unit 3. Selecting and grading vocabulary
Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 6:45 pm4. Some of the most common false friends I usually come across with my students are the following:
sympathetic- This word refers to someone who shows understanding or sympathy . It’s confused with the word ‘simpático’ by Spanish students, which in English is ‘nice or friendly’.
Sensible- In English the words refers to someone who has or shows common sense or good judgement. With the same spelling, the Spanish word ‘sensible’ describes somebody easily affected by feelings. In this case, the English word is ‘sensitive’.
Embarrassed- The false friend is ‘embarazada’ in Spanish, which means ‘pregnant’ in English. The word embarrassed means ‘to be ashamed’.
Discuss- in English it means to talk about something in order to work out a solution or just talk deeply about a specific subject. It’s confused with ‘discutir’, implying some sort of a fight, argument. The English word would be ‘argue’.
Exit- the false friend is ‘ éxito’ in Spanish, which means ‘success’ in English. The word in English means ‘way out’.
Polite- similar to Catalan ‘polit’ (neat and tidy in English), the word in English refers to a well-behaved sort of person, as opposed to rude.
Success and succeed -The first word is similar to the Spanish ‘suceso’, which means ‘event’. In English the word is related to getting what one wants in life. The second word (succeed) is very similar to the Spanish word ‘ suceder’, which means ‘to happen’. In English the word ‘succeed’ means to reach your goals in life.
Constipated- it’s the funniest for my students. Confused with the Spanish ‘constipado’, which means ‘to have a cold’. In English, if you are constipated, you have difficulties to ‘empty your bowels’..
Argument- when talking about films or stories, Spanish students wrongly use this word to talk about the ‘plot’, what the story or film is about.
History- should be used to talk about the study of the past (e.g. Roman history). It’s confused with the word ‘story’, used to refer to a piece of fiction, a narrative.
Actually - this adverb is confused with the false friend ‘actualmente’ in Spanish. The English word means ‘in fact’.
5. I agree most with the first statement. Initially the teacher can grade and decide what vocabulary is more convenient or useful for a group and prepare activities to work on it. There is a set of vocabulary which I consider basic in terms of its usefulness and as a teacher you make sure this is given to the students but you can’t decide what the students are going to learn in the end. The first statement ‘students can decide for themselves which words they would like to learn’ is closer to reality. Students have different motivations and interests when learning vocabulary and clearly they will remember and learn the words they find more useful for their particular needs.
sympathetic- This word refers to someone who shows understanding or sympathy . It’s confused with the word ‘simpático’ by Spanish students, which in English is ‘nice or friendly’.
Sensible- In English the words refers to someone who has or shows common sense or good judgement. With the same spelling, the Spanish word ‘sensible’ describes somebody easily affected by feelings. In this case, the English word is ‘sensitive’.
Embarrassed- The false friend is ‘embarazada’ in Spanish, which means ‘pregnant’ in English. The word embarrassed means ‘to be ashamed’.
Discuss- in English it means to talk about something in order to work out a solution or just talk deeply about a specific subject. It’s confused with ‘discutir’, implying some sort of a fight, argument. The English word would be ‘argue’.
Exit- the false friend is ‘ éxito’ in Spanish, which means ‘success’ in English. The word in English means ‘way out’.
Polite- similar to Catalan ‘polit’ (neat and tidy in English), the word in English refers to a well-behaved sort of person, as opposed to rude.
Success and succeed -The first word is similar to the Spanish ‘suceso’, which means ‘event’. In English the word is related to getting what one wants in life. The second word (succeed) is very similar to the Spanish word ‘ suceder’, which means ‘to happen’. In English the word ‘succeed’ means to reach your goals in life.
Constipated- it’s the funniest for my students. Confused with the Spanish ‘constipado’, which means ‘to have a cold’. In English, if you are constipated, you have difficulties to ‘empty your bowels’..
Argument- when talking about films or stories, Spanish students wrongly use this word to talk about the ‘plot’, what the story or film is about.
History- should be used to talk about the study of the past (e.g. Roman history). It’s confused with the word ‘story’, used to refer to a piece of fiction, a narrative.
Actually - this adverb is confused with the false friend ‘actualmente’ in Spanish. The English word means ‘in fact’.
5. I agree most with the first statement. Initially the teacher can grade and decide what vocabulary is more convenient or useful for a group and prepare activities to work on it. There is a set of vocabulary which I consider basic in terms of its usefulness and as a teacher you make sure this is given to the students but you can’t decide what the students are going to learn in the end. The first statement ‘students can decide for themselves which words they would like to learn’ is closer to reality. Students have different motivations and interests when learning vocabulary and clearly they will remember and learn the words they find more useful for their particular needs.