TEFL

Inconceivable!

Niall O'Donnell 11 Comments

OK, I’m a day late with this, but better late than never, eh?

So: in-. Continue reading →

Indifferent

Niall O'Donnell 1 Comment

I came across this word while reading today, and I noticed that it’s a little unusual. We usually think of in- as a negative prefix, making a word the opposite of the word that follows the prefix. But indifferent isn’t the opposite of different.

Or is it? Continue reading →

Of Sound Body and Mind

Niall O'Donnell 7 Comments

Did you ever wonder why we use the word sound with this meaning?

No? Well luckily for you, I have! Continue reading →

Diventerò un Pipistrello…

Niall O'Donnell 12 Comments

What’s the Italian for Batman? Continue reading →

Straightforward

Niall O'Donnell 7 Comments

While writing yesterday, I paused to think of le mot juste, and it turned out that straightforward was juste the mot I needed. I paused again, then, to think a little more about that word, straightforward.

It’s quite a straightforward word, isn’t it? Continue reading →

Dearly Beloved…

Niall O'Donnell 2 Comments

You probably won’t be amazed if I tell you that the past simple and past participle forms of regular verbs in English are formed by adding -d or -ed. You also wouldn’t be very surprised if I told you that that E is usually silent, except when it follows a T or D (e.g. contrast commenced and finished with started and ended).

What about a word like beloved then? Continue reading →

Orientation

Niall O'Donnell 2 Comments

Feeling disoriented? Well if it’s early in the morning, just look for where the sun’s rising, and face that way, and then you’ll be oriented again. Quite literally. Continue reading →