and the act is called suspension.

A pendulum is a weight that swings to and fro to regulate movement; it may also refer figuratively to movement from one position to its opposite. Something that swings heavily can be described as pendulous. Perpendicular (“hanging thoroughly”) means “projecting at right angles”); it is sometimes employed as a synonym for precipitous and may refers to individuals of distinctive types. 

(Perpendiculum is the Latin term for a plumb line, a weighted cord that in conjunction with gravity is used to ensure that an upright structural element is straight.)  

Pendentive is an architectural term for a structural element that helps support a dome.

Source: Words Derived from “Pend” - DailyWritingTips

Sunbridge Institute of English offers TESOL, TEFL, TEFLA and TEYL Certificate Courses as well as a Diploma Course to help ESL teachers broaden their scope in the field of second language teaching. We have been training teachers since 1998. http://www.teachesl.org