Intermediate
60 mins
Teacher/Student led
+80 XP

Discover Word Families

By sorting the words for three in several languages you will start to see how languages belong to families. Then compare more numbers, play bingo and talk about borrowed words.

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    1 - Sort the Threes ~5 mins

    Here are the words for three in six languages:

    • English three
    • Irish trí (tree)
    • French trois (twah)
    • German drei (dry)
    • Spanish tres (trehs)
    • Italian tre (treh)

    Put them into groups without being told the rule. Trust what your ear and eye notice. When your teacher asks, suggest two words that belong together and why.

    By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

    • Group languages into families by looking at number words
    • Spot close cousins and pairs that only look a bit alike
    • Talk about words English borrowed from Irish and Welsh

    2 - Number Words Across Five Languages ~10 mins

    Your teacher opens a number card on the board. Listen across English, Irish, French, German and Spanish, then say the word back together.

    Listen for pairs that sound almost the same, and pairs that only look related.

    3 - Build a Number Family Tree ~10 mins

    Now hunt the number pairs. Decide with the class which pairs are close cousins (shared family sound) and which only look a bit alike. You will draw your groups in your copy next.

    4 - Two Groups in Your Copy ~3 mins

    COPYBOOK MOMENT

    Open your copy. Draw two groups and put four languages into them, with the word that made you decide.

    Example: Group A: French and Spanish (sept / siete). Group B: English and German (seven / sieben). Irish can sit on its own branch with , seacht or ocht (sounds that do not sit inside the Romance or Germanic pairs). Another strong deciding pair is German acht with Irish ocht beside French huit, which only looks a bit alike. Write four languages in two groups and the number word that made you decide. You may place Irish alone if that is what your ear heard.

    5 - Number Bingo ~10 mins

    First take a printed bingo card from your teacher. Listen for today's number words across the languages you have just compared. Mark each one on your card as you hear it. First full line calls out.

    Pupil practice
    Module 1 · The Language Map of the World
    Lesson 4 · Discover Word Families
    Download Activity Book page (PDF)
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