Summer Vocabulary #1

For words to become part of our working vocabulary (the words we use in everyday conversation) we need to do more than just know what they mean. We have to use them. Here are a list of words often used in adult conversation, newscasts, literature, and other types of media. Make it your goal to listen for the use of these words this week and to use them all at least once in normal conversation. Feel free to post a comment and let me know how you do. Find a partner (parent, friend, sibling) and let's play...

tête-à-tête:  a private conversation, usually between two people, French, literally means head to head.

schadenfreude: satisfaction or pleasure found at someone else's misfortune, German, literally means (schaden - harm + freude - joy).

 

gravitas: seriousness or solemnity as of conduct or speech, from Latin word meaning heavy.

 

ascertain: to find out with certainty or assurance, to make certain or clear.

 

 

Ok, let's see how many of these words you can find, read, or hear this week, but more importantly how many of them can you use? Remember, to have a word become part of your working vocabulary, you have to actually use it - more than once. If you are unsure how the word is pronounced go to www.dictionary.com and use the pronunciation feature.