Season 1 Episode 3: Unlock the Power of Word Families And Expand Your Vocabulary

How can recognising word families significantly boost your English vocabulary? On episode three of "Learn English with Natalie," we embark on an exciting exploration of word families and their transformative power in language learning. We kick things off with a quick, interactive recap of last week's lesson on phrasal verbs, ensuring you're all set for the new content. Next, we unravel the magic of word families—root words that morph into nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs—making your vocabulary richer and more dynamic. By understanding the patterns of word formation, you'll find your spelling, usage, reading comprehension, and writing skills improving in leaps and bounds.

Join us as we dive into practical examples such as "help," "save," and "care," demonstrating how these roots adapt to convey different meanings. We'll also guide you through the art of adding suffixes to alter word meanings. This episode promises to equip you with essential knowledge and tools to effectively grow your vocabulary. Don't forget to download the accompanying PDF activity from the notes to reinforce your learning. Tune in and transform your English skills with these foundational lessons!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:59

Hello and welcome to Learn English with Natalie, the podcast. This is episode three and today we are going to understand and use word families. This lesson provides important information for the foundations of your English learning. You may need to revisit this episode many times throughout your learning journey. There is a PDF activity attached in the notes, so please download that to support your English language learning.

Speaker 1: 1:24

Let's do a quick recap on last week's episode. So last week we looked at phrasal verbs. I'm going to read out three phrasal verbs and three descriptions and I want you to see if you can match the phrasal verb to its description. Here we go Watch out, run into, give up here are the definitions. Warn somebody about danger, stop trying something, meet somebody unexpectedly. So I'll read those again Watch out, run into, give up here are the definitions again Warn somebody about danger, stop trying something, or meet somebody unexpectedly. So let's go into the answers. Watch out, it means to warn somebody about danger. Watch out, there's a car coming. Watch out, that box is falling. Next, one ran into, which means to meet somebody unexpectedly. I ran into my sister earlier this afternoon at the shop. And the last one give up, which means to stop trying something. I keep losing at this game, I give up.

Speaker 1: 2:39

Today's episode is going to be broken down into five different parts, the first one being your introduction to today's skill and teaching point. Part two is vocabulary. Part three is the real life application. Part four, listening practice. And then, for part five, I will set you off with some independent learning. Today we're going to look at word families and by the end of this lesson, you will be able to expand your vocabulary by understanding how a root word can be adapted to form a new word and learn how words can be adapted to suit different tenses.

Speaker 1: 3:13

So, first of all, what is a word family? A word family is a group of words that share a common root or base word and they are related in meaning. So they usually include different forms of the same base word, but they are related in meaning. So they usually include different forms of the same base word, but they are represented in different forms like nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs. Why are they important? Well, they help build your vocabulary quickly by understanding how the words are related. They improve your spelling and usage by recognizing patterns, and they will enhance your reading comprehension and writing skills. So let's have a look at some word families I want to talk about what a base word is.

Speaker 1: 3:51

A base word, or it can be called a root word, is the core part of the word that carries the main meaning. For example, the word help. My root word is help. If I want to say it as a past tense verb, I would say helped. I helped him carry his shopping home. As an adjective I might say helpful she was very helpful in helping me set up the show. And as an adverb, helplessly I watched helplessly as he burnt.

Speaker 1: 4:27

The next root word I want to look at is save. As a verb, he saved his life. As an adjective I would change the V to an F and say safe, I will keep it safe in my bag. And again I'm changing that V to an F to make the word safely. We crossed the road safely after looking both ways.

Speaker 1: 4:54

Another word I want us to look at, a root word, is care. As a past tense verb, the nurse cared for her patients. As an adjective careful. She was very careful when she put down the tea. As an adverb carefully. She carefully carried the hot drink across the room. So sometimes what I want you to take away from this is that the root word sometimes needs to be changed, like what we saw with the word save. We changed it to safe, and sometimes we need to add suffixes at the end of the word. For example, careful became carefully, so we need to sometimes add suffixes, which is a group of letters, at the end of the word to generate a new meaning.

Speaker 1: 5:46

Let's look at some vocabulary. Family one that I want us to look at today is the word happy. That's my base word, my root word, as a noun happiness, an adjective happier, or an adverb happily. Family two my base word is teach as a noun teacher, as a verb, and this is an example of where we need to change the word slightly. A verb is taught, which is the past tense of teach he taught the lesson as an adjective teaching, as an adverb teachingly. Family three teaching as an adverb teachingly. Family three create Noun creation Adjective creative Verb created Adverb creatively. I'm going to read those three words in sentences now to help with your understanding. So my first base word was happy. She felt happy about her results. Noun happiness Her happiness was evident. Adjective happier he is happier than he was last year. And adverb happily they celebrated happily.

Speaker 1: 7:12

Family 2, teach he loves to teach. Noun teacher the teacher was very experienced. Verb past tense taught. They had taught the course for many years. Adjective teaching Her teaching style is very effective.

Speaker 1: 7:32

Word family three create. They created a new podcast or a new product. The creation was impressive, creation being the noun. The creation was impressive, creation being the noun Adjective creative. She's a very creative person and adverb creatively. They worked creatively on the project. Let's have a look at some real life application now. I'm going to pretend I am discussing a project at work and I want you to listen out for how I've used those words pointed out in different ways In our team meeting today.

Speaker 1: 8:06

We need to focus on the creative development of our new project. The goal is to come up with some helpful suggestions that will enhance our current processes and create a caring work environment ensuring the safety of all employees. We'll review the creation of our upcoming campaign and discuss how to ensure every aspect is safe and secure. Our HR department has already helped by outlining what the new campaign should look like. Each team member should embrace their creativity and help by contributing their ideas and solutions.

Speaker 1: 8:48

Part four listening practice. You're going to listen to a dialogue now where various forms of word families are used. I want you to try and identify the base word and its derivatives, the linked words, in the context. Good morning everyone. Thank you for joining today's meeting.

Speaker 1: 9:05

Firstly, we'll focus on the creation of our new community outreach program. Our aim is to develop a plan that will help our organization connect with the community while fostering a caring environment. We need to brainstorm creative ideas to make our outreach efforts both effective and engaging. Next, we'll address how to ensure the programme is safe for all participants. It's essential that we care for the wellbeing of everyone involved and address any potential risks. Safety is a priority. We'll also review how to effectively teach our team members about their roles in the programme. This will be taught to the highest standard, as it will be vital to our success, ensuring everyone feels happy and prepared. Lastly, we'll discuss some feedback received so far. We aim to address any concerns and find solutions to bring everyone back to a state of happiness and motivation. Let's dive into our discussions and work together to make this program a success. Your input is invaluable, so please share your helpful ideas and suggestions throughout the meeting.

Speaker 1: 10:11

Did you hear any base words in the passage? Did you hear the different forms of the base words and how did they contribute to those meanings. Okay, so for your independent learning this week. If you download the pdf activity, you will see some sentences and I want you to use different derivatives. That means linked words to that base word. I want you to rewrite each sentence using at least two different derivatives. Be as flexible with changing the sentences you like. Just make sure that you change the root word. So, for example, if I gave you the base word help, the original sentence might be he helps his colleagues every day. You might change helps to help or helpful, so you might say his help is always appreciated or he is known for being a helpful person. You will find the PDF activity link in the show notes. Congratulations on completing today's lesson. I am so proud of you.

Speaker 1: 11:10

And for those of you who are wanting to learn English at a faster pace or have dreamed of being able to read and understand English novels, or understand the plot of a story and explore it deeply, then you may want to consider joining my exclusive book club. For just $6 per month, you will have access to an extra four episodes every month where we study English novels and dive into the themes, meaning and vocabulary behind these modern and traditional classics. You will also receive a follow-up PDF for each episode to take your independent learning further. And the best part you will have access to my exclusive online community, where you will receive daily messages from me and be able to practice your English and discuss the books with other learners. If it doesn't work out, you can cancel any time, but I'm positive you won't want to. It also comes with a seven day free trial, so you really don't have anything to lose. There is also the gold membership available, which is available for just ten dollars per month and again comes with a seven day free trial. It also includes all the features of the book club, but you will also have access to my premium coffee and catch-up meetings, which take place weekly online as an opportunity to explore your English language learning with other learners just like you.

Speaker 1: 12:24

If you enjoyed today's episode, please rate, review and subscribe. I look forward to any feedback. I want to improve these episodes to make them the best they can possibly be for you, so please reach out to me at Learn English with Natalie on YouTube or TikTok, or you can email me at lewncontactcare at gmailcom. That's L-E-W-N contactcare at gmailcom. Well done on completing today's lesson and I'll see you next week.