English has become the successful international language that it is today because of its ability to grow and absorb elements from other languages, and it is still growing. New words such as ‘Karaoke’ are borrowed into the language.
Another way that new words are created is by combining word elements in new ways – ‘alcohol’ the noun becomes ‘alcoholic’ the user of alcohol, but if we lightheartedly consider an addict of chocolate we may refer to them as a ‘chocoholic’ or, indeed, a devoted shopper as a ‘shopaholic’.
Word Elements- Similar to a tree which has the original part of its body underground – its root, a word can have a root – the original part of the word. Let us take the word ‘establish’ for example, this is the original word or root, it cannot be broken into smaller pieces without losing meaning.
Prefixes- Prefix itself is a combination of word elements- ‘pre-’ means ‘before’ and ‘fix’ means attach, so ‘prefix’ means ‘attach before’ and that is exactly what we do. Here the word ‘fix’ is the root and the word element ‘pre-’ is the prefix. Another prefix we could use for our example is ‘dis-’ which means ‘not’ or ‘not any’ – let’s add the prefix to our example of our root ‘disestablish’
Suffixes- Suffixes are added to the end of words and can change parts of speech, for example an adjective to an adverb where ‘dangerous’ becomes ‘dangerously’ or a verb to a noun, as with the suffix ‘-ment’. Lets’ go back to our example ‘disestablishment’
We can keep adding prefixes and suffixes to our root word until we get one of the ‘official’ longest words in the English language ‘antidisestablishmentarianism’ which can be fairly easily understood if we understand each of the word elements. Many of the longer words can be understood if you can understand their parts.
Greek and Latin Word Elements- Both the Ancient Greeks and the Romans were hugely important civilizations and therefore their languages are the ancestors (original family) of many languages. The Ancient Greeks gave vocabulary to many languages, including Turkish, Spanish and Russian. Many European languages come from Latin and English is, in part, no exception. Through history Britain has been invaded and, with the invaders, languages have invaded English – for hundreds of years French was the ‘official’ language of Britain and it is estimated that 60% of our vocabulary comes from French.
Religion also played a large part in bringing Latin to England because the official religion of the country was Christianity and the Bible was written only in Latin for many years.
Academic Words 1 - Academic Words 2 - Academic Words 3 - Academic Words 4 - Academic Words 5 - Academic Words 6 - Academic Words 7 - Academic Words 8 - Academic Words 9 - Academic Words 10 - Academic Words 11
Assignment Vocabulary - Beginners Word List - Parts of Speech Transformations I - Word Roots and Elements - Vocabulary Dictionary
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Free English Vocabulary Lessons Within the vocabulary section of EVOLVE there are lessons based on the academic word list which was compiled in order of frequency by LALS, Victoria University of Wellington. The lessons ensure that the student becomes familiar with the new vocabulary and can really use it in their own text. Also under this section you will find advice on learning and retaining vocabulary and some short cuts to understanding new words using word roots. |
Free English Grammar Lessons Grammar is the first part of a language that can cause us confusion. Many natvie speakers don't know the finer points of grammar so it can be a difficult task to try to learn the grammar of another language. Our grammar section takes you through all the main grammar points and offers exercises to check understanding throughout. There are lessons on parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives...) right through to lessons on reported speech and relative clauses at the more advanced levels. Just remember that grammar is a set of rules that have been developed as a guide to the language, the language is not based on the rules. |
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Free English Reading Lessons The reading section is divided into two main sections, the holiday lesson plan section where you can find lessons based on British festivities for every month of the year, and then there is the current affairs section where new lessons are constantly added. All lessons focus on vocabulary, understanding of a text and a discussion session, which can bring about lively debate in any classroom. |
Free English Writing Lessons Our writing advice guides students from the alphabet up. There is advice on spelling rules, punctuation and oration. Another feature of the writing section includes lesson plans based on sentence structure, which can be used in conjunction with the lesson plans on grammar. At the advanced level there is advice on how to fulfil academic writng tasks. Finally there are many IELTS style writing topics to inspire students to write. |
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Free English Speaking Lessons One of the most vital things to learn in good speech and pronunciation is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) - armed with this and a good dictionary, students will never mispronounce a word again. To practice speech there are conversation prompts in this section and also featured are some debates and enjoyable exercises to conduct in a group. |
Free English Listening Lessons The listening section focuses on our currnet affairs podcasts which are unique to EVOLVE and can be accompanied by the lesson plans that focus on both listening and understanding and also feature elements of vocabulary and grammar to give a well rounded listening session. Apart from this there is advice on listening to lectures and gap fill exercises for famous songs which have been selected to relate to grammar points. |
| Free English Forum | Free English Games |
| In the EVOLVE Forum we offer students and teachers the chance to get together. Whether you are an ESL teacher looking for a job, or a confused student looking for some help, the EVOLVE forum can offer you support. It costs nothing to post on the forum and can introduce you to the ESL community at large. Why not share some helpful advice or make new friends in our penpal network? | Games can lighten the tone of an otherwise boring session, as well as having a genuine didactic place as a part of a class. All of the games in this session have been carefully considered and included for their educational merit. |