• simulo: to copy

• similis: like or similar

simulate (v.): copy the real thing
dissimulate (v.): hide one's true feelings by making a pretense of opposite feelings

• e-: out

• nervus: nerve

enervate (v.): exhaust

• en-: in

• ergon: work

energy (n.)

• syn-: together or with

synergism (n.): in the process by which two or more substances or drugs, by working together, produce a greater effect by combination

• castigate: punish

castigate (v.): scold, criticize, rebuke, censure

• ab-:away

• nego-: not, no

self-abnegation (n.): self-denial
negate (v.): to deny the truth or existence of something

• coput, capitis: head

captain (n.): the head of any group
capital (n.): the "head city"

• capitulum: a little head-->the title or headings of a chapter

recapitulate (v.): summarize or review the main points

• vegeto: to live and grow

vegetate (v.): to do no more than stay alive, leading an inactive,unstimulating, emotionally and intellectually stagnate existence

• intimus: innermost

intimation (n.): a significance buried in the innermost core

• levis: light

• ad-: to

alleviate (v.): to make lighter

• re-: again

relieve (v.): to make light or easy

• e-, ex-: out

elevate (v.): to raise up

• miser: wretched

• con-: together or with

commiserate (v.): to share one's misery, to sympathize

• vacillo: to swing back and forth

vacillate (v.): to waver

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• -ous: full of
• sequor: to follow

obsequious (adj.): to act excessively courteous, pleasant, obliging, even subservient and humble

obsequies (n.): the mourners "follow after the corpse"-->burial ceremonies

subsequent (adj.): one that follows another

sequal (n.): a literary work that follows another, continuing the same story

sequence (n.): in order, one item following another

• queror: to complain

querulous (adj.): one who is full of complaints, constantly nagging

• cilium: eyelid
• super: above

supercilious (adj.): someone who constantly raises their eyebrows in disdain, contempt, and sneering arrogance

• strepo: to make a noise

obstreperous (adj.): one who is unruly, boisterous, resistant to authority, unmanageable--and in a noisy, troublesome manner

• pecus: cattle

impecunious (adj.): one without penus-->destitute, lack of money, habitually lack of cash

percuniary (adj.): pertaining to money

• cheval: horse

chivalrous (adj.): a modern man who has a knightly attitude to women

• noceo: to injure

innocuous (adj.): someone who causes no fear and is harmless

noxious (adj.): harmful, poisonous, unwholesome

• bibo: to drink

bibulous (adj.): one who has an overfondness for drinks with a pronounced alcoholic content

imbibe (v.): to drink in, soak up, absorb

bib (n.): upper part of an apron, or an apronlike napkin tied around a child's neck

• cado: to fall

cadaverous (adj.): someone who looks like a corpse, who is pale, gaunt, thin, haggard...

cadavar (n.): a corpse

• de-: down

decadent (adj.): "falling down"--> something that is deteriorating, becoming corrupt or demoralized

• doleo: to suffer or grieve

dolorous (adj.): one who is mournful and sad, whose melancholy comes from physical pain or mental distress

dolor (n.): a poetic synonym of grief

• con-:together

condole (v.): to suffer or grieve with

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This post is about the information of non-verbal communication such as hand gestures, body language, and facial expressions you can find on the Internet.

The links below are from Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_expression
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gestures

800px-BlackSabbath

One gesture I'd like to share with you is "corna". When I attended rock concerts, the audience usually raised their hands and used this gesture to show their appreciation of the performance. I pulled it out just as everyone else did but never understood its meaning until a while ago. It's actually a devil sign! I should've known! Then again, rock music is rebellious, and I don't get to use a devil sign on other occasions. Rock on!

You can also talk about a gesture/expression that is commonly known as one meaning but interpreted differently in a certain culture. Please see the video below.

When YES means NO

Another option is to elaborate on one common gesture/expression that people often use but annoys you. For instance, I feel uncomfortable when people clear their throats. It is merely a pet peeve.

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• vivo: to live

vivacious (adj.): full of joy of living

vivid (adj.): possessing the freshness of life; strong; sharp

revive (v.): bring back to life

• convivo: to live together

convivial (adj.): the kind of person who likes to attend feasts and banquets

• vita: life

vital (adj.): essential to life

vitamin (n.): one of the many nutritional elements on which life is depended

• fatigue (n.): tiredness

indefatigable (adj.): unable to be fatigued

ingenuous (adj.): frank, open

ingenious (adj.): shred; clever; inventive

• credo: to believe

credulous (adj.): a willingness to believe in almost anything or full of believingness

gullible (adj.): easily tricked

credo (n.): personal belief

creed (n.): a religious belief

credentials (n.): a document or documents proving a person’s right to a title or privilege

• specto: to look

spectacle (n.): something or someone seen

spectator (n.): a close observer; audience

inspect (v.): to observe carefully

retrospect (v.): to look into the past

• punctus: point

punctuate (v.): put points between sentences

punctual (adj.): right on the point of time

perspicacious (adj.): smart, sharp, able to look through and understand

prospect (n.): a forward look

• verto, versus: to turn

versatile (adj.): people who can turn their hands to things easily

stoical (adj.): people who bear their pain or sorrow without complaint

• trepido: to tremble

intrepid (n.): courage and fearlessness

trepidation (n.): great fear

• scintilla: a quick, bright spark

scintillate (v.): the idea that the spark remains

• urbs: city

urbane (adj.): the adjective of city-dwellers (refined, polished, courteous)

urban (adj.): an adjective that simply refers to cities

suburb (n.): residential sections or small communities close to a large city

__________________________________________________________________________________

• penuria: need, neediness

penurious (adj.) stingy, niggardly

parsimonious (adj.) stingy (not as much as a penurious person)

indigent (adj.) not absolutely penniless, but they are forced to live in reduced circumstances

• ad-: forward

• fluo: flow

affluent (adj.) more than comfortable, prosperous
fluent (adj.): the words flow smoothly
opulent (adj.): greater wealth than affluence, suggesting lavish expenditures and ostentatiously luxurious surroundings

vicarious (adj.) second-hand

• ephemera: dayfly (one short-lived creature)

ephemeral (adj.): unenduring

• e-: out

• vanesco: to vanish

• -esce: begin to

• eu-: good

• pheme: voice

euphemism: a word or expression that has been substituted for another that is likely to offend

• phone: sound

• logos: word or speech

badinage (n.): half-teasing, non-malicious, frivolous banter, intended to amuse rather than wound
cliche (n.): a pattern of words which was once new and fresh but which now is so old, worn, and threadbare that only unimaginative writers and speakers ever use it

• platys: broad or flat

plateau (adj.): flat land
plate, platter (n.): flat dishes
platitude (n.): a flat statement, similar to cliche

• bovis: ox or cow

bovine (adj.): stolid, patient, unexcitable

• notos: a return

• algos: pain

nostalgia: pain stirred by memory storing pleasant experiences of the past

• kakos: bad, harsh

• phone: sound

cacophony (n.): unmusical, grating, ear-offending noises

• carnis: flesh

• voro: to devour

carnivorous (adj.): meat-eating
carnival (n.): outdoor activity with games, rides, side shows, and lots of food
carnage (n.): great destruction of life
carnal (adj.): pleasure or appetites of the flesh rather than the spirit-->lecherous, lascivious...
reincarnation (n.): rebirth or reappearance

• herba: herb

• omnis-: all

• potens, potentis: powerful

• sciens: knowing

• clam: secretly

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EnglishPod: Learn Business English with Daily MP3 Podcasts (Level: Elementary--Advanced)

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National Tsing Hua University

FL102003 Freshman English II Syllabus 2008 Spring 

Course Code Number: FL 100205    Instructor: Hsien-Chin Liou 劉顯親

E-mail: hcliu@mx.nthu.edu.tw     TEL: 03-57-42709

Class hours: Wednesdays & Fridays 10:10 a.m. – 12:00 noon Classroom: C412

Office hours: R 9-11am, F 8:30-9:30am; other time, make an appointment with me in advance Office: 人社院 B517 

Textbook: Mosiac I: Reading, Writing (2007 edition)

Goals: Integrated skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing to prepare students for college English demand. 

Requirements & Rules:

1.  Class attendance, lesson preparation and active class participation are required.

2.  Absence from a class is no excuse for not knowing the assignment and what has been discussed in that class. It is your responsibility to ask your classmates or me what has been covered in the class.

3.  Cheating on the exam is absolutely not permitted. If someone is found cheating on an exam, it means he/she will get a zero point for that exam.

4.  There will be no make-up exams unless you have valid and official reasons for absence beforehand.

1. The handouts I give you should be kept at least to the end of this semester for later reference or final exam.
2. Please turn off your cell phone during the two-hour class period.
3. Keep quiet when the instructor or some student(s) are talking or presenting on the platform.

Grading:

Attendance and participation – 10% (if one is absent 6 times from this course in this semester, one fails in this course; absent twice, 1 point lost; absent 3 times, 3 points lost; 4 times, 5 points lost; 5 times, 8 points lost)

Midterm exam – 17%

Final exam – 18%

Online writing assignments – 20% (blogging) late more than one week, one gets zero in that assignment

3 Vocab quizzes – 18%

Speaking activities (+podcasting) 17% 

Lab sessions: 2/29, 3/28, 4/18, 5/2, 5/23 (postcasting, and blogging)

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• taceo—to be silent

taciturn (adj.): silent, uncommunicative, reserved… permanently, habitually disinclined to talk

tacit (adj.): unspoken, unsaid (e.g. a tacit understanding)

reticent (adj.): prefers to be silent

• loquor: to speak

loquacious: love to talk

soliloquy: a speech to oneself

ventriloquist: someone excelling at “speaking from the belly” (venter, ventris, belly)

colloquial: suitable to everyday conversation (when people speak together)

eloquent: expressive, fluent, or persuasive in language (e-, from ex-, out)

• Laconia: the old name for Sparta, where the people were known for their economy of speech

laconic (adj.): concise, economical in the use of words almost to the point of curtness

verbose (adj.): too many words

verbum: word

verbal (adj.): verb, or words in general

• volvo, volutes: to roll

voluble (adj.): words effortlessly roll off the speaker’s tongue

garrulous (adj.): to chatter (garrio, to chatter)

revolve (v.): roll again and again, or keep turning around (e.g. the earth revolves around the sun)

revolution (n.): complete rollingàa radical change of any sort

involve (v.): to “roll in”

evolve (v.): to “roll out”àto unfold, or gradually develop

• cogent (adj.) clear and logical

• vox, vocis: voice

fero: to bear or carry

vociferous: carrying a lot of voiceàloud, noisy

• somnus: sleep

insomnia: the inability to fall asleep

• articulus: a joint

• Jean Martinet: a strict general

martinet (n.): someone asks an excessive, inhuman discipline from others

• sykon: fig

phanein: to show

sycophant (n.): someone who uses flattery, servile attentions, or any other form of insinuating themselves into someone’s good graces

• dilettare: to delight

dilettante (n.): someone who engage in a personal interest purely for amusement

virtuoso (n.) anyone who has developed consummate skill in an artistic field, especially music

• vir: man

virago: a masculine woman

• Nicolas Chauvin: a general who blindly worshipped Napoleon Bonaparte

chauvinist (n.): an exaggerated and blatant patriot

• pater, patris: father

patriotic (adj.): to love one’s country

patrimony (n.): an inheritance from one’s father (-mony, money)

paternity (n.): fatherfood

patriarch (n.): a venerable, fatherly old man

patricide (n.) the killing of one’s father (-cide, to kill)

• mater, matris: mother

matriarch (n.): the “mother-ruler”

maternity (n.): motherhood

matron (n.): an older woman

matrimony (n.): marriage

matricide (n.): the killing of one’s mother

• -cide: to kill

suicide (n.): killing oneself (sui-, of oneself)

fratricide (n.): killing one’s brother (frater, fratris, brother)

sororicide (n.) killing one’s sister (soror, sister)

homicide (n.): the killing of human beings

infanticide (n.): the killing of a newborn child (infant)

genocide (n.): the killing of a whole race or a nation (genos, race, kind)

• frater, fratris: brother

fraternal (adj.): brotherly

fraternity (n.): a men’s organization in a high school or college

sorority (n.): a women’s organization in a high school or college

• monos: one

mania (n.): madness

monomaniac (n.): someone who develops an abnormal obsession in respect to one particular thing

• phobia: morbid dread or fear

claustrophobia (n.): morbid dread of being physically hemmed in, of enclosed spaces, of crowds, etc.

• eikon: a religious image

klaein: to break

iconoclast (n.): someone who sneers at convention and tradition

• theos: God

atheist: someone who doesn’t believe in God and denies his existence

• gnostos: known

a-: negative prefix

agnostic: someone who considers it impossible to determine whether God exists or not

diagnosis: knowing through examination or testing (dia-, through)

• lechier: to lick

lecher (n.): someone obsessed with sexual activities

lecherous (adj.)

=libidinous (adj.)

=lascivious (adj.): wanton

=licentious (adj.)

=lewd (adj.): vile

=lustful (adj.)

• hypo: under

chondros: the cartilage of the breastbone

hypochondria (n.): someone who is morbidly, unceasingly, and unhappily anxious about health

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Text:

1.          Is the advertisement well-designed? Are the descriptions of the product attractive to you?

2.          Does the headline match with the product?

3.          Are the advantages of the product, such as its price, innovation, convenience, and so on, highlighted in the advertisement?

4.          Are there grammatical mistakes o

r inappropriate words in the advertisement?

Text with Pictures, Videos, Audios

G1

G2

G3

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Psky

Tired of buying plane tickets and waiting in airports? Now you can buy a personal airplane with the price of a car! A robot will drive the plane for you so that you can look lazily out of the window during your plane ride or take a nap. You will reach your desired destination in no time. Most importantly, it's safe, comfortable, and convenient.

For more information, please visit personalsky.com
---------------------------------------------------

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Write an essay about what people can (a)eat, (b) do, or (c) think about that contributes to good health. Focus on CAUSE and EFFECT, a good thesis statement, and the vocabulary and expressions you learned.

A thesis statement may be like:

(a) A positive mental attitude, (b) regular exercise, OR (c) a well-balanced diet IS ONE crucial aspect of a lifestyle that contributes to good health.

Determine a, b, or c and NARROW it down to sub-categories such as mutual trust, positive thinking, running, etc.

• Example:

Activities that Contribute to Good Health

Regular exercise, such as running, bicycling, and swimming, is one crucial aspect of a lifestyle that contributes to good health.

Running is a great, inexpensive form of exercise that partly contributes to my good health.

Bicycling is one moderate exercise which I do on a daily basis.

In summertime, I also go swimming, which is the only sport that allows the muscles all over the body to exercise.

In brief, sufficient exercise is essential for people who want to lead healthy lives.

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Among the teachers who have taught me through my school life, Teacher Helen is the one that I most admire. She was the English teacher of mine while I was in junior high. In contrast to some teacher's apathy, her vitality always refreshed the atmosphere in our classroom. Moreover, her enthusiasm and thoughtfulness still warmed my heart to this day.

      Helen's charisma won everyone's appreciation soon after she began teaching us. As she was not the first English teacher of us, everyone had a skeptical eye on her in her first class. Sensing our doubts, she began the class with a guessing-people game. She asked us to write about our characteristics on a small piece of paper, which afterwards was read to the class for us to identify the person. We had great fun that day due to her ingenuity to grasp what we wanted. Afterwards, the contempt students used to hold in her was nowhere to be seen.

The energy and passion Helen possessed when teaching was unbelievable. With more and more days she spent with us, I noticed a distinctive quality of hers that truly amazed me. No matter what the weather was like and how she was feeling, she was always in high spirits when she entered the classroom, as if she was ecstatic to see us. Besides, she encouraged us to interact with her; therefore, the class was by no means serious and tense, but very enjoyable and inspiring.

Book

      Helen used clever techniques to arouse our interest in learning English. Quizzes are the indispensable element of a class, but Helen added them with her own illustrations to make them more fascinating. She also printed many handouts, adorned with her amusing drawings, to provide the information missing in the textbook for us.  In short, she had the magic to transform something painstaking into pleasure. Furthermore; lots of English songs were introduced to us in her class. Whenever we started a new lesson, she would come up with songs whose themes or lyrics were related to what we were learning. The songs were so fantastic that everyone took delight in both listening and enhancing our vocabulary from the lyrics. Through her instruction, my love for English was reassured thanks to her.

      The considerate cares out of class Helen gave us was moving. The third year of junior high was difficult to most of us, for studying was the only proper thing we could in order to enter a decent senior high school. Exhausted from the schoolwork, some students were extremely depressed. Helen perceived their low spirits and thus allowed students to go to her office and talk about their problems. Incredibly, she became the spiritual pillar of the class. Moreover, she also intervened in the disputes among students and acclaimed for us in every tournament at the sports meet. Aside from it, another unforgettable thing she did was writing a card for every student at Christmas. I was close to tears when she handed the card to me, for no other teacher had equal consideration as she did.

      Helen has created the model of an excellent teacher to me. Her teaching skills and attentiveness are etched eternally in my mind. Now when I teach students, I strive for devoting the best of my patience and effort in honor of her.

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