An English Vocabulary Lesson
Your Students Will Love
Looking for an engaging and fun English vocabulary lesson? We won’t just give you one great lesson. We’ll show you how to create powerful vocabulary lessons for English and for any other subject.
Choose a Latin Root to Describe Your Students:
Students everywhere at every grade level in every country can be too talkative. So be honest and call them what they are: LOQUACIOUS!Some may know what this means, others may not be sure. Many will agree that it applies to someone they know.
Then let them in on another truth: that the word comes from a Latin root meaning to talk:
loquor, loqui, locutus
loquor = “I speak”
loqui = “to speak”
locutus = “spoken”
See below how many English derivatives come directly from this Latin root! Some use the stem loc-, others use the stem loq-, but make no mistake: Learning this Latin verb thoroughly will improve your next English vocabulary lesson.
loquacious (adj.): This describes most teens: Full of talk! Who’s the most loquacious person in the class?
loquacity (n.): The abstract quality of being talkative.
eloquent (adj.): Having the power to speak forcefully, expressively, effectively. If you use words well to get your point across, you are eloquent.
eloquence (n.): The quality of being eloquent. Young people should strive to achieve eloquence in speaking publicly whether to large audiences or small groups.
grandiloquent (n.): Take your eloquence to the next level of greatness, and it’s grandiloquent! If you are grandiloquent you are perhaps a bit smug, pretentious, even pompous, and you might consider toning down your huge new vocabulary.
grandiloquence (n.): The quality of lofty expression – perhaps too lofty?
colloquy (n.): simply put, a conversation. The prefix com, from the Latin cum, meaning with, changes to col- when it meets the root loquor. So this word means to speak with, to speak together. Recommended reading: Cervantes’s short story, “The Colloquy of Dogs”. Hilarious and edifying.
colloquial (adj.): It’s how you speak among friends. Colloquial speech is that conducted informally between family, friends, neighbors and familiars. It is relaxed, conversational, easy, and perhaps uses slang or regional dialect.
colloquialism (n.): a style of speaking, or a turn of phrase, using colloquial expression.
soliloquy (n.): Our root word loqui together with the Latin solus (alone), gives use this word meaning a solo speech. The only actor speaking on the stage is said to deliver a soliloquy.
obloquy (n.): The Latin prefix ob- means against. So an obloquy is a speech made against someone else. It is harsh, abusive, and vilifying.
locutory (n.): a room set aside for conversation, esp. in a monastery where monks are aloud time for conversation.
locution (n.): a word, a phrase, an utterance, spoken by a particular person or group.
elocution (n.): style of speaking or reading aloud in public. Want to be an actor? You’ll need superb elocution, including polished tone of voice and hand gestures.
elocutionist (n.): One who speaks out it public or on stage, and is well-practiced in the art of public speaking. Why not practice your elocution in drama club, in the school play, or in the commons?
circumlocution (n.): A talking around, from the Latin circum and our root locutus. You might use circumlocution to avoid telling the truth or to kill some time to think of a better answer. Or maybe using too many words is just your style?
allocution (n.): a formal address, esp. by the pope to a secret council or tribunal.
allocute (v.): to make a formal address, or allocution.
res ipsa loquitur (legal Latin): The thing speaks for itself. When an injury is so obviously caused by another’s negligence, the fact speaks for itself. Why not add a Latin phrase to your English vocabulary lesson?
What’s next?
Use this Latin root and these derivatives to build your own superb English vocabulary lesson. If you need help or a few ideas on how to proceed, check back often as we build these pages.
Return from English Vocabulary Lesson to English Vocabulary
Return from English Vocabulary Lesson to Vocabulary Lesson Plans
[?]Subscribe To This Site
