Latin roots "port" & "mot"

     Wow!!!! We finish the Summer Program today. These months have been very useful to develope our English knowledge and vocabulary with the help of Spelling City.

     Learning root words can be helpful in improving your vocabulary. When you know root words, you can recognize the root and use that knowledge to define a word you may not otherwise know. Of course, that is only a helpful technique if you know the meaning of root words.  Today we are going to check words with the root "port" or "mot". The root port means "carry". The root mot means "move".
       In Spelling City there is a representative  list of  the roots "mot & port":

 -Portable radios can be carried everywhere.

-Our car is the finest automobile ever made.

-They inpire and motivate me to work hard.

-He will transport the products by truck.

-The newspaper reporter wrote an article.

-They import foreign food into this country.

-Planes land on a runway at the airport.

-The motion of the boat made me seasick.

-The engine of the car is its motor.

-My boss will promote me to the next level.

     This was the last lesson. It was short and was the last but no for that it is unimportant, because in this English program, everything has been necesary to us. Every lesson, every word list, every activity, have done we as students, have been able to learn small and hidden rules English language that we didn´t know before. Just, I must say thank you Spelling City for this amazing adventure and thanks for the great experience that all lessons have provided me. 
                                                                                                             Good bye bloggers!!!!!

And thanks to you, Alexandra, for all those posts. Very interesting for us to watch your skills in English grow and to see how you have used VocabularySpellingCity.

Social Studies Vocabulary (II)

      As we have seen in a previous lesson, the social studies vocabulary lists are based on broad areas of study to which students can readily relate the words about: family, school, neighborhood, and community life. Today, SpellingCity's list includes vocabulary pertaining to geography and agriculture.

crop ------ a group of plants grow for profit or food
settlement ------ town or region newly populate
fertile ------ able to sustain life
resources ------ total means for life, support or development
trade ------ exchange of goods or services
barter ------ trade of something without using money
erosion ------ natural wearing away of the earth´s surface
custom ------ habit or practice of a person, area or place
culture ------ a society with its own customs and language

     Now you have the next new list about social studies vocabulary:

1. map: a drawing that shows what a place looks like from above.
2. key/legend: shows what symbols are used in the map.
3. symbol: signs that stand for real places and things.
4. model: a small copy of a real thing.
5. globe: a model of Earth.
6. equator: divides the Earth into the northern and southern hemisphere.
7. oceans: 4 biggest bodies of water on Earth.
8. continents: 7 largest land area.
9. compass rose: a drawing that helps you find directions on a map.
10. inset map: a small map that goes with a larger one.
11. abbreviation: shortened form of a word.
12. special purpose map: maps that show a special purpose.
13. canyon: a deep, narrow valley with steep sides.
14. coast: land that borders on the sea or ocean.
15. forest: heavy growth of trees that covers a large area.
16. harbor: a sheltered area of water where ships can anchor safely.
17. hill: raised land that is lower and more rounded than a mountain.
18. island: an area of land that is surrounded by water.
19. lake: a body of water that is sometimes completely surrounded by land.
20. mountain: a steep, high land area.
21. mouth of a river: the place where a river flows into a larger body of water.
22. ocean: the entire body of water that covers almost 3/4 of Earth's surface.
23. peninsula: a piece of land that is surrounded by water on 3 sides.
24. plain: a broad stretch of level, or nearly level, land.
25. river: a flowing body of water.
26. source of a river: the place where a river begins.
27. valley: a long, low area of land, usually between mountains or hills.

      If you want to dig deeper on these lists of words, here is a link to the social studies or geography vocabulary word list. 

Final Important Sounds (words sound & /oi/ sound)

     At the intersection where noise meets language, we have a wonderful collection of words in English that are imitations of the sounds they represent. We hear the boom of an explosion, the roar of a jet, and the hiss of a snake. Some of these words can also function as verbs: Birds chirp, sirens blare, and cars crash. Words that are imitations of the sounds they refer to are examples of onomatopoeia. Here is a list of over 100 onomatopoeic words associated with noises: 
Human Sounds Voice: hum, grunt, mutter, chatter, yack or yak, blab, lisp, sneer, snicker, giggle, whimper, bawl, squeal, shriek, whoop
Nose and Mouth: shush, whistle, smooch, cluck, smack, crunch, munch, gulp, spit, sputter, splutter, slobber, cough, sniff, sniffle, hiccup, huff, snort, snore, belch
Hands: pat, clap, slap, smack
Animal Sounds Dogs: woof, yip, yap, growl, snarl, howl
Cats: meow or miaow, mew, purr
Birds: chirp, cheep, tweet, peep, twitter, crow, squawk
Insects: buzz, chirp, hum
Vehicle Sounds Engines: roar, hum, purr
Horns: honk, beep
Exhaust pipes: sputter, rumble
Brakes: squeal, screech
Other Sounds   Explosions: boom, bang, pop
Collisions: crash, bang, clash, wham, smack, whomp, whump, thump, bump
High Speed: zoom, whoosh, swoosh, zing
Actions: zip, tap, click, clip, snip, knock, rap, bang, thwack, flap, smack, smash
Objects: creak, squeak, pop, boing, sizzle, fizzle, flap
Groups of Objects: rustle, clack, clunk, clank, jingle, rattle, clatter
Sirens: blare, shriek
Alarms: ding, buzz, beep, clang
Music: drum, throb, thump, twang, plink, plunk, bong
Liquids: squish, slush, burble, gurgle, trickle, glug, splatter, squirt, fizz, plop
Air: puff, hiss, whistle, swoosh, whoosh
Electricity: buzz, hum, zap
      The list of  Spellingcity  was very good:

   
    In English /oi/ sound is very important too and  frequently we can see it. Words that contain the /oi/ sound spelled either /oi/ or /oy/.

spelling	example		other pronunciations for spelling
oi	oil      voice      point		none
oy	boy      joy      loyal

 Here you have the list of Spelling City for these kind of words:

We are going to the cinema; come and join us!
I revealed the secret and then I spoil the surprise party.
I have no choice, I must do the right thing.
The air was moist and heavy.
A deafening noise hit us a terrible fright.
We should avoid the use of drugs and alcoholic beverages.
Enjoy the party and let's dance!
Pets are loyal to their owners.
The human greed will destroy the world.
The noise of the big city annoys people field.

As a particular case of this rule is lawyer. The word lawyer can be pronounced with either the oi sound or the aw sound followed by a y sound.

	boy	The new boy in school was named Luke.
	joy	The baby has brought them great joy.
	toy	That child has far too many toys.

voice

I've a sore throat and I've lost my voice.

	loin	Loin of lamb is a very tender meat.
	joint	My hip joint is hurting after that long run.
	void	Void means empty or invalid.
	hoist	Use a hoist to lift a heavy weight.
	joist	You need a new joist fitted above that door.

	toil	Toil means to work long and hard.
	coin	Toss a coin to see who pays the bill.

	boil	Let the water boil before making tea.
	foil	Cover the meat with foil to keep it warm.
	soil	This garden soil is good quality.

/aw/ Sound

   
    The North American /aw/ sound is one of the sounds with the greatest variation in pronunciation even within the continent. Some regions of the United States do not consider this to be a different sound from the short o. However, in many regions of the country it is a unique sound; therefore it is described separately.
     The letters (aw, au) have the same sound as short (o). The sound of (al) varies. It has either the short (o) sound as in talk, or may include the sound of “l” as in salt. (all) has a short (o) sound plus “l” as in ball.

spelling	example		other pronunciations for spelling
aw	law awful drawn		none
-o- (CVC)[1]	dog lost soft		short o (top) long o (most)
au	caution haunt author		none
augh	caught daughter taught		none
ough(+t)[2]	brought thought fought		none
(w+)a[3]	want wash watch		none

[1] o spelling followed by the letter r
When the consonant following the letter o is the letter r (as in the words for and order), the sound is usually pronounced as the or sound. If the or spelling occurs on an unstressed syllable (as in the words honor and factor), a schwa+r pronunciation is also possible.

[2] ough(+t) spelling
The ough spelling is pronounced with the aw sound when it is followed by the letter t. There are no pronunciation patterns when ough occurs at the end of a word. For example, the words enough, through, and though each have different pronunciations for the ough spelling.

[3] (w+)a spelling
The letter a is often pronounced as the aw sound when it occurs between the letter w and a consonant. Exceptions to this pattern include the words wax, waste, and wagon.

Spelling City brought the following list of words that are very representative of the /aw/ sound:

 

     And finally another small list of words with this sound I found:

awful	applause	almost	all
claw	August	alright	ball
crawl	Austin	also	call
draw	author	always	fall
jaw	because	chalk	hall
law	fault	malt	mall
lawn	haul	salt	small
paw	Paul	stalk	stall
raw	sauce	talk	tall
yawn	sausage	walk	wall