Word Choice List

These words come from a list of words I always hand out to advanced level students at the beginning of a term. By the end of four weeks, they will have used visualthesaurus, google news, and several other sites to create both semantic maps and compile current usage samples. Time and again, a student will ask, "Do you really use words like 'superfluous' and 'gratuitous'? I've never seen or heard these kind of words. After a week of words on the web investigation, the student usually exclaims, "Superfluous is everywhere!" I usually take this moment to share why it is that words are so important to me. "A week ago, superfluous didn't exist to you- you either overlooked it, misheard it. But now, not only can you add another useful word to your English vocabulary, but can't you see, that adding this word has added something magical to your world? Words are the shapers of our reality?" For moments likes these, I remain committed and inspired to teaching English.