Discover the Wealth of French Words Used in English

Discover the Wealth of French Words Used in English How Many French Words Populate the English Language? ChaptersFrench Idioms Commonly Used in EnglishMainstream English words from French PeopleCommon Words Coined by the FrenchTracing Word EtymologyFrench in Standard EnglishFor all the claims that English is the de facto Lingua Franca of the civilised world â€" and other parts are catching up fast, we might want to hold our elation in check.Yes, it is wonderful that nearly every classroom in every nation of the globe contains students who are learning English.It is equally great that we, native speakers of the English language, could theoretically travel to just about any corner of the world and stand a good chance of being understood, all without having to learn a second language.Before becoming overwhelmed by any sense of seniority at our language being the world's language, we have to examine our mother tongue's roots.Linguists all assert, with varying degrees of firmness: English is a Germanic language.That means that the basis of our grammar and vocabulary lies with ancient Teutoni c civilisations.The theory passes the litmus test. Our ancestors did come, at least in part, from Jutland; a decidedly Germanic province.Have you ever wondered why the K in words such as knee and knife is silent?A bit of investigation reveals that those words come to us from the German language, where words with that letter combination are pronounced with the K.If we accept that premise â€" and, by all accounts, we do!, how can we justify that claim when nearly a third of English vocabulary is derived from the French language?Especially when, according to some reports, there are more French words used in daily English than German ones?Let's find out how much French you already know. Together we will discover just how much la langue française has influenced English! We can start with the name England, derived from French Angleterre: literally, Angles Land.What a fitting name seeing as the Angles, as well as the Jutes, helped to settle and populate our country!Get a good French tutor here.Amuse bouche, what we call nibbles, is a common idiom borrowed from the French language Source: Wikipedia Credit: Docteur Cosmos cul-de-sac?You guessed it: those are all French expressions, commonly used by English speakers.Here are a few more French phrases you are most likely familiar with:Avant-guarde: something or someone that is cutting edge.Le Corbusier's designs were certainly avant-guarde!Le mot juste: the precise word to describe a condition or situation.Refined is le mot juste to describe Meghan MarkleCherchez la femme: the idea that, when a man behaves out of character, a woman must be at faultIn today's gender politics, it might not be a good idea to use this phrase!Faux pas: literal translation is false step, meaning  a violation of social moresTurning your back to The Queen is a grave faux pas!The list of idiomatic French expressions used in English is so long that it merits its own webpage! And so many basic French words populate our vernacular! Even if you don' t (yet) speak French, it's a good bet you know most of these words.With Fashion Week just past, you may have recently heard the terms haute couture and pret a porter â€" high fashion and ready to wear, respectively.Calling all foodies!And entire lexicon of French words fill our cookbooks, from soufflé to consommé. Even our beloved courgettes get their name from the French! You will note that we use the French pronunciation of such words without changing the end to fit English spelling rules.Wouldn't soufflay, consommay and macramay be much easier to read, all while keeping the pronunciation we've claimed as our own?Many thanks to the native French inventor Louis Pasteur for giving us safe milk! Source: Pixabay Credit: CouleurMainstream English words from French People“I would like a milk bath!” proclaimed the nouveau riche matron. “Would that be pasteurised?” inquired her attendant. “No, just to my chin will be suitable.” Pasteurised milk is the only accepted standard for consumable  dairy products. In fact, its very niveau means that we no longer include the adjective pasteurised when we say milk.Still, it is printed on every single milk bottle label, isn't it?Louis Pasteur, the Frenchman who invented the technique, is forever immortalised by the process that bears his name.Other famous French people who gave their name to discoveries include Louis Braille, the Curies, Blaise Pascal, and Emile Baudot â€" definer of the baud rate, so vital to our digital world.Enter the etymology dictionary! It will not translate any words in French â€" or any words in English, for that matter! However, it will trace the history of any given word to its roots, and tell you of the circumstances surrounding its inception.If you have always wanted to learn French, and to know more about French words and phrases, the etymology dictionary is the page for you!What about being so busy that you barely have time to read a book, let alone take French classes?Ponder this: o ur daily lives may consume all of our time, energy and resources, but our minds are capable of boundless feats.While we are constrained by our social obligations, nothing says our minds can't take flight!One of the best ways to appreciate French culture is to discover the numerous inroads it has made into the language we speak every day.In taking a French course London or in Leeds, we will also gain a deeper appreciation for our modern English!You too will thrill at discovering the online etymology dictionary! Source: Pixabay Credit: JeShootsFrench in Standard EnglishSome of our most common words originated in France.Nevertheless, we must not lose sight of the fact that French is a romance language, with its roots in Latin.Doesn't that beg the question of the most common English words actually originating from that ancient tongue?Why should you study French? Wouldn't speaking French be easy, seeing as we English speaking people use so much French in our conversation?Few countries gu ard their linguistic heritage as closely as France, and defend it so ardently from foreign language incursion - such as the growing worldwide influence of English.But then, grammar aside: is spoken French really that different from spoken English?Before your next holiday in France â€" your next immersion experience, why not find out how long it will take you to learn French?

6 Types of Toxic CEOs You DONT Want to Be - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / 6 Types of Toxic CEOs You DON’T Want to Be - Introvert Whisperer 6 Types of Toxic CEOs You DON’T Want to Be GetVOIP.com August 28, 2014 Career Development, Leadership, Office Politics No responses Go to top This post originally appeared at GetVoIP.com. Landing the top job as Chief Executive Officer is a lofty goal for many businesspeople. With power, stratospheric salaries and international influence on offer, the position of CEO is hugely attractive to many. But successfully captaining a company requires strong qualities of leadership, cooperation, wisdom, and vision. It’s a big ask for a big job, and that particular combination can be hard to come by, even with years of education and experience. A brief look at business headlines shows that the CEO dream is often more complicated than we’d like to think. When a chief executive loses perspective, gets caught up in the perks of the job or lacks the capability for the necessary clear-sighted, decisive decision-making, cracks begin to appear. How do some CEOs set themselves and their companies up for failure? Take a look at the six types of CEOs you never want to become:

Apps to Keep Students Organized

Apps to Keep Students Organized Learning in the digital age has many advantages, and the plethora of apps out there to support students is a big one. Here are four popular apps that will help your students stay organized and on track with homework, deadlines, grades, and more: Evernote (for taking/organizing notes) Evernote lets students collect their notes (typed and handwritten), articles, websites, and other research in one place. Its great for managing projects, capturing ideas, and staying on top of deadlines and tasks. iStudiez Pro (for keeping track of homework, grades, and the schedule) iStudiez Pro helps students manage their schedule, homework, and grades in one place. Tasks can be sorted by date, class, and priority. The planner helps students organize classes (and all details) and share their detailed schedule with Google Calendar or other calendar apps. RescueTime (for time management) RescueTime is all about minimizing wasted time. It tracks how much time is spent on different websites, social media, email, or in other applications. Then, it provides detailed productivity reports. Students can block distracting websites and set up alerts for when they spend too much time on a website or other activity. Scanner Pro (for de-cluttering/minimizing paper) ScannerPro works with Evernote. Students can quickly scan and save digital versions of any paper document. It uses optical character recognition so students can easily extract words from those scans. So, for the student who loses papers easily or wants to simplify and digitize their life, its a great tool. Obviously, these are just a few optionsthere are many other apps out there that your students might want to use instead. Encourage your students to research apps that will help them keep organized, which will lead to better grades and productivity.

CMS Chief Academic Officer Brian Schultz Joins Heart Math Tutoring Board of Directors - Heart Math Tutoring

CMS Chief Academic Officer Brian Schultz Joins Heart Math Tutoring Board of Directors - Heart Math Tutoring CMS Chief Academic Officer Brian Schultz Joins Heart Math Tutoring Board of Directors CMS Chief Academic Officer Brian Schultz Joins Heart Math Tutoring Board of Directors January 25, 2016 Heart is proud to announce  that we have  has appointed Brian Schultz, chief academic officer of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), to our board of directors. Schultz’s academic career includes the past five years at CMS where he has held positions ranging from  principal of Torrence Creek Elementary to executive director for the Central Secondary Zone and of the Northeast Learning Community. Prior to joining CMS, Schultz was director of elementary education, a principal and a teacher in Cabarrus County Schools and a teacher at Twin Lakes School Corporation. “We are grateful for and honored by Brian’s [Schultz] commitment to serve on Heart’s board of directors,” said Emily Elliott, executive director of Heart Math Tutoring. “We appreciate our long-standing partnership with CMS. The elementary math department has been integral to the program’s beginnings and remains a close advisor. Brian [Schultz] brings a wealth of background and insight, and his perspective will be invaluable. Read the full press release here.

5 Things You Might Not Expect About College Finals

5 Things You Might Not Expect About College Finals Tips from an Irvine College Tutor: 5 Things You Might Not Expect About College Finals Tips from an Irvine College Tutor: 5 Things You Might Not Expect About College Finals Its just about that time; students are prepping for their first year of college-level final exams. Even students who aced every single one of their high school exams should be prepared for a few differences. The reality is that not only is college harder, but its different. Unknown factors can leave students feeling completely overwhelmed and unable to focus on their study tasks. Students who are unsure what to expect the first year of finals should think about the most common things that can trip up them and their peers. 1. Concentration College finals will take an immense amount of concentration. Students should get used to studying the topic at hand for multiple hours at a time. Although students can take as many breaks as they want during their study sessions, they wont be able to take any breaks during the exam. Its tempting to think that a final exam will last for the 55 minutes of the class period, but the block schedule for finals week is completely different. That chemistry class from 10 a.m. 10:55 a.m. may be from 10 a.m. 12:00 p.m. during finals week. Students should be prepared to concentrate on the information and be able to demonstrate their knowledge for well more than an hour (READ: The Students Guide to Study Breaks). 2. Content In college, the content students may be tested on is pretty much and ‘anything goes’ situation. Although some professors will give students an itemized study guide, most wont and they dont have to. Anything that was taught during the semester can be on the final. One thing that most students forget about is that the information they’re tested on may not necessarily have been covered in class. If the syllabus says chapter 3, then chapter 3 might be on the test even if the professor never talked about it. Always make sure to read the fine print on the syllabus (READ: How to Get an A Before the End of the Semester). 3. Explain Yourself In high school, most students took tests in a matching or multiple choice format. However, this will only be true part of the time in college. Most professors want to be absolutely sure that their students understood the information before they put their name behind a specific grade. College students should be expected to write in an open-answer format or in an essay format, meaning they have to be able to communicate themselves well in words. Additionally, many students think their lecture class final exam (where are there are 200+ students) will have to have a multiple choice format because the professor simply wouldnt have time to grade all of the essays. Dont forget, these large classes have teaching assistants to help with grading and other tasks. 4. Extra Credit? (nope) In high school, many students have the opportunity for extra credit (with the exception of AP courses). This is generally not the case in college. In high school students are still learning how to study and absorb material, which is why teachers may allow for extra credit if they think its necessary. In college, students are expected to be able to manage their own time, budget their tasks, and approach the professor for extra help if necessary. College students should never assume they can make up a test or quiz with an extra credit assignment (READ: Tips From an Irvine Private Tutor: Avoiding Stress During Finals). 5. Partial answers? (nope) Many high school teachers will also give credit for partial answers in an open-ended question format. Again, at this age students are still learning how to be students. If they had a question 80% correct their teacher may give them half a point. Once in college, students should not expect this type of leniency. If an answer doesnt cover all of the points required by the question, it’ll most certainly be counted as incorrect. Students  will be expected to demonstrate their knowledge for every part of the textbook and additional learning materials, not just part of it. Its not too late to book your private Irvine college tutor from TutorNerds for college finals. Call us today for more information. All blog entries, with the exception of guest bloggers, are written by Tutor Nerds. Are you an education professional? If so, email us at pr@tutornerds.com for guest blogging and collaborations. We want to make this the best free education resource in SoCal, so feel free to suggest what you would like to see us write.

The Importance of Homework - ALOHA Mind Math

The Importance of Homework Much as we, ourselves may feel like moaning and groaning about it, as parents it is our responsibility to make our child understand why homework is important. Manychildren find it difficult to comprehend why they need to spend additional time at home doing schoolwork, after spending so many hoursdoing the same in school. Here are some of the benefits of homework to help us convey it better to our children. Update parents: Home work assignments serve as the easiest way for parents to get to know what children are doing at school. If not for homework, the only way for parents to remain updated would be through periodic meetings with the teachers, which is not really an easy practice to achieve. Practice makes perfect: When children practice the same math problem multiple times, it helps them understand the concepts better. Sometimes performing the same calculation in a relatively quieter environment helps to approach it more easily. Also in cases where parents may help with homework, they might give additional tips and tricks for tackling something that the child might find difficult otherwise. Improves organizational skills: Scheduling when to do homework and even remembering to bring back the required books, are all small skills that the child picks up and that will help him or her in improving their organizational skills, as they grow older. Parents can also help by looking for ways in which we can make homework less of a chore, and work it into our daily schedule better. It should definitely not be used as a threat, or for holding back a treat, as this would make the child associate negativity with homework. Teaches responsibility: As children grow up, they will start taking responsibility for their own homework, and you may just need to have a check to know what their schoolwork is all about. They will be answerable for non-completion or erroneous work, and this will also help them in being more responsible for their schoolwork and other activities. Our Math and English classes at Aloha USA also use homework as an integral part of teaching your child. Please see our website for more details:http://www.aloha-usa.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/aloha.usa and on Twitter: @AlohaKidsMath for constant updates on your child’s education development.

Marathon Group

Marathon Group Marathon Group A revolution in education is long overdue. We’re still stuck in an industrial age paradigm of education and the problems with that are becoming increasingly worrying and apparent. Lecturing children for more than 6 hours a day, is incredibly unnatural and terribly ineffective. We have an environment in which the student experiences a complete lack of freedom and control, which interferes with the development of their personal responsibility and autonomy. The learning experience is far from personalized, and provides no outlet for the unique passions and interests of each student. The way we do education today has very little to do with the way knowledge and skills are used in the real world. What most children go through each day in school is incredibly mind-numbing and boring, no wonder they are less happy in school than any other setting. The problems are too many and there is no doubt that a radical, revolutionary change is needed at the fundamental level. How do we bring about such a change? These problems are not new, and many around the world have offered solutions. We are deeply inspired by paradigms like democratic education, project-based-learning, inquiry based learning, etc and we consider the following as exemplars for what education should be like: - Democratic Schools like Summerhill School, Sudbury Valley School - Big Picture Learning Schools - Montessori Education - Reggio Emilia Approach - EdVisions Schools - Expeditionary Learning Schools - Individual schools like BrightWorks, Wooranna Park, Odyssey School, High Tech High, etc. The list is by no means exhaustive. Our vision is to create a school where the learning is self-driven and autonomous to a large extent, an aspect that is common to all the schools in the list above. The idea is to stand on the shoulder of such giants. Experience teaching and leading in such schools is the key requirement for applicants. The Marathon School Project is an attempt to bring home and further evolve paradigms of self-driven, 21st century education.