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In case you missed it or need a reminder...

An anthology of advice to your twelve-year-old self is in the works: https://afarinrava.blogspot.com/2023/04/an-opportunity.html

DEADLINE: MAY 7, 2023

Contronyms

Many words sound similar in French and English but have very different meanings. I've mentioned this in my books — in Languages & Life Lessons and in Indiana Joes. One such word that confused me was the adjective terrific. I noticed that people in the United States used the word as another way to say great or tremendous, whereas a similar word in French, the verb terrifier, meant to terrify or cause terror. It took me a while to get used to what it meant in the US. I looked up the English word to make sure I understood it correctly and found it had an archaic definition: causing terror. 

The meanings of the word terrific — great and causing terror — are not opposites, but the English language does have words with two opposing meanings. These words are called contronyms. A contronym is a word with two opposite meanings. The English language has about seventy-five contronyms.

This site offers a list of contronyms: 
https://ielts.com.au/australia/prepare/article-grammar-101-what-is-a-contronym#full-list-of-contronyms-in-english

Reflections

 

Maya Angelou

"Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better."
Maya Angelou

Deadline: May 7, 2023

Do you remember your life (and the issues in your life) when you were twelve?

In case you missed it or need a reminder...

An anthology of advice to your twelve-year-old self is in the works: https://afarinrava.blogspot.com/2023/04/an-opportunity.html

DEADLINE: MAY 7, 2023

A Language Learner's Vocabulary

If you're learning a new language, you're probably trying hard to expand your vocabulary in that language. Here are a few tips to make this experience a little easier and more effective:

- Learn words that you need to use in ideas you want/need to express, not just random words. 

- Look up a new word and learn how to spell it (orthography) as well as how to pronounce it (pronunciation) because if you don't feel confident using that word in writing and speaking, you will avoid it and won't get to use it or practice it in real life.

- Search for the origin of the word. Learning about the etymology of a word gives us a story, and our brains retain stories better than just words.

- Begin using the word immediately and repeatedly until it becomes a part of your regular vocabulary. Repeat the word in spoken and written language over a period of several days to weeks.

- If the word is used with a preposition, learn the whole thing together. If the preposition changes with the meaning or grammatical use of the word, learn one combination first and use it until it becomes comfortable before learning/ using the other.

- Don't try to learn too many words at the same time. If you don't get to practice a word, you won't really learn it, and it won't go in your word bank.

Muhammad Ali

“Don't count the days, make the days count.”
Muhammad Ali