Warm-up Find a speaking partner. Discuss the following questions and take notes: 1. How important is vocabulary in learning a foreign language? 2. What does it mean “to know” a word? 3. How do you learn new words? 1. 2. 3. How important is vocabulary in learning a foreign language? How important is vocabulary? Without grammar, very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed. David Wilkins (1972) How many words do you need to know? An educated native speaker: 20,000 An A1 English learner: 500 A B1 English learner: 2.500 A B2 English learner: 4,000 What does it mean to know a word? Knowing a lexical item (word) includes knowing the following aspects of it: ● Spelling and Pronunciation - how we write and how we say a word (US/UK English) ● Parts of speech - what function does it have in the language ● Meaning - translation, definition (synonyms, antonyms) ● Connotation and register - if it is positive/negative, formal/informal ● Usage and grammar - what kind of words come after it ● Collocation- with what other words does it naturally pair itself ● Derived forms - other words from the same root The more information you find out and record about the new word you want to learn, the better. Key principles of learning vocabulary ● focusing on depth, not breadth - learning all of the aspects of a smaller set of words that are important for you is a better strategy than learning large numbers of words superficially ● grouping words together - making a mind map or a word cloud on a certain topic can greatly contribute to learning and using the vocabulary correctly ● using words in context - that helps us associate words with certain situations ● recycling vocabulary - try to use the new vocabulary as often as you can Word Families - derived forms A. Use the word in capitals to form a word that fits the gap. 1. ______________________ are warning about the effects global warming will have on us. (SCIENCE) 2. Matt quickly came to the ______________________ that Jane was not telling the truth. (CONCLUDE) 3. The ______________________ of our flight was delayed due to fog. (ARRIVE) 4. Both teams gave a wonderful ______________________ in the match. (PERFORM) 5. Easter Island is famous for its ______________________ statues. (ASTONISH) 6. The woman was hit so hard that she lost ______________________. (CONSCIOUS) 7. For their own ______________________, the visitors of zoos are kept at a distance. (SAFE) 8. You should take the antibiotics for a whole week so that it is ______________________. (EFFECT) 9. Jane has been suffering from headaches ______________________. (LATE) 10. Most people believe that it is ______________________ that UFOs exist. (PROBABLE) B. Now, think of at least one more related word for each word below. SCIENCE _________________________________________________________________ CONCLUDE _______________________________________________________________ PERFORM ________________________________________________________________ CONSCIOUS ______________________________________________________________ SAFE ____________________________________________________________________ EFFECT __________________________________________________________________ PROBABLE _______________________________________________________________ Parts of Speech Match the terms with their definitions and examples (A - B - C) Group A - Terms 1. NOUN 2. ADJECTIVE 3. VERB 4. ADVERB 5. PREPOSITION 6. ARTICLE Group B - Definitions 7. A word that refers to actions, events, or states. 8. A word used to say when, where, or how something happens. 9. A word that describes people, things, places, events, etc. 10. A word that identifies a person, an object, etc., as being specific or not specific. 11. A word for a person, an object, a place, or an idea. 12. A word that expresses the relationship between a noun (or a pronoun) and other words in a sentence. Group C - Examples 13. Yesterday, outside, slowly. 14. Teacher, textbook, city, education. 15. A/an, the. 16. For, of, about. 17. Small, amazing, brown. 18. Memorize, happen, want. Now, in pairs or groups, answer the following questions. 1. What is important to know about an English noun? 2. How are adjectives in English different from adjectives in Czech? 3. How many verb tenses are there in English? How many of them do you feel comfortable using? 4. What is the comparative form of the adverb slowly? In which position/s should it go in the sentence: “He closed the door.” ? 5. How do you study prepositions? 6. Can you remember two rules for using articles in English? (do not repeat what your neighbor said) Extra: What are Articles in Grammar? Definition and Examples. (YouTube video) Collocations Consider the following expressions. What are their Czech equivalents? What differences do you notice between the two languages? HEAVY RAIN MAKE FRIENDS TAKE A TEST Can you think of other examples? Collocations are combinations of words that naturally go together in a language. Adjective + Noun strong coffee, a big decision, higher education Verb + Noun do homework, make an effort, set a goal Verb + Adverb work hard, decrease rapidly, succeed fully Adverb + Adjective absolutely fine, terribly sorry, perfectly happy Do you know what verbs go in the gaps below? 1. Peter hates __________ complaints in person, so he always writes letters or emails. 2. My mum taught me that if you ___________ a commitment, you should always try to stick to it. 3. Have you ever __________ an appointment to see your GP yet? 4. Do you prefer ____________ exams or coursework? 5. Last week, I ____________ Lucy a huge favor, and she still hasn’t thanked me! 6. It’s very common for companies to not ______________ a profit until their third year in business. 7. Let’s play it safe. I don’t want to _____________________ unnecessary risks. 8. I am running late. Could you _________________ a ride to the train station? 9. How is painting going? May I ______________ a look? Why do you think it is important to notice and learn collocations? Collocations can differ significantly between languages, which can cause huge problems for language learners. Take the example of ‘heavy rain’ and compare the translations below. ‘Heavy rain’ in other languages Translation in English lluvias intensas (Spanish) chuva forte (Portuguese) Starkregen (German) 大雨 (Mandarin) silný déšť (Czech) močan dež (Slovenian) teška kiša (Serbian) şiddetli yağmur (Turkish) intense rains strong rain strong rain big rain strong rain powerful rain difficult rain severe rain First and foremost, even linguistically similar languages use different collocations for the same concept. In addition, direct translation is problematic when a learner’s L1 (first language) collocation differs from the English equivalent. Secondly, there are a number of verbs in English, such as ‘take’, ‘get’, ‘put’, and ‘make’ that change their meaning significantly depending on the word with which they are combined. Look at the following examples where the verb “take” holds very different meanings. ○ Take a break ○ Take care ○ Take a risk ○ Take a call ○ Take notes For this reason, it is essential that you learn not only individual words but collocations. Knowing the word ‘risk’ is of limited use if you don’t know whether to say ‘take a risk’, ‘do a risk’, or ‘make a risk’! Choosing the right verb for your verb-noun collocation can be further complicated when the L2 is richer than the L1. For example, when a Czech speaker is learning English, they may struggle to choose between ‘make’ and ‘do’, due to the fact that ‘make’ and ‘do’ both translate as ‘dělat’ in many contexts. Dělat kafe = make coffee; dělat chybu = make a mistake; Dělat domácí úkoly = do homework; dělat sport = do a sport