It's a question for teacher here at italki. Teaching languages online is obviously different from teaching in person, so I was wondering if, among other tools, you have been using Memrise to ask your students to learn new words and what your experience was.
I have just discovered that in Memrise you can create your own "courses" i.e. lists of words to learn but it doesn't look super user friendly. Not sure if it's only me as I haven't used it before so wanted to check others' opinions, specifically teachers as they presumably need to create a lot of such word decks for their students.
Thanks a lot in advance!
I was just wondering if anybody has found themselves in a funny or embarrassing situation because of "false friends" (they are the words in your target language that sound similar to the ones in your native language but have a different meaning).
For example, I once talked to a Polish lady and we discussed national Polish and Russian cuisine. She told me about Polish "pirogy" and how they were so tasty and she mentioned that they boiled them. Now, in Russian we have the word "пироги" which sounds like "pirogy". It is a kind of fried pastry with different fillings and to boil them would be really weird. So, I thought it was really extravagant that they boiled pastry in Poland. I shared with some other friend who explained to me that actually "pirogy" is the same as "пельмени" or dumplings in Russian and it makes perfect sense to boil them!
I know my story is not too entertaining (unless you are a chef lol) but I was wondering if others have something funny to share.
Thanks!
I was just wondering what native English speakers think about it?
As far as I understand, phrasal verbs are more for less formal conversations,
so in less formal conversations, do you notice when a non-native speaker uses a different verb instead of a phrasal verb?
Do you think it's important for non-native speakers to try to use phrasal verbs more in those informal convos?
The reason I am asking, phrasal verbs can be quite confusing, so it takes more effort to use them compared to other verbs.
Thanks!
Do you think it's ok to have a foreign accent?
I used to think that one needed to get rid of their foreign accent and sound like native speakers but now I am not too convinced. For example, I have recently listened to a podcast in English and the podcaster had a very strong French accent, so I thought that if his accent didn't get in the way of what he was doing, why would he want to get rid of it? It's a question of time after all that one would otherwise spend on something more useful.
Would you spend time on improving your pronunciation?
In this post, I am sharing some of my thoughts on this, not sure everybody would agree LOL <a class="in-cell-link" href="http://blog.vocblocks.com/2018/01/pronunciation-pain-part-1-do-i-need-to.html" target="_blank" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">http://blog.vocblocks.com/2018/01/pronunciation-pain-part-1-do-i-need-to.html</a>
I have come across this little game on social media and found it entertaining.
Plus it can help to learn some new words ;) You can go descriptive or just put a noun there.
So, if you are up for it, please look to your right and write in the comments your answer to this question:
What (object) is there on your right that you are going to save the world with?
I have written mine in the comments :)
I was wondering how other learners look up words when reading online. Do you use google translate or some academic online dictionary opened in a separate window? Does anybody use any software to look up words by clicking on a word to see what it means? I used one programme like this ages ago and had to delete it as everytime I clicked on a word to copy and paste it, the programme showed the translation which was not what I was after. So, was wondering what others experience is. Thanks for your comments in advance.
Discuss the Article : 8 Reasons Why Memes Are Useful To Grow Your Vocabulary
<a href='/article/975/8-reasons-why-memes-are-useful-to-grow-your-vocabulary' target='_blank'>8 Reasons Why Memes Are Useful To Grow Your Vocabulary</a>
Online memes can be tiny flashes of language and culture with real value to language learners. Try this offbeat advice for making the most out of these omnipresent lingographics.
