Antagonyms

Semmiképpen nem megzavaró szándékkal, csupán a nyelvi jelenség szépségének okán, illetve persze arra az esetre, ha egy percen belül az adott szó, vagy éppen kifejezés két, egymással ellentétes használatába botlanátok akár bátran produktíve ugye, akár passzív fülügyileg. Vagy mi.

Anabasis: A military advance vs. A military retreat (3) {C} Anon : Immediately [Archaic] or soon vs. Later (3) {M} Anxious: Full of mental distress because of apprehension of danger or misfortune [in effect, seeking to avoid] (We were anxious about the nearby gunshots.) vs. Eager or looking forward to (Until you returned, I was anxious to see you.) (1) Apparent: Not clear or certain (For now, he is the apparent winner of the contest.) vs. Obvious (The solution to the problem was apparent to all.) (1) {I} Assume: To actually have (To assume office) vs. To hope to have ("He assumed he would be elected.") (3) {M}

A jó öreg odd-one-out, egy kicsit másképp. Persze csak akkor lesz ez más, ha másképpen használjuk, vagy más a célunk, mint az egyszerű szókincsfeljesztés.

Egy példa:

John is in the driver's seat.


Sarah's always been the underdog, ever since I've known her.


In their home, it is Jane who wears the pants.


Who has the upper hand here?


You take control.Itt ugye a hangsúly (nem soundweight) nem a szavakon van, hanem a jelentésen. (A kiemeléseket igény szerint hozzá lehet adni) Ezen kívül arra is érdemes figyelni, hogy a gyakorlat szerint egy ellentét, nem egyszerűen csak egy odavetett valahogy-majd-csak-kiszúrják-hogy-én-lógok-ki-a-sorból szó, vagy kifejezés használata mindig célravezetőbb - mintha az agyunk az ellentéteket jobban rögzítené, mint a marginális, vagy semmilyen kapcsolódásokat.

A kifejezések (főleg, ha valamiképpen mondatba foglaljuk őket) használata pedig közelebb visz a nyelvelsajátítás legtermészetesebb alapjaihoz.

Persze az én alapelvem mindig is az volt, hogy a szólista kórusba való, nem nyelvtanításhoz. :)

Ezeket persze többféleképpen is lehet gyakorolni, jól felvértezve magubkat kifejezésekkel (phrases, collocations):

"If I say, Keep your pants on, or Hold your horses, what do I ask for? More kindness, more gratitude, or more patience?"

"If I say, Off to bed, or Hit the hay, what do I ask for? Please, wash the dishes, go to sleep, or tidy your room?"

És ennek egész számú többszörösei. Javaslat: ezekből minnél többet SZÓBAN.

The Nile

The Nile River flows north 4000 miles, or 6400 kilometers, from the (1) __________ of central Africa to the Mediterranean Sea. The last 600 miles, or 960 kilometers, is in Egypt. There the river cuts a narrow, green valley through the desert. (2) _________ before the Nile reaches the sea, it branches to form a fan-shaped area of fertile land called a delta. Most ancient Egyptians lived in this delta area. For a long time they were (3) ___________ from foreign invasions by the desert, the sea, and waterfalls called cataracts.
The Egyptians had an advantage over the people of the other river valley (4) ___________. They knew that every year, about the middle of July, the Nile would (5) __________ its banks. By November the flood waters would go down. But the waters left behind large amounts of rich soil good for (6) _________ crops.
The Egyptians learned to control the flood waters. To do this, they built a (7) ____________ of dams and ditches to drain the extra water from the land. They also dug out basins, or bowl-shaped holes. They used these to hold and store the extra water. A machine called a shadoof lifted the water from the river to the basins. To bring the water to the fields during the dry season, the Egyptians dug irrigation canals.
The Nile River valley is only 3 percent of Egypt’s land area. Yet most Egyptians lived and worked in this area. In this wall (8) ____________ farmers harvest grapes to make wine.
1) Mount
2) Short
3) Protection
4) Civil

5) Flow
6) Grow
7) Systematic
8) Paint
 

A feladat a szokásos - sima szóképzés. DE! Ez a képes ökörködés tényleg nem kizárólag blogokra való. Fel lehet dobni iskolai órán, de egy alig szopogatott Tibi csoki reményét akár magántanulókban is fel lehet kelteni a megfejtéshez. Akárhogy is, a fejtörés csak tanít.

Classroom-ready handout here.

(Egyébiránt a képhez: LeiterJakabon edzett kollégák mindenképpen előnyben)

Az idei év legendás áthallása (persze lehet, hogy régi ez már, mint a patika, vagy éppen a madarasteszkó) aktualitása okán igényel némi nyelvi, nyelvtanítási megközelítést is.

Korábban szétszedtük ezt már itt, illetve csokorba gyűjtöttünk hasonló szösszeneteket például itt. Most csak jó bulizást mindenkinek!

On Hallowe'en the thing
you must do
Is pretend that nothing
can frighten you
An' if somethin' scares you
and you want to run
Jus' let on like
it's Hallowe'en fun.
- - - from an Early Nineteenth Century Halloween PostcardOne need not be a chamber to be haunted;
One need not be a house;
The brain has corridors surpassing
Material place.
- - - Emily Dickinson

Mert sokféleképpen lehet passzívot tanítani, de a kedvenceim mindig is azok voltak, amikor gondolkodhatsz, alkothatsz, s jellegzetes formában tanulod/tanítod, hogy a funkció úgy rögzüljön, hogy fel sem tűnik. (vastagon szedve néhány hasznosabb kifejezés).

Akár valahogy így is:

Tournaments

Knights were (1) ________ for war by fighting each other in tournaments, or special contests that test strength, skill, and endurance. Tournaments were (2) ________ outdoors in a large field near a castle. They were festive occasions that (3) _________ lords, ladies, and knights from the surrounding areas. Important guests watched the events from seats in stands (4) ________ with colorful cushions, carpets, and tapestries.
The most popular event was a joust. Two armored knights on horseback and carrying blunt lances (5) __________ headlong towards each other from opposite ends of the field. Each tried with all his strength and skill to (6) __________ the other to the ground with his lance.
Tournaments were costly in many ways. Men and horses were (7) _________ and (8) __________. Lances, swords, shields, and suits of armor were (9) _________. The noble who gave the tournament had to feed hundreds of people. In spite of the cost, however, tournaments (10) _________ popular.
It was (11) _________ that a knight who had not learned to fight in a tournament could not fight well in a battle.

• Cover
• Train
• Gallop
• Hold
• Knock
• Kill
• Remain
• Ruin
• Believe
• Attract
• Injure

Letölthető handout itt.

School is just round the bend to kick in. But school is crazy, simply due to the fact that English is crazy; and even if you have hitherto (heretofore?) thought otherwise, it has still got some surprise under its belt. Making no tails nor heads of it? Check this out.

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England nor French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweet-breads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?

If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend, that you can comb through the annals of history but not a single annal? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? If you wrote a letter, perhaps you bote your tongue?

Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another.

Have you noticed that we talk about certain things only when they are absent?

Have you ever seen a horsefull carriage or a strapfull gown? Met a sung hero or experienced requited love? Have you ever run into someone who was combobulated, gruntled, ruly or peccable? And where are all those people who ARE spring chickens or who would ACTUALLY hurt a fly?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm clock goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn't a race at all). That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it. (More about antagonyms in a few days.)

Az igazi, élő beszélt nyelvhez a valódi, létező, mindennapi kollokációk (ez az előtag ma még lesz) ismerete az egyik leghasznosabb eszköz. Gyakorolni lehet pl. így is:

STARS AND CONSTELLATIONS

One of the pleasures of camping is looking up at night into the heavens. Away from the lights of the city, you can see thousands of stars. At first, the night sky may seem to be a random scattering of brilliant points of light. Look more carefully, though, and you will notice that some stats are brighter than others. Night after night they appear in the sky at almost the same place. There is an order to their location. Learn about that order, and you will have a powerful skill for finding directions at night. For thousands of years, people have grouped stars into pictures called constellations. The word comes from con, meaning ‘together’ and stella, meaning ‘star’. The custom may date back to times when Greek and Roman shepherds spent their nights under the open sky. They imagined that different groups of stars formed the shapes of their kings and queens, warriors, maidens, animals and monsters. The names they gave the constellations are still with us today. You will find those same constellations in the sky over your camp. Read about them, and you can discover much about the history and legends of ancient people who, like you, gazed with wonder at the stars above.

• A szokás visszanyúlik - ___________________________
• Csodálkozva bámulni - ___________________________
• Éjszakáról éjszakára - ___________________________
• Felbámulni az éjszakai égboltra - _________________________
• A szabad ég alatt - ____________________________
• Ma is használjuk - ____________________________
• Gyönyörű, fénylő pontok csak úgy elszórva - __________________________
• Vmi alakját ölti fel - __________________________
• Az iránymeghatározás nagyon hasznos készsége - ___________________________
• Régmúlt idők legendái - ________________________
 

Handout letölthető innen.

CAROL TELLS BOB THE GOOD NEWS

Carol phones Bob to tell him the cookies are selling very well and that she needs another 1,000 by the morning. Bob isn't sure he can make the cookies so quickly, but Carol insists.

Carol: Bob, your wife's cookies are selling like hotcakes!
Bob: How many did you sell, Carol?
Carol: We've sold out. I need more right away! Bring me another 1,000 by tomorrow at 9 a.m.
Bob: That's a tall order, Carol.
Carol: Don't blow it, Bob! Susan's Scrumptious Cookies could really take off.
Bob: I know, but I'm not sure we have enough time to bake all those cookies.
Carol: Bake all night if you have to. Burn the midnight oil! If you work hard now, you'll be sitting pretty in a few years.
Bob: Rest assured that I'll do my best to deliver the goods.
Carol: Okay, now let's stop the chitchat. You've got work to do

IDIOMS - LESSON 17

(to) blow it - to spoil an opportunity
EXAMPLE 1: The actress got nervous and forgot all of her lines. She really blew it!
EXAMPLE 2: I'll give you one more chance, but don't blow it this time!
SYNONYM: to screw up [slang]. Example: I can't believe you screwed up during the interview by asking for six weeks of vacation before you even got the job offer!

 

A szótanításnál, szótanulásnál ez sok szempontból több, mint a hagyományos tenor vagy alt megközelítés (szólista - a szerk. kér bocsánatot). Egyrészt mindig fontosnak tartottam, hgy a nyelv úgy szivárogjon az agyba, hogy valamilyen egyéb tudás, tudmány, input vigye azt be; másrészt pedig a játékos forma is csak akkor ér valamit, ha kihívás. Márpedig ha ebből a compound leckéből (némi netes segyítéget igénybe véve, ha túl lusták vagyunk) matching exercise, odd-one-out, etymlogy-ko-kill-you, vagy gyakorlatilag bármi előállítható. Azért érzitek a finom bevezetés mögött az árnyalt én-ugyan-nem-szabadkozom-hogy-egy-hónapja-nem-írtam-bejegyzést manővert? Remélem! :)

Tehát, pl:

Hard-hearted

Meaning - Lacking mercy; incapable of pity.Origin - The first mention in print in English of the term 'hard-hearted' is in Geoffrey Chaucer's 1374 translation of Consolation of Philosophy, the 6th century treatise by the Roman philosopher Anicius Boethius:Ne no tere ne wette his face, but he was so hard-herted. The term reflects the mediaeval belief that the heart was the organ that controlled one's thoughts and feelings - there being no understanding of the functioning of the brain at that time. The belief was that the condition of the heart reflected the senses in a direct and literal way. We have retained several mediaeval expressions that we now see as entirely figurative but which were previously akin to a medical diagnosis.

- Cold-hearted
- Light-hearted
- Broken-hearted
- Half-hearted
- Hard-hearted
- Faint-hearted
- Whole-hearted (Akinek még jut eszébe, az bombázza kommentben!)

The last on that list, whole-hearted, is atypical in that it is a 19th century term and derives from a different meaning of 'hearted', i.e. 'courageous;spirited'.

The transition from literal to figurative meaning is matched by the transition in the spelling of the terms. Initially, the two words were usually written separately, then later as a hyphenated pair and finally as a single word. Someone with a 'light heart' was initially 'light hearted', later 'light-hearted' and more recently 'lighthearted' - for example:

John Palsgrave's dictionary Lesclarcissement de la Langue Francoyse, 1530: "Lyght herted or mery, alaigre."
William Cowper's poem The Task, 1785: "He whistles as he goes, light-hearted wretch, Cold and yet cheerful."
Wilkie Collins's novel Queen of Hearts, 1859: "Mrs. Knifton began to make jokes about it, in her lighthearted way."

Hard hearted HannahThe 15th century literal way of thinking (and spelling) was resurrected in the 1920s in the popular Tin-Pan Alley song Hard Hearted Hannah:

They call her Hard Hearted Hannah,
The vamp of Savannah,
The meanest gal in town;
Leather is tough, but Hannah's heart is tougher,
She's a gal who loves to see men suffer!

hard-hearted - Of course, to be 'hearted' these days we just need a T-shirt. The 'I heart NY' message began being used in the USA in the 1980s and, in January 2011, the OED defined a new meaning of the verb heart as "To love; to be fond of: - originally with reference to logos using the symbol of a heart to denote the verb 'love'", which is as close as we can get to an acceptance that the symbol is now part of the language.

Én egy időben gyakorlatilag csak a NewsWeek-ből éltem, ami a nyelvtanulást illeti. :D De a lehetőségek számtalanok, Garfield-től kezdve egészen a Wall Street Journal-ig - a lényeg, hogy találjunk benn örömet és kihívást is. Lentebb tanácsok gyűjteménye, nem csak tanár kollégáknak.

Selection criteria

It is important that you choose your news article wisely. You should consider the following criteria.

* Appropriacy of topic
Will your students be interested in the topic? Will it be upsetting for some students? Is it suitable for the age group?

* Length
Be careful to avoid articles that are particularly long. Reading a news report in a second language is demanding, and if the article is too long it will discourage students. If the news report is lengthy, do not be afraid of editing. The style of news articles often means that entire paragraphs can be omitted without affecting the overall sense of the piece.

* Language content
Besides the general interest in the topic, this may well be the most important selection criteria. Does the article contain a useful lexical set (crime, money)? Are there some good grammar exponents (past perfect, reported speech) or interesting syntax and sentence style? These will provide the basis of your language work on the text, how can the language be exploited?

* Generative?
Can you think of a good way to follow up the basic textual work? Does the topic lend itself to discussion or role play? Can you practise the language further?

* Task suitability
When working with authentic material there are issues concerning the authenticity of the tasks. The most authentic task is for students to simply read the article. Although we usually look to exploit the text a little more in the classroom, it is important to keep tasks as realistic as possible.