Improving vocabulary

Vocab from We Bought A Zoo

Posted on by Julia Tomiak / 7 Comments

Last week, we rented We Bought a Zoo, starring Matt Damon as a Benjamin Mee, a recently widowed dad struggling to start his life over.  Before his wife’s illness, he worked as an investigative reporter, so he has some word nerd tendencies.  

In one scene, he argues with his 13 year old son Dylan on the way to school.   Eventually, Dylan mutters, as many adolescents do, “Whatever.”   Mr. Mee launches into a tirade (as I might); he hates the word “whatever” and insists that Dylan come up with a better word to replace it.  


Dylan offers “pernicious”, an excellent substitution and a testimony to his dark side. Of course, since Mr. Mee is a writer, he can rattle off a definition immediately when his younger daughter asks for one.  Can you? 


Pernicious \pər-‘nish-əs\ adj. from Latin pernicies, destruction; highly injurious or destructive




Word Nerd Workout:  Can you offer a synonym for pernicious, one not already used here?    Better yet, can you also come up with a replacement for “whatever“?  Something as clever and descriptive as Dylan did?  Leave your suggestions in the comments, and thanks for stopping by!

See my posts on other fun Word Nerd Words:

Julia
How to encourage reading

Summer Reading: Ideas for Kids

Posted on by Julia Tomiak / 4 Comments

Only two weeks into summer vacation, and it’s started already.  I’m not going to mention the “b word.”  I forbid my children to use the “b word”, because they have bright minds and should be able to find interesting things to do.

Yet, lately they’ve found a way around the “b word.”  They say:  “Mom, there’s nothing for me to do.”  Can you relate?  Any word nerd worth his or her sobriquet (Don’t remember that one?  See the vocab page) should have one reply:  find a cozy corner and READ!

But how to find something good to curl up with?  Since my children have already read hundreds of books (literally; I am blessed), finding new material for them poses a challenge.  However, last summer, I found great resource to help me:  Some of My Best Friends Are Books, by JudithWynn Halstead.   It intends to provide information for gifted readers, but if your child is a voracious reader, and not necessarily identified as gifted, this book still would be helpful.

 Some of My Best Friends… explains intellectual and emotional development and bibiotherapy.  It also provides suggestions for how to choose good literature and set up book discussions.  But the most beneficial component is an annotated bibliography over 200 pages long.  It lists, with brief descriptions, books for every age, by age group, from preschool to high school.  It also includes discussion questions for each book based on topics like moral development and drive to understand. 

The bibliography includes old favorites, like Harriet the Spy and From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler, as well as some more recently published books that I have never heard of.   Even better, my kids haven’t heard of them either.


Yesterday, I sat down with note cards (I love note cards, especially the fun, color coded ones) and started jotting down book ideas for each kid.  I starred suggestions that might work well for family reading time.   (I use that extra hour of summer evening light to read aloud to my kids; they also enjoy reading to each other.  It nurtures love for books and also gets the children settled and calm even if the sun is still out!  Later in the summer, I might use that time to read something they wouldn’t choose on their own, like a classic or a biography.)

If my local library doesn’t have all the books from Some of My Best Friends…, I can request from other libraries in the system or start searching Amazon.  Our library now allows us to borrow ebooks!  I just have to take the time to set up my Kindle and get started!

How will you find books for your kids this summer?  Can you name a few “forgotten favorites” or lost gems?  Leave your suggestions in the comments, and thanks for stopping by!

Related Word Nerd Posts:
Coming next week:  More suggestions for summer reading from my favorite picture book author!

Julia
Improving vocabulary

New Vocab from the iPad

Posted on by Julia Tomiak / 8 Comments

We finally got an iPad, and I love every swiping moment I spend with it.  So easy, intuitive, and fun.  

My kids love it too; note the charger plugged in?  They play til it’s dead.

While I was reading the very sparse instructions that came with my new favorite device, I found this:

“The iPad screen has been treated with an oleophobic substance to resist the oil from your fingers.  Clean gently with a damp cloth.”  



Oleophobic?  “What a great word!” I cried out at 10pm.  My husband responded with a muffled “Put the iPad down and go to bed,” from his pillow.  He wasn’t impressed, but I’m sure you are.  


This word is so new (Apple is so hip), that I had to construct a definition from information in Webster’s.


oleophobic: \’ō-lē-ō-‘fo-bik\  adj; from Latin oleum – fat/oil + French phobique, Latin phobus – aversion: lacking affinity for oil 


Word Nerd Workout:  Let’s try something different this week.  We are creative and hip people; I challenge you to make your own new word using the suffix “phobic.”  In the comments below, list the word, its definition, and then use it in a sentence.  For example:

Bieberphobic:  someone who has an aversion to the sound of Justin Bieber’s music.  

Fortunately, my ten year old daughter is a bieberphobic like me.  





Your turn!  Leave your creation in the comments.  Thanks for stopping by!

Julia
Improving vocabulary

Word Nerd Vocabulary Review

Posted on by Julia Tomiak / 6 Comments

It’s been four months since I’ve started intentionally working to expand my vocabulary, and as my dear “Oma” would say, “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.”  (“Oma” is Dutch for grandmother.  I miss her terribly, and I only hope I can be as resilient as she was in her later years.   Technically, she was German, but my father is Dutch, and that’s where the nickname comes from.  However, I digress…). 

Besides honoring Oma’s wisdom, I want to appease the teacher/coach in me who feels the need to review the words we’ve already learned.  But I promise not to turn into my intimidating English teacher, Mrs. Giles.

Flex your word nerd muscles by answering the three questions below without cheating!   (ie. no consultation of reference material or pages on this blog)  Every participant who gets all three questions correct will get lots of “link love” from me.  Translation:  I’ll post your name and links to your wonderful websites and blogs at the beginning of next month’s vocabulary review.  If you don’t have a website/blog, I’ll tweet and post about your vocabulary prowess on Twitter and Facebook.  If you are a shy and reclusive word nerd, and prefer only personal satisfaction, I can honor that too. 


Ready?  Let’s get started.

Word Nerd Workout
  1. From which would you be more likely to get tea, a sobriquet or a samovar?
  2. Which would sound more pleasing, mellifluous speech or a petulant reply?
  3. Complete the analogy.  Auspicious : Favorable :: persistent: _________
    1. pedantic
    2. inexorable
    3. preternaturally
    4. petulant

See, not too hard.  And since we are competent word nerds, I’ve decided to expand the vocabulary portion of this blog.  For the next few months, stop by every Tuesdayfor a new word to add to your personal lexicon.   I may also throw in Word Nerd Grammar Notes on some Tuesdays, and I’ll continue with reviews and literary commentary each Friday.  If you come across an interesting word in your reading, watching, or everyday conversation, please share it with me, and I’ll add it to the growing list.  

Click on the comments link below to add your responses, and thanks for stopping by!


Julia

Run for the Wall to Remember

Posted on by Julia Tomiak / 4 Comments

My little town doesn’t have much.  Nestled in the Appalachian Mountains of southwest Virginia, population 9000, our community has more gas stations than fancy restaurants, more farmland than developed parks.  But people matter in this little town.  Every day, but especially this week.

Have you heard of “Run For the Wall?”  Every year, hundreds of men and woman ride their motorcycles from as far away as California to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C. to honor POWs, MIAs, and veterans from all wars.  And every year, on the Thursday before Memorial Day, they stop right here, to get a few meals and a lot of love.  

Children from our local elementary school crowd the park in the center of town to meet the riders, marvel at their bikes, and say “thank you.”  Sweet, high pitched voices offer songs and tear provoking tributes.  I don’t have any POWs or MIAs to pray for personally.  My father came home safely from Vietnam and married my mother in 1968.  My father-in-law also served, just after my husband was born, and fortunately returned.   But I know many families aren’t so lucky.   So I cry for them.

When the ceremonies finish, the kids sprint to the street to wave flags and watch the bikes roll out as they head north towards D.C.   Although I’m always impressed by the sight of the bearded, road hardened bikers mingled with hundreds of children dressed in red, white and blue, today the sound struck me hard: roaring motorcycle engines, horn blasts, and chants of U S A!  U S A! 

What does this have to do with being a word nerd?  I’m realizing more and more that writing about the significant events of life gives them more meaning, more permanence.   Writing this post has forced me to stop in my busy schedule to absorb the importance of what I witnessed this morning.  And I hope it will inspire you to pause too. 

At Run for the Wall, the people of my town remember, along with the riders,  the sacrifice made for us.  And most importantly, we are teaching our children to remember. 

Travel safely, riders.
How will you commemorate Memorial Day?  Do you have someone special to remember?  Take time to find out more information about Run for the Wall.  Thanks for stopping by!

Julia
How to encourage reading/Words and Technology

Barnes and Noble to Team Up with Microsoft

Posted on by Julia Tomiak / 6 Comments

A few months ago, I wrote a post about how the future of books depended on Barnes and Noble.  Recently I heard some encouraging news: Barnes and Noble is joining forces with Microsoft to battle industry giants Amazon and Apple in the eReader market.

Barnes and Noble stock rose when the company announced late in April that Microsoft will invest $300 million in the development of  the Nook and B&N’s digital book division.   Both companies should benefit: B&N will get a much needed infusion of resources, and Microsoft will gain access to new content.

Publishers are excited about the deal, and so am I.  As much as I enjoy Amazon and Apple products (I just got a new iPad- love it!), I know that a healthy market needs competition.  I’d hate to see Amazon take over the book world, control the cost of books, and therefore control authors.  Now I have hope that it won’t.

The NPR story that shared this good news warned that the new B&N/ Microsoft company, called “Newco”, has a lot of catching up to do, since Apple has perfected its tablet over the past decade. Wes Miller, an analyst at the independent research firm Directions on Microsoft,  says that Microsoft has a tendency to put out products that are “good enough” to turn a profit, but if it wants to seriously compete with Apple in the tablet market, it needs to step up its game. 

I can’t deny that I like the iPad and the Kindle.  The iPad has that nice big screen, and although the backlighting could make one’s eyes weary with regular use, it comes in handy at night when your spouse wants to sleep and you want to stay up reading!  I’ve never used the Nook, and welcome anyone’s review of the product. 

Of course, I will always love old fashioned, “hard copy” books, but I hope that if B&N can stay afloat through its eReader, that will not only help the company, but also the future of traditionally printed books.

Which tablet / eReader do you prefer and why?  How do you respond to the news of a partnership between B&N and Microsoft?  Do you fear an Amazon takeover?  Share your thoughts by clicking on the comments link below.  And as always, thanks for stopping by.  Happy reading, in whatever format you choose!

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Julia