May 7

What’s a ziggurat?

I learnt a new word in English the other day.  One which is sure to pop up in my everyday conversations this week and one which I’ll wonder how I ever survived without before.  The word…well, it’s fairly obvious from the title of this post, ziggurat.  And where did I learn this wondrous new word?  From the English coursebook of a 10-year-old.

It really makes you think about the vocabulary we expose our students to and as well to what extent we expect them to use and remember it.  Will she have to remember this word for an exam?  If so, it’s likely to be one of the easiest to remember as it’s so unusual.  But as we all know, remembering vocabulary for a test is not the same as being able to use it.  And how often does a 10-year-old talk about ancient temples; if they do, are they more likely to use the word temple than ziggurat?

So, a challenge for you this week – can you get the word ziggurat into an everyday conversation (without the conversation being about the random vocabulary EFL coursebooks expose our students to)?

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Posted May 7, 2012 by Teresa Bestwick in category Miscellaneous

3 thoughts on “What’s a ziggurat?

  1. Erika Villicaña

    Teresa Bestwick:

    I like so much your Blog, Im a teacher from Mexico, and Im visiting different blogs, but I have to tell you, that your blog impressed me, because it has a lot of English resources, its very organized,… Congratulations!!!..

    I would like to invite you to one of my class blogs,,,It will be a pleasure to have you there.

    Regards

    htpp://panamericanodelsolenglish1.edublogs.org
    http://institutoveritas.edublogs.org

    Reply

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