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


Mini-Lessons from Thursday, Feb. 9, 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!
  • Link: Join English, Baby! Big community of learners, daily lesson: http://www.englishbaby.com/
  • Ancient History: Genghis Khan: (1162?-1227) general and emperor of the Mongols. Great military leader, cruel emperor. Conquered a large area of Asia.
  • Irregular Verbs: He was scared to undergo surgery. He underwent it yesterday. He is relieved now that he has undergone it.
  • Idiom: de facto: in fact, but not officially. "While the manager is away, as senior employee I'm the de facto boss of the department."
  • Pop Culture: Joe Louis: (1914-1981) African-American boxer; heavyweight world champion 1937-1949.
  • Slang: For sure: "absolutely," strong agreement. A: "Michael Jackson was a great dancer." B: "For sure!"
  • Government: banana republics: small Latin American countries with mainly agricultural economy. Often have weak governments. Not a nice name.

NOTES:
  1. The Idiom, the History and Government words, and some of the Pop Culture words, are from lists in the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. I wrote the definitions and examples myself.
  2. The Link was found online; the Slang words, the Irregular Verbs, and some of the Pop Culture words are from my own lists, 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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