Intermediate
60 mins
Teacher/Student led
+65 XP

Which Way Works for Which Word?

Explore two ways to remember words in another language. Compare words you can guess from their shape with sounds you must hold by ear. Match tricks to each kind of word and decide if guessing is clever checking, a quick cheat, or both.

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    1 - One Way Is Not Enough ~5 mins

    How do you remember a new word: picture it, say it aloud, write it down, or listen for the sound?

    Quiet think first: pick one way that works for you. Earlier this stage you met false friends and practised checking your guesses. Today we ask a harder question: does that same way work for every kind of word?

    Some words look like cousins of words you already know. Others are just sounds you have to hear and hold. Two kinds of word. Two different jobs for your brain.

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

    • Match tricks to word types
    • Tell looking words from listening ones
    • Say if guessing is a skill, a cheat, or both

    2 - Words You Can Reason Toward ~12 mins

    These technology words look like cousins across languages. Look at the spelling, take a careful guess, then check. Notice which pairs you could work out from the letters, and which ones tricked you.

    3 - Sounds You Can Only Hold ~10 mins

    Now the other kind. Short clips play. You cannot reason from the letters because you cannot see them. Listen, choose the language, and notice what your ear holds onto: rhythm, a sound that repeats, a word you half-know.

    4 - Which Way for Which Word ~9 mins

    COPYBOOK MOMENT

    Open your copy. Write two short sentences using the starters on the board.

    • For looking words (shape cousins), I will…
    • For listening words (sounds only), I will…

    Pick a trick from the list if you like: picture it, say it aloud, write it, listen for the beat. Do not write a vague goal like "I will try harder." Name the kind of word and the way that fits it, in your own words.

    5 - Skill or Shortcut ~7 mins

    💬 Discussion time

    Imagine two people in a glass booth, listening to one language and saying it in another. They work in pairs and swap the headphones every half hour, because even their brains get too tired to keep going one way. That is a real language job.

    • Is guessing from shape clever checking, a quick cheat, or both? (thumbs up = skill, thumbs sideways = both, thumbs down = only a cheat)
    • When would looking fail you? When would listening fail you?
    • Who wants to share one sentence they wrote about which way works for which kind of word?
    Pupil practice
    Module 4 · Strategies That Travel
    Lesson 21 · Which Way Works for Which Word?
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