Tag Archives: foreign languages/linguistics

Word Root Exercise: Greg

Here is worksheet on the Latin root greg is the only thing I’ll post this week. It means flock, but if you look at the words in English that grow from it–e.g. congregate–you’ll see that the document is quite appropriate for the holiday season.

I’ll be back next week, however, with a round of new posts.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Word Root Exercise: Para

Here’s a worksheet on the Greek root para. It means, variously, beside, beyond, abnormal, variation, and assistant. If you’re serving a special needs population, chances are you’re working with a paraprofessional who works in parallel with you. And if you’re teaching science, especially, you know and probably even use paradigm in your classroom.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Word Root Exercise: Omni

OK: I have a couple of minutes before my presence is required elsewhere, so here is a worksheet on the Latin word root omni. It means all. You find it at the roots of many English words, including omniscient and omnipotent,  which is why this post gets a philosophy tag.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Term of Art: Realpolitik

Realpolitik: (Germ., politics of realism) Term coined in 1859 by the liberal journalist and historian Rochau, to describe Bismarck’s policy. Bismarck believed that a naked struggle for power and a ruthless pursuit of self-interest were the only realistic options for a great state.”

Excerpted from: Cook, Chris. Dictionary of Historical Terms. New York: Gramercy, 1998.

Putsch (n)

Because it came up consistently in connection with Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Germany when I taught sophomore global studies in New York City, I wrote this context clues worksheet on the German loan word putsch for use with the lesson on Hitler’s infamous Beer Hall Putsch in 1923.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Word Root Exercise: Nom-o and Nomy

This worksheet on the Greek roots nom-o and nomy can, if necessary, familiarize your students with this very productive root in English, particularly in the world of teaching and learning; it means law, system of laws, management, and rule. Taxonomy obviously grows from this root, and it is just as obviously a word learners really ought to know.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Word Root Exercise: Melan/o

That last post took a while to assemble, so let me quickly offer this worksheet on the Greek root melan/o; it means black. You find this root at the basis of a lot of words, many of them with negative denotative or connotative meanings melancholy comes to mind), which gives one pause, I should think, to consider the origins of racism.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Word Root Exercise: Gyn/o, Gyne, and Gynec/o

OK, let’s begin the week with this worksheet on the Greek roots gyn/o, gyne, and gynec/o. If you know the words gynecologist (or perhaps an even more timely word, misogynist), then you know that these roots mean “woman” and “female.”

Once again, any student with an eye on a career on healthcare will need to know this root and the many medical words that spring from it.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Octavo

“A book usually measuring between 5 by 8 inches and 6 by 9 1/2 inches, which is composed of sheets folded into eight leaves.”

Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.

Cultural Literacy: Basque Region

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Basque Region if you have any use for it. I’ve tagged it as a Hispanic History document. However, I must concede that the reading that drives this worksheet is at the outer limits, so to speak, of Hispanic History….

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.