A beginning English student says, "Go Canada.  Homestay.  Next month."  There isn't any grammar structure, but he will be understood.  Likewise, a foreign tourist who is lost in New York says, "Where.  Subway.  Close?" He should be directed to the nearest subway station.  This is the power of vocabulary.

For students who are just beginning to study English, most new words can be used immediately.   The words have an obvious use.  Because "doctor," "hungry," or "subway" are often used words, for example, they quickly become part of their everyday English.  However, at higher levels, many new words are used less frequently.  Students encounter the words only sometimes while reading or listening.  And so, vocabulary acquisition seems less important.  New words are also more difficult to remember.

Does that make new vocabulary less important?  No, of course not.  But the techniques and strategies used to remember new words becomes more important.

First, and perhaps most important, a student needs clear short-term and long-term goals.  How many words will he learn in a month?  How many words will he learn in six months?  A student often lacks motivation without goals.  But keep the goals reasonable!

Second, when a student encounters a new word, it's always best to guess the meaning from the context of the sentence.  After guessing the meaning, then he can check an English-English dictionary.  This technique helps to improve a student's reasoning ability.  And yet, if he is wrong, the student will want to know why. 

Lastly, it just comes down to hard work.  A student should practice writing his own definitions, synonyms, and sentences at home.  He should also read or listen to English as much as possible.  As a final word of advice: relating new words to personal experience helps.

Preview some of the lesson material:

Warm Up: Do you agree or disagree? Why?

1. Studying vocaulbary is boring!
2. I rarely bother to use new vocabulary. If I hear or see it, and understand it, that's all right.
3. It's easier to understand new words when they are written rather than when they are spoken.
4. I can learn vocabulary for a test, but I usually forget most of the words a week later.
5. I often write new words in a notebook during class, but I rarely look at the words after class.

Fragments: Remember how the fragments were used, and complete the sentence from today's article.

1. For students just beginning to study English...
2. Therefore, vocabulary acquisition...
3. First, and perhaps most important...
4. Second, when a student encounters a new word...
5. As a final word of advice...

post-Comprehension: Talk about the following questions in pairs/groups. Remember to support your answers!

1. What strategies would you like to try to study vocabulary?
2. Do you agree with the article's suggestions to retain vocabulary?
3. Which English skill do you think is the most important?
4. Which English skill is your weakest?
5. What short- and long-term goals can you set to help you learn vocabulary?

Google Search: Type "vocabulary" into Google. Look at the websites, and/or read additional articles on this topic. Discuss or write an essay about your findings.

Download the lesson:

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Step 1:  You will listen to an article about Mother's Day.  The article is about 5 minutes long.  Listen only, and don't worry about understanding everything.
Step 2:  Look at the questions.  Read and understand them, then listen again.  As you are listening, try to answer the questions in your head.  Don't write the answers yet.  Next, listen again and write the answers this time.  Compare your answers with a partner.
Step 3:  Read the article.  Check in your dictionary any unknown words.  Now listen again.  Can you understand more?
Step 4:  Listen!  Listen!  Listen!  Listen to the article on the train or in your free time.  Each time you listen, you will slowly improve!

Mother's Day is a holiday to honor and give thanks to our mothers.  People celebrate the day all over the world.  In France, a flower-shaped cake is part of the family meal.  In the U.S., most restaurants claim this day as their busiest all year.  In many other countries, carnations have a special significance.

Although the holiday is very commercial, it's not a Hallmark holiday.  In other words, it's not a holiday created by businesses to make money.  Mother's Day actually has its origins long ago in ancient Greece.  Rome, which copied much of the Greek way of life, had a similar holiday.  So did other countries around the Mediterranean Sea.  Unlike today, though, people didn't honor their own mothers.  People honored the mother of the gods, Rhea.  After the Roman Empire fell, Mother's Day disappeared.

So how did our modern version of the holiday come about?

Many believe that Mother's Day as we know it originated from the British holiday called "Mothering Sunday."  All through the Middle Ages in Europe, people brought gifts to their home (or mother) church on the fourth Sunday of Lent.  Then in the 16th century, people began to live greater and greater distances from where they had been born.  About this time, it also became increasingly common for children to work far from home as servants and apprentices.  They would often need the day off to make the journey, which also allowed them to visit their mothers and family.  They would bring a cake and pick wildflowers to give as presents, too.  From here the holiday was born.

Americans have had a great influence on the holiday, too.  A woman named Julia Ward Howe brought the holiday from Britain in the 1870s.  She saw it as a way to honor mothers, of course, but also as a way to honor and promote peace.  Then in the early 1900s, another woman campaigned for a national holiday for mothers.  Her name was Anna Jarvis, and she sent letters to business leaders, clergy members, women's clubs, and anyone else who might help.  Within a few years, forty-six States celebrated the holiday.  In 1914, Mother's Day became an official holiday, and was quickly commercialized with cards, carnation flowers, and chocolate candy.  Anna Jarvis "wanted it to be a day of sentiment, not profit."  She also called greeting cards "a poor excuse for the letter you are too lazy to write!"

Different countries celebrate the holiday on different days.  Different countries have adopted different traditions.  But one thing remains the same everywhere: it's a day to say to your mom, "Thank you."

Step 1:  You will listen to an article about the religious holiday Easter.  The article is 4 minutes and 45 seconds minutes long.  Listen only, and don't worry about understanding everything.
Step 2:  Look at the questions.  Read and understand them, then listen again.  As you are listening, try to answer the questions in your head.  Don't write the answers yet.  Next, listen again and write the answers this time.  Compare your answers with a partner.
Step 3:  Read the article.  Check in your dictionary any unknown words.  Now listen again.  Can you understand more?
Step 4:  Listen!  Listen!  Listen!  Listen to the article on the train or in your free time.  Each time you listen, you will slowly improve!

Easter celebrates the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Although it falls on a Sunday, the holiday follows the phases of the moon in the lunar calendar.  Hence the actual date changes from year to year.  Easter can be celebrated as early as March 22, and as late as April 25 in Western Christianity.  In such places as Greece and Russia, the holiday can even be as late as May 8.

Easter follows Lent, which is a 40-day period of fasting and prayer.  Christians prepare for Easter during this period by abstaining from certain foods, such as meat or fish, as well as through prayer and special church services.  Modern-day devout Christians also try to limit smoking and drinking, watching too much TV, or other similar pleasurable activities as a form of sacrifice.  The period of Lent supposedly represents the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness, a time when he fended off the devil's temptations.

Then comes the week before Easter Sunday.  Each day is significant and with special liturgies which represent Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem, the Last Supper, and crucifixion.  On Easter itself, many churches contain festive music and numerous floral decorations as a sign of celebration and rebirth.  The history of Easter is quite long, with the first written record appearing in the 2nd century.

Nowadays, however, Easter has become associated with secular events and traditions, much like Christmas (although not to the same extent).  Greeting cards, chocolate and candy eggs, dyed eggs, and jelly beans are one part of the holiday in many cultures.  But there are unique aspects from country to country.  In America, many children participate in Easter egg hunts.  According to children's stories, the Easter Bunny hides the treats during the night for kids to find in the morning.  In Norway, murder mysteries have become part of the holiday, with most TV channels broadcasting detective stories.  And in Finland and Sweden, children dress up as witches, go door-to-door, and exchange pussy willows for candy.

Again, like Christmas, the non-religious traditions usually come as a mix between commercialism and much more ancient beliefs.  Eggs are a symbol of rebirth, and were frequently exchanged at spring festivals by Mediterranean peoples as far back as Roman times.  Pussy willows come into the holiday because of an old tradition where willow branches were used to bless homes.  Yet candy manufacturers have capitalized on these ancient associations with must-have chocolate and candy eggs greedily eaten by children everywhere.  For some, modern practices put a relatable face on an ancient and very spiritual holiday, while others believe Jesus' sufferings have been cheapened.

Step 1:  You will listen to an article about St. Patrick's Day.  The article is a little more than 4.5 minutes long.  Listen only, and don't worry about understanding everything.
Step 2:  Look at the questions.  Read and understand them, then listen again.  As you are listening, try to answer the questions in your head.  Don't write the answers yet.  Next, listen again and write the answers this time.  Compare your answers with a partner.
Step 3:  Read the article.  Check in your dictionary any unknown words.  Now listen again.  Can you understand more?
Step 4:  Listen!  Listen!  Listen!  Listen to the article on the train or in your free time.  Each time you listen, you will slowly improve!

What does St. Patrick's Day mean to you?  For many, it means being honorary Irish for a day.  It means a large parade with marching bands, floats, and folk dressed in green top hats and tails.  It means green beer, and a lot of it.  In Chicago, the river is dyed green.  In New York, 150,000 marchers participate in the parade.  And in Dublin, the party lasts for five days!

The holiday honors St. Patrick, who is the patron saint of Ireland and believed to have died on March 17th.  He lived in the 6th century A.D., and came to Ireland to convert its people to Christianity.  Much of his real life has been mixed with legend and stories, though, and scholars disagree on many points.  For example, some say that Irish pirates captured and enslaved Patrick as a boy.  Or, according to legend, he herded all the snakes out of Ireland and into the sea, even if scientists now know that Ireland has never had any snakes.  In fact, some historians boldly state that the St. Patrick we know today is actually the composite of two people who lived in the 5th and 6th centuries.

Besides Ireland, in countries where the holiday is celebrated, many people of Irish descent usual live.  In the U.S., for example, New York, Boston, and Chicago all have very large Irish communities, and so the cities have a long tradition of festivities.  But Munich in Germany, Birmingham in England, and even Moscow in Russia celebrate the day, too, as the holiday has become more and more commercialized and common.

It's in Dublin nowadays that you can find the largest goings on.  Not too long ago, the Irish celebrated St. Patrick's Day as a religious holiday only.  In fact, all the pubs were closed on March 17th in observance of the day, which didn't change until the 1970s.  Since the mid-1990s, though, the Irish government has used the holiday as an opportunity to display Ireland and Irish culture to the world.  Specifically, they wanted a festival that equaled the best celebrations anywhere in the world, provided motivation for people of Irish descent, and portrayed a positive and accurate image of the country.  What began as a one day festival in 1996, became a three day festival the next year.  In 2006, it lasted five days!

And green is the theme of the day, of course.  The nickname of Ireland is the "Emerald Isle," due to the rich green of the countryside.  People often wear a shamrock in their lapel or cap, as well as a green, white, and orange badge in honor of the Irish flag.  Let's not also forget the beer, an important tradition to any St. Patrick's Day celebration, which gets a squire of green dye.

So now, what does St. Patrick's Day mean to you?  And do you have any plans?