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mnussair

mnussair

Jordan

January 14, 2008

LOOK - THINK - COVER - WRITE - CHECKDisestablishmentarianism!!  Supposing I wanted to remember
how to spell this word. I would LOOK at it carefully to see if
it would break up into smaller, much easier bits: dis-est-ab-lish-ment-ar-ian-ismAnd I would THINK about where the problems might be:
dis-no problems - spell it just as it sounds -  a very 
common pattern.
-est-the letter e isn't very clear when I say the 
whole word, so I would say it very clearly - 
like the e in egg.
-ab-no problem - spell it just like it sounds
-lish-again - just like it sounds
-ment-when I say the whole word quickly the e in 
ment sounds rather like an a - so I need to 
stress that it's e as in egg
-ar-this might be a real difficulty - it sounds as if 
it should be spelled -er-. So when I said the 
word to myself I would make the sound of -ar- 
like the -arr- in carrot
-ian-this bit is easy - it's a boy's name
-ismanother very common ending - written just as 
you say it
Now: COVER, WRITE and CHECK

Sounds complicated? Only because it's such a long, complicated word - which is why I chose it. But you can do the same with any word. Have a try at remembering disestablishmentarianism  to show how easy it is. And to impress your friends! Then go to mem 3

January 14, 2008

Remembering how to spell new words (It would be useful to print this page for future reference) When you come across a new word ALWAYS use the LOOK - THINK - COVER - WRITE - CHECK method to memorize it. No doubt you learned this trick in your early school days but it will be just as useful when you are twenty-six as when you were six! LOOK carefully at the new word. How can you break it into smaller bits? Do any of the smaller bits remind you of the patterns of letters from other words? THINK about the parts of the words which might cause problems - double letters for instance, or a vowel that isn't pronounced as you would expect. COVER the word and close your eyes. Try to see it in your mind's eye. WRITE the word down without looking back. CHECK to see if you're right. If not, look carefully at where you went wrong and try again. More Hot Tips * Whenever you have to copy a new word from the blackboard, from a book, or from the dictionary, always try to write the whole word in one go. Don't keep looking back after every few letters. * Try finger-writing: while you're THINKing about the word, pretend to write it with your finger, on your desk or on your hand. Now look at mem2 worksheet for an example of using LOOK - THINK- COVER - WRITE - CHECK

January 14, 2008

More Useful words in English

Here are some more words that you'll come across in English
lessons.
Using the chart as a guide, try to memorize all
of them.
Have you looked back at mem1 and mem2 recently?
 
WORDSYLLABLESDIFFICULT BITS
metaphormet-a-phor-ph-
mythmyth-y- (not -i-)
narratornar-rat-or
onomatopoeiaon-o-mat-o-poei-athat last but one syllable is a real pain isn't it?
pamphletpam-phlet-phlet
personificationper-son-if-ic-a-tioneasy when you break it up into syllables
prepositionpre-pos-i-tion
playwrightplay-wrightdon't forget the -w- 
resolutionre-sol-u-tion
rhymerhymeI often get this one
wrong: (I forget the -h-)
scenescenesc- (like science)
similesim-i-le-le
soliloquysol-il-o-quy-quy
synonymsy-no-nymsy- and -nym
tabloidtab-loid-loid (noise, voice etc)
vocabularyvo-cab-u-larypronounce it clearly
vowelvow-eldon't forget -e-