"A" is for "Achieve"

Vocabulary is still one of the areas where most students are weak, so I often put up posts here on this topic. I am always searching for ways to enhance student and teacher performance. Unfortunately, there is no one, sure-fire method to improve vocabulary. Repeated exposures to the target vocabulary is a basic strategy. The adage "Use it, or lose it!" applies very well.

English Central is a site that offers video reinforcement of vocabulary. Scroll down the "A" page and look for "achieve." A window will pop up that gives you that word in various forms, the pronunciation and definition of the word, and other forms of "achieve." To the right of the word is an embedded screen which, when clicked on, will open up a stream of video clips with the target word in context. The catch is that you must register to see the sample videos. The basic free membership allows you partial access to the site. The paid membership will get you full access. So far, however, the free membership has been more than adequate for practicing and building a lexicon on a variety of themes or topics. The few extra minutes it takes to register are worth it. Some people went to a lot of trouble to assemble all this material, so we should definitely use it.