FREE DAILY ENGLISH LESSONS!
In time, these lessons and "stubs" will be migrated to the Buzzwords site.
Until then, consider them historical.


Mini-Lessons from Monday, Jan. 2, 2012

These Mini-Lessons are posted on Twitter, and in China on Weibo, throughout the day. You can follow them there!

To get the most from them, you should try to use them in sentences, or discuss them with friends. Writing something on Twitter or Weibo is a great way to practice!
  • Science: mantle: part of the Earth's interior (inside) between the crust (outside) and the core (center). It is about 2,890 km (1,800 mi) thick.
  • Language Study: euphemism: a nicer word used to replace a "bad" one, like "the little boy's room" for "the toilet," or Passed away" for "died."
  • Business: agenda: a list of things to be discussed at a meeting. "There are five important items on today's agenda."
  • Literature: Ralph Waldo Emerson: 19th-cent. American transcendentalist, trusted thought more than science. Wrote essays like "Self-Reliance."
  • New Words: facepalm: Bringing the palm (inside of hand) to the face in embarrassment, frustration, etc. "I can't believe I did that! Facepalm!"
  • Slang: Like what? : Asks for an example. "I want to buy something." "Like what?" "Maybe a camera or an MP3 player."
  • Modern History: Lawrence of Arabia: T. E. Lawrence (1888-1935) British archaeologist, explorer, and army officer; wrote about his life with the Arabs.

NOTES:
  1. Except for the Slang words, all the words in these Mini-Lessons came from lists either on the Oxford University Press site or in the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. I wrote the definitions and examples myself.
  2. The Slang words are from my own list, and I wrote the definitions and examples myself.

This lesson is ©2012 by James Baquet. You may share this work freely. Teachers may use it in the classroom, as long as students are told the source (URL). You may not publish this material or sell it. Please write to me if you have any questions about "fair use"

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