One of the most fun parts of teaching English to students is by letting them discover figurative language.  Figurative language is any speech that is not meant to be taken literally.  Students in traditional classrooms and ESL classrooms will enjoy learning about three of the most interesting types of figurative language in English: idioms, oxymorons, […]

I have this weird thing with song lyrics.  I can hear music I haven’t heard in 20 years or more, and suddenly I will realize that I STILL remember the words!!  It’s kind of freaky, actually.  It’s like there is this little “compartment” up in my brain that stores song lyrics without my knowledge!
But the […]

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am incredibly thankful for all the creative ways there are to build English language skills online.  Maybe I’m not able to run in a field and shout them across the hills like Maria in the Sound of Music, but I still have some “favorite things” that I know […]

English words relating to science and scientific concepts can be come of the most difficult words to spell and memorize definitions for.  Teachers are always in need of additional ways to help students learn and retain science vocabulary.
Of course, worksheets always provide additional practice, but what if there was something more interactive for students to […]

Here is a little quiz for you:  which word could be described by the following two meanings??
1. A piece of open land used for recreational purposes
2. To maneuver a vehicle into a particular space

If you guessed “PARK”, you would be correct!
A word with two or more meanings is called a homograph.  Homographs are some […]

Triple A Words.  Have you ever thought about them?  In my opinion, they are often some of the most difficult words to spell.  Probably because they don’t always follow traditional rules of English (which are hardly traditional, and made to be broken, it would seem).
But words with three A’s in them are some of the […]

We English speakers like our words.  Sometimes a little TOO much.
What are some of your favorite redundant (and repetitive!) phrases?
Here are a few of mine:

I personally
mutual agreement
added bonus
honest truth
filled to capacity

Feel free to share yours in the comments or via Twitter to @Vocabulary_Fun

If you ask my youngest son, spelling tests are far, far scarier than anything that Hollywood’s best horror writers can dish out.  A couple of years ago, I could track the onset of his chronic stomach aches to the exact moment the next spelling or vocabulary test was announced.  Having struggled with phonics his whole […]

If you are an ESL teacher, or a student in an ESL classroom, you may be searching for lessons and games that you or your students can use outside of class time.  Vocabulary.co.il is a perfect way to practice and perfect English vocabulary - - and it can be used in or out of a […]

The English language is the second most widely used language in the world, and the native tongue of over 350 million people.  Even more astounding is how many people have English as their second language - - with some estimates placing it between 500 million and one billion.  English language expert David Crystal, who has […]