Spelling & Vocabulary Enrichment [ 14 ]

14-  ] Spelling & Vocabulary Enrichment .

Examples Of Enriching Our  Language By Studying Activities Or Subjects In Different Fields .

1-]Containers and Contents .

container	usually made of	typical contents
bag	cloth , paper , plastic	sweets , shopping , letters
barrel	wood and metal	wine , beer , oil
basket	wicker , metal	shopping , clothes , waste paper
bottle	glass , plastic	milk , juice , lemonade , Pepsi , wine
bowl	china , glass , wood	fruit , soup , sugar
box	cardboard , wood	matches , tools , toys , chocolate
bucket	metal , plastic	sand , water
can	tin	cola , beer
carton	card	milk , yoghurt , 20 packets of cigarettes
case	leather , wood ,       cardboard	jewelry , spectacles , wine
crate	wood , plastic	bottles
glass	glass	milk , lemonade , juice , wine , water
jar	glass , pottery	jam , honey , olives , instant coffee
jug	pottery	milk , cream , water
mug	pottery	tea , coffee ,coca
pack	card	cards , six cans of cola / beer
packet	card , paper	cigarettes , tea , biscuits , cereal
pan	metal	food that is being cooked
pot	metal , pottery	food , plant
sack	cloth , plastic	coal , letters , rubbish
tin	tin	peas , baked beans , fruit
tub	wood , zinc , card	flowers , rainwater , ice-cream
tube	soft metal , plastic	toothpaste , paint , ointment

2-]Countries , Nationalities And Languages .

A-] Using ‘the’ :  Most countries are used without ‘the’ , but some countries and other names have ‘the’ before them , e.g. The United States / US[A] . The united Kingdom / UK , The Netherlands , The Philippines , The Commonwealth .

Some countries may be referred to with or without ‘the’ , [the] Lebanon , [the ] Gambia , [the] Ukraine , [the] Sudan , [the] Yemen . The forms without ‘the’ are more common .

B-] Adjectives referring to countries and languages :

With ‘-ish’ : British , Danish , Flemish , Irish , Polish , Spanish , Turkish .

With ‘-[i]an : American , Australian , Brazilian , Canadian , Korean , Russian , Indian , Syrian ,Colombian .

With –ese : Chinese , Japanese , Maltese , Portugese , Taiwanese , Vietnamese .

With –i: Bangladeshi , Iraqi , Kuwaiti , Pakistani , Israeli , Yemeni .

With –ic : Arabic , Icelandic , Slavonic .

Some adjectives are worth learning separately , e.g. Cypriot , Dutch , Greek , Swiss , Thai .

C-] Nationalities :

Some nationalities and cultural identities have nouns for referring to people , e.g. a Finn , a Swede , a Turk , a Spaniard , a Dane , a Briton , an Arab .In most cases we can use the adjective as a noun , e.g. a German , an Italian , a Belgian , a Catalan , a Greek , an African , a European . Some need woman / man / person added to them [ you can’t say ‘a Dutch’ ] , so if in doubt , use them e.g. a Dutch man , a French woman , an Irish person , an Icelandic man .

D -] People and races :

People belong to ethnic groups and regional groups such as Afro-Carribeans , Asians and Latin Americans . What are you ? [ e.g. North African , South African , European , Malaysian ] .

The speech dialects as well as languages . Everyone has a native language , or first language ; many have second and third languages . Some people are expert in more than one language and are bilingual or multilingual .

3-] Describing People : Appearances .

A-] Hair , face and complexion :

Examples : - She’s got ‘straight’ hair and she’s ‘thin-faced’ [ or she’s got a thin face].

- She’s got long , ‘wavy’ hair and she’s round-faced [or she’s got a round face ] .

- She’s got a ‘curly’ hair and is ‘dark-skinned’ [or she’s got dark skin ] .

- He’s got a ‘crew-cut’ .

- He’s ‘bold’ and has ‘freckles’ .

-He’s got a beard and moustache and has a ‘chubby’ face .

- He’s got a ‘receding’ hair and a few ‘wrinkles’ .

- He used to have black hair and now it’s gone grey , almost white .

What sort of person would you find attractive ? Blonde , fair , dark or ginger-haired / red-haired .

She has such beautiful ‘auburn’ hair [ red-brown ] . Fair and dark can be used for hair , complexion or skin .

B-] Height and build :

Examples : He is a rather ‘plump’ or ‘stout man’ .

- She is a slim woman . [ positive] / a skinny person [ rather negative ]

- They are an obese couple [ negative , very fat ] .

‘Fat’ may sound impolite . Instead we often say ‘a bit overweight’ . If someone is broad and solid , we can say they are ‘stocky’ . A person with good muscles can be well-built or ‘muscular’ . If someone is terribly thin and refuses to eat , they may be ‘anorexic’ .

C-] General appearance :

Examples : She’s very smart and elegant woman , always well-dressed ; her husband is quite the opposite , very scruffy and untidy-looking / messy-looking .

He’s very good-looking , but his friend’s rather unattractive .

Do you think beautiful women are always attracted to handsome men ? I don’t think personality matters most .

First impressions are always important . [ you first reaction to someone ]

- Positive : ‘beautiful’ is generally used to describe women ; ‘handsome’ is often used to describe men ; ‘good-looking’ and ‘attractive’ are used for both ; ‘pretty’ is another positive word to describe a woman [ often a girl ] meaning [nice or pleasing to look at ] .

- Negative : ‘ugly’ is a very negative word ; ‘plain’ and ‘homely’ [for people] are more polite .

D -] Special features :

- The man on the left has very ‘pale skin’ . [ very light skin ] . He also has ‘broad shoulders’ , with a ‘scar’ on his forehead . The other man has ‘dark skin’ / ‘a dark complexion’ . He also had a ‘beard’ , a ‘mustache’ , and a ‘hairy chest’ .