Lesson 13 Vocabulary
English word English Definition English Example sentence
1 realia real things that you bring into the classroom to use for teaching Realia is good to use with small children.
2 accuracy the level of correctness of a thing or activity I don't have enough vocabulary to describe things with accuracy.
3 passive knowledge knowledge that you have accumulated accidentally I know a lot about English grammar, but it's all passive knowledge. I just picked it up when I was a kid.
4 aptitude a person's skill, usually mental I don't have much aptitude for math.
5 brainstorming coming up with ideas very quickly and creatively Brainstorming is a good way to solve problems, sometimes.
6 collocation the use of certain words together / words that naturally go together Let's study some collocation today.
7 a colloquialism a casual word or phrase; slang "Geki-oku punpun maru" is a Japanese colloquialism popular with young girls.
8 high-frequency words a word that is used often "The" is a high frequency word.
9 dictation the act of speaking words that have been written down or recorded I don't really like doing dictation drills
10 intonation the rise and fall in the sound of your voice Remember to use rising intonation when you ask a question.
11 to skim ~ to read something quickly to find the main ideas I always skim articles first to find the main idea.
12 to scan ~ to read something quickly to find specific information I'm good at scanning articles to find specific information
13 a grammar structure a group of words that are used together to express something grammatically e.g. present perfect = Subject + have + past participle Let's study some different grammar structures today.
14 slang very informal usage in vocabulary and idiom that is characteristically more metaphorical, playful, elliptical, vivid, and ephemeral than ordinary language. "Yabai" is a Japanese slang term.
15 prescriptive grammar a view of grammar that enforces strict rules In school, we usually learn prescriptive grammar.
16 descriptive grammar a view of grammar that describes the language how it is actually used, regardless of rules Linguists often use descriptive grammar to see how languages change over time.
17 proficiency a person's skill, measured in efficiency or speed My reading proficiency is very high.
18 a graded reader Books that aimed at language learners that are easy to read because the vocabulary and grammar in them has been restricted. I bought some new graded readers yesterday.
19 register the level of formality It's important to use the correct register when writing an email.
20 syllabus a list of topics or books that will be studied in a course The syllabus for this year looks really fun.
21 syntax The way in which words are put together to form sentences, clauses or phrases. The syntax in the sentence "I went Tokyo to" is wrong.