Mini-Lessons from Tuesday, Apr. 3, 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: LOTS of fun vocabulary games: http://www.englishclub.com/esl-games/vocabulary/index.htm
  
• Ancient History: Crusades: attacks (wars) by European Christians on Muslims in the Middle Ages. They wanted to take back lands where Jesus had lived.
  
• Irregular Verbs: On the weekend, many people flee the city. I fled last weekend. I have fled six times this year.
  
• Idiom: pay through the nose: Pay too much. A: "Nice car!" B: "Thanks, but I paid through the nose for it."
  
• Pop Culture: P. T. Barnum: (1810-1891) showman whose circus was called "The Greatest Show on Earth." Known for his "sideshows" of strange people.
  
• Slang: zero something: absolutely none of something. "We can't hire Bill; he has zero experience." Or "I have zero time to meet with you."
  
• Government: separation of church and state: idea that religion ("church") and government ("state") should not control each other.
  

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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.

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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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