One of the most recommended tips in the English language learning process are the cognates, to feed the vocabulary of the new language.
Cognates are words that share similar meaning, spelling and pronunciation in two languages. While English shares very few cognates with a language like Chinese, 30% to 40% of all English words have a related word in Spanish. For ELL Spanish speakers, cognates are an obvious bridge to the English language.
Not surprisingly, researchers studying the acquisition of first and second languages have discovered that students benefit from recognizing cognates. Cognite recognition is the ability to use cognates of the mother tongue as a tool to understand a second language. It is possible to teach the use of cognates to children already in preschool. As students progress through school grades, they may be presented with more sophisticated cognates and cognates that have multiple meanings in both languages, although some of those meanings may not overlap. An example of a cognate with multiple meanings is to attend, which means to assist (same meaning) but also to attend (different meaning).
False cognates
Write false cognate examples on the board. For example: embarrassed / pregnant and foot / foot. Warn students that they will be able to find some words that are false cognates. These are words that look similar but do not have the same meaning in English and Spanish. Ask the students:
"Does anyone know what foot means in Spanish (leg limb)? What does the word foot mean in English (type of dessert)?
Another example of a false cognate is the word embarrassed in English and pregnant in Spanish. What does embarrassed mean in English (feeling ashamed of something)? Does anyone know what pregnant means in Spanish (expecting a baby)? "
Cognates are words that share similar meaning, spelling and pronunciation in two languages. While English shares very few cognates with a language like Chinese, 30% to 40% of all English words have a related word in Spanish. For ELL Spanish speakers, cognates are an obvious bridge to the English language.
Not surprisingly, researchers studying the acquisition of first and second languages have discovered that students benefit from recognizing cognates. Cognite recognition is the ability to use cognates of the mother tongue as a tool to understand a second language. It is possible to teach the use of cognates to children already in preschool. As students progress through school grades, they may be presented with more sophisticated cognates and cognates that have multiple meanings in both languages, although some of those meanings may not overlap. An example of a cognate with multiple meanings is to attend, which means to assist (same meaning) but also to attend (different meaning).
False cognates
Write false cognate examples on the board. For example: embarrassed / pregnant and foot / foot. Warn students that they will be able to find some words that are false cognates. These are words that look similar but do not have the same meaning in English and Spanish. Ask the students:
"Does anyone know what foot means in Spanish (leg limb)? What does the word foot mean in English (type of dessert)?
Another example of a false cognate is the word embarrassed in English and pregnant in Spanish. What does embarrassed mean in English (feeling ashamed of something)? Does anyone know what pregnant means in Spanish (expecting a baby)? "
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