USE CONTEXT CLUES TO UNDERSTAND NEW VOCABULARY

hello and welcome to today's lesson thank you guys so much for joining me and today is a very useful English lesson I think it's very important so without further ado let me tell you today we are going to be talking about context clues and this is extremely important for your reading comprehension but I think it's also very useful for building vocabulary so those two things I think when you practice using context clues to build your vocabulary and understand whatever it is you're reading it's going to improve your overall English fluency and please I always encourage you guys to read as much as you can so if you are joining me again say hello in the chat love hearing from all of you even if you are watching this later please write your name in the comments tell me where you're from because I I just love hearing from you so hello hi Aidan sleepwalker Ahmad Mary Kareem Edward bate the ester Angela Carlos just trying to get out as many quick shout outs as I can Ricardo Layla thank you guys for joining me today and as I go through I'll try I'll try to get in some more shout outs there but I hope you guys are having a wonderful day I hope you are staying safe and staying healthy so we're going to practice using context clues today and the idea again is to give you some practice so you understand well what it means to use context clues but I also hope that you'll be able to build your vocabulary and maybe learn some new words today because as we go through this that's that's the idea we're going I want you to try to think about well what do these words mean you may already know some of their meanings and that's great you can just review them but but that's what I want to practice with you today so let's just start out by talking you know let me I just want to tell you what are context clues just give you a basic definition so what they are is that they are hints that an author gives you to help you understand the meaning of a difficult or unusual word within a book so the clues may appear within the same sentence as the word or they may come in the sentences before or after the word so you just keep that in mind often you find them within the same sentence but you could find them either before or after the word and if you kind of understand the whole meaning then you have a better chance of understanding well what does this word mean if there is an unknown word you have you have a better chance of determining okay this is probably what the word means and we all do this when we're reading because when you're reading no matter what language even now I if I'm reading a book in English I will read words that I may not know the exact meaning but I can try to put them into context and say okay it probably means this okay so what I want to do next this is kind of gonna lay it out for you what I want you guys to do and if you're with me even if you're watching this later I want you guys to participate and and write your answers in the chat write your answers in the comments as we go through these and you're trying to think about the meaning of the words so we're gonna do this in three steps there are three fingers there there um I want I'm going so we're going to find an unknown word but I'm actually going to give you the word I'm gonna tell you the word that what I think would be unknown and then we're going to look for the context clues and then I want you to see if you can guess well what is the meaning of this word based on those context clues what is the meaning so that is how we're going to do this I'm going to start just with basically one sentence at the beginning and as we continue and go through these it's going to get longer and longer and longer and I think it will get a little more challenging as well so let's just begin we'll start off slow start off with a simple example and the first sentence that I have for you is this okay so if your here's our sentence the movie was very bloody and grotesque so you know that well what what I'm talking about right now talking about a movie and then describing it so basically those like this is the word that I wanted to focus on grotesque you may know what it means but if if you're watching this you're like hmm I'm not exactly sure what that means let's let's look for those context clues I already mentioned that well what's the topic what are we talking about we're talking about the movie now what other word it can help us describe that bloody so those two words would be the the context clues and based on that okay a movie a bloody probably you can think well what does it mean grotesque it probably does not mean something that is funny or humorous what you would say is that it means something that is strange or unpleasant it is an adjective that is used to describe a noun and it means strange or unpleasant it's grotesque you could use it to describe a movie you could use it to describe food if you think something is very disgusting it's strange it's unpleasant you could say oh it's grotesque this is grotesque now I will tell you all of these meanings that I got I have taken these from Cambridge dictionary that is a dictionary that I like to use and I would highly recommend it and the reason I like can bridge is because I think they give a very easy definition to follow they use words that are simple and I think it's a very clear definition so all of the when I show you the meaning of these words I took all of them from Cambridge dictionary if you haven't checked it out I will throw a link in there right there - to Cambridge so the other thing that I wanted to say is again you may find some other context clues that might help you that I don't necessarily identify so even if I identify something that that maybe well maybe you thought of something else then that's perfectly okay there can always be more than one or two or three context clues so keep that in mind so let's start let's continue the next example that I have for this is right here so here's now we're moving into a little bit of a story and I could say dark clouds surrounded us the ocean was angry and lifted our boat up and down it was a perilous journey and few of us survived so I think just reading that you can probably put a picture in your mind which helps with your comprehension but what if you're thinking well I don't know exactly what perilous means what exactly does this word mean we know that it is an adjective because of the it's part of speech it's describing the word journey but based on what we just read what do you think this word means where do you think what do you think would be some good context clues alright so the ones that I would point out all right just to talk about those those these would be my context clues you could have you could use any of these so if you have dark clouds you know the ocean was angry oh that's not good and few of us survived so this is the situation that we're in and something is perilous yes I think you guys yeah you're rocking this alright perilous just means something that is extremely dangerous excellent anima Esther Aidan perfect rosalinda a maje throwing some shadows yes everybody said dangerous ceci murillo excellent great job Mary Gladys so again now you get the idea of what we're doing and it's going to get a little longer now and this is very common when you're reading so some of the other examples I have for you that are coming up there's going to be a little dialog in there as if people are having a conversation so let's go to the next one it's going to get a little more challenging and here is here's our little a couple sentences the boss will sly and clever during the interview he refused to admit the company did anything wrong therefore therefore he tried to obfuscate the truth so again I think you can read that or even listen to me say this and you can kind of get the main idea you know what's happening however maybe you might be looking at this and thinking well I'm not really sure what does it mean to obfuscate alright what what does this verb mean obfuscate this is actually a verb from one of our vocabulary lessons advanced verbs that I did a while ago so I'm giving you this situation and I want you to think what what do you think this verb means what does this word mean obfuscate he tried to obfuscate the truth let's so again if you're reading something just like this the first thing you want to do is look for some context clues all right so these are some of the context clues that I identified all right so you're describing this boss all right he sly and clever okay slice not really a good word to describe somebody he refused to admit something so this person don't does not want to tell the truth so in that case he's trying to obfuscate the truth so in the example yeah you guys a lot of you are saying hide out there um trim twist the facts yeah I think again those are all great answers I think you're you're really getting this the can bridge to find this if you're trying to obfuscate the truth or some information you're you're trying to make it you're trying to make something more difficult to understand or comprehend so in this case the boss he doesn't want to admit it's an interview he doesn't want to admit everything's wrong so he's trying to think well I'm not going to lie but I'm just going to make the truth very confusing and difficult to understand so that maybe people don't think we did anything wrong and that way they're not going be a little angry so I think that is its a collocation you might find it to obfuscate the truth that you're trying to make it very difficult to understand I think this happens a lot if like in talking about politics or some some kind of situation in which you don't really want people to know the truth and really what's going on so you try to make things more difficult than it really is and in this case obvious Kate the truth um all right so let's look again we're gonna keep moving along one thing I wanted to point out is I told you that this is primarily for for reading you could do you could use context clues and listening all the time I think we do this but we just do it quickly when you're listening you're it's moving so fast you don't really have time to go and point out and think about the different context clues you're really just trying to follow along the main idea but your brain does do that and you really do it quickly reading it's more of a reflective skill where you it's it's a it's something it's very reflective where you can stop you can go back you can look at a word then you can go back and look at the other words around it so this is a great way again to practice context clues build your vocabulary improve your reading comprehension so here we go now this is a little bit more of a dialogue and again I'll read it so let's say Mary suddenly appeared Tom looked shocked to see her I know you went to the party without me she said I don't know what you're talking about he replied somewhat nonplussed okay so this is again the situation it's a conversation between two people Mary and Tom and she's kind of accusing him like oh you did this you did this without me now again I think you understand overall what happened in this situation but maybe you're thinking well he replied somewhat nonplussed all right we're describing Tom the way it were scribing the way he is it's an adjective but maybe you're like ah I'm not really sure what this word means so again think about this what do you think what do you think this adjective means if somebody looks nonplussed or maybe they say something nonplussed what do you think that word means so let's go back let's look for some context clues and what I would say is this right here alright so think of the situation she suddenly appeared in Tom he looked shocked and then when he was giving his answer that I okay because of that you should try it you should be able to think okay if somebody he replies somewhat nonplussed then okay yes excellent answers uh Mary Asif excellent sleepwalk there I thought yeah all right if you are non plus then it means that somebody is surprised or confused that that that is just the way that that is their description so Tom in this situation he was shocked he didn't know what to say III don't know what you're talking about so you could say that he you know replied somewhat nonplussed all right he was a little surprised he was a little confused this is another word if you ever read the books Harry Potter JK Rowling she likes to use this word quite often you would come across it the way people say stuff or the way she's describing a character as nonplussed alright so if you're reading Harry Potter keep an eye out for that one okay so again we're going to make it a little more challenging I like to try and make it a little more difficult as we continue and see if you can try to understand that these different unknown vocabulary words by using the context clues so here's another situation it was well past midnight they had been working diligently to finish the project before the deadline I can't work anymore I'm beat he told her yeah it's getting late let's call it a day and finish up tomorrow she said again I think the situation very easy to follow I think you probably understand it but maybe you're like well there's a few words in there I don't know so I'm I'm highlighting these three for you again maybe you're familiar with them maybe not and if you're not let's see if you can find some context clues and see if you can determine the meaning of these words so the first one we got we have diligently beat and call it a day the expression so let's first let's take one at a time we're gonna start with diligently and the context clue that I would say okay finish the project before the deadline so think about this somebody is working diligently it is an adverb describing how this person works so if you're trying to finish something before a deadline what do you think how would you how would you be working if you're trying to do that um excellent uh sir it's Sylvia Russia sleepwalker perfect Mahmud yes if if you're talking about somebody who's working diligently again the the can bridge I'm giving you the can bridge meaning it means that they are working well well carefully and with a lot of effort they're working hard I would also again this is their definition I would also to me it also means that you're kind of working continuously to that you're working so hard that you're really not stopping you are very focused on this work and you are working diligently okay let's look at the next word which was in that discussion when the guy said you know I can't work anymore I'm beat so if somebody says I'm beat what do you think it means and I've given you these two context clues all right what time is it it was well past midnight and then basically what he said it's well past midnight and he says can't work anymore I can't do this I can't work anymore I'm beat this is an informal expression I guess you could say it's a little bit of maybe slang but I think it's very common I think people use this quite often when I you can put it into context and if somebody says I'm beat yes it means exactly sky Ricciardo crack crazy excellent Marilla Gertrudis if you're beat then it means that you are extremely tired it is an adjective and you would say somebody would just describe themselves you would use it as a predicate adjective as well somebody say I'm beat or oh he's beat somebody is extremely tired then that last word that other unknown word was call are word it's a phrase call it a day let's call it a day and the context clues that I have for you would be first one is getting late again referring to this time and then she's replying like we'll finish up tomorrow so it's getting late finish up tomorrow call it a day this is an idiom that I hope that based on that context you could easily determine that to call it a day the idiom means that you are it means that you are going to stop what you're doing because you just can't do it anymore and you often you use this idiom I think when talking about work that you are doing some type of work for at your job or it could be school and you are so tired you cannot continue somebody might say you know let's call it a day we can't work anymore let's call it a day and then we will continue later we'll call it a day so that is a good good idiom to know good expression because if you're working you're too tired to continue and you're working with somebody else you could tell them like look let's call it a day let's stop what we're doing all right so I got another one for you again it's a longer it's a longer paragraph and we are going to identify several different words so here is the the paragraph and as again think about the situation put a picture in your mind and try to think about well how these people feel so I said I told him we were not buying anything and that he should put the toy back he then proceeded to throw a tantrum it had been a very rough day and I was already at my wit's end I was in no mood to deal with his pure I'll behavior I took a deep breath and tried to relax after a few moments he calmed down as well so I think the situation is again rather it's it's not too advanced if you're listening to that if you're reading it ok I understand what's happening but perhaps there are these three words or phrases that you're not exactly sure what they mean but again if you're reading it's reflective you can stop and say ok let me look around and find the meaning of these other words and phrases to help me better understand this unknown word so we have tantrum at my wit's end and pure I'll all right so let's begin let's take this one at a time and talk about a a tantrum and I put the got those first context clues for you of think about the situation that leads up to this tantrum all right somebody's saying I told him to put that we're not buying anything today all right we're not shopping we're not buying anything put that toy back if you were talking to in this case is talking to assume like her little boy then what do you think their reaction would be he throws a tantrum and this is a it's a good collocation because we we use this with the verb throw somebody throws a tantrum you could also say somebody has a tantrum so we use it with either throw or have and yes I think excellent perfect a 10-month read more guiana yes if somebody's throwing a tantrum it's again they define it Canberra jazz a sudden period of uncontrolled anger and I think this word is often used when when you're talking about children maybe again they get really upset all of a sudden and you could say that they are throwing a tantrum or maybe they're just oh they're really having a tantrum but I think it's commonly used with throw somebody throws a tantrum let's look at the next one this is a at my wit's end this is a an expression that I don't know if it's more of an American expression I'm not really sure if it's common commonly used in British English but it's an expression that you would hear you might hear it in a movie or a TV show it's not I'm not gonna say that it's super common but somebody might say you know I was at my wit's end they're describing the way they feel and here are some context clues that you know you you now know what tantrum means so he proceeded to throw a tantrum alright and already I'm saying it was a very rough day how do you think that person feels that it's it's been a really difficult day it's been a bad day and now they have a child who is throwing a tantrum and they say I was already I was already at my wit's end it's been such a bad day I was already at my wit's end what do you think that that would mean alright so again this is an expression that means if somebody says you know I'm at my wit's end it's almost like you're saying you're at your breaking point you are already at your breaking point and again the wake Ambridge defines it is you are so worried or confused that you don't know what to do next you're very worried you're very confused and you're like okay i'm i it's it's almost like you're you just you can't think of what you should do next you're kind of panicking and you could say you were you're at your wits end again i think of another way to another expression you could think about the meaning of this phrase is somebody saying i'm i'm at my breaking point many of you were talking about oh you're losing patience that's another great way to think about it that you are at your wits end you're at your breaking point you're you're losing patience and you don't know what to do next then we have that that last word pure oil I think in I think in many some Americans may pronounce it as peril as well I think in British English is kind of more so how I'm pronouncing it pure I'll but they're talking about pure I'll behavior so again let's look at these context clues that somebody the child proceeded to throw a tantrum you were already at your wits end and then you were again you're trying to relax so they're describing the child's behavior as pure I'll so what do you think it means I think it's very obvious now I realize and I will tell you afterwards I don't think I used it in the right context and I'll explain that in just a moment but I think all of you yes I getting some great answers perfect one d3r at one end sorry they didn't get all that rumah mary a sleepwalker exactly gladys joseph perfect so if somebody is you're saying is pure i'll the adjective it basically means childish that you were behaving in a silly way and not like an adult the reason why I said that maybe I'm not using it in the right context is because of course a child is going to behave have childish behavior I think pure I'll is it's an adjective that would more commonly be used when talking about maybe a teenager or even an adult somebody who should be a little more mature and they're not acting like that they're not acting like an adult then you might refer use that adjective and say they have you know pure wild behavior or a pure wild manner or maybe making a pure I'll comment so again I think it's more commonly used to describe somebody who should be acting like an adult but is not acting like an adult so in my example I was talking about a child of course a child should have well it's not a surprise that their behavior was a bit childish so again this is so important like for your reading comprehension and it is it is such a great way to use in order to build your vocabulary because I always tell students especially you know building your vocabulary it improves your fluency because you can use more precise language when you want to describe your thoughts your opinion your your ideas and one of the best ways to do that is just to read is to read different books news or newspaper articles and like even today you guys were reading these examples all of it helps and I hope I really hope that you guys learn some new words today just watching this lesson so I thank you guys so much all of you for for joining me if you guys want to connect with us if you guys are interested in sponsoring and supporting interactive English we we now have both YouTube memberships patreon links are in the description we offer some different rewards and it's all the same whether it's on YouTube or patreon all those rewards are the same notice some patrons in here today like Aiden excellent so thank you guys so much for joining me I hope that you found this lesson useful if you did hit that like button and this is a great way I want to do more practice like this in the future because I think it is so valuable for improving your English skills and and really reading and finding these context clues to understand new vocabulary Thank You Aidan Mahmud rumah mrs. Farhan hater maan create sleepwalker Rosalinda is trying to get in some many shout outs as I can Angeles and oz Samuel hope you guys again have a wonderful weekend stay healthy stay safe and I will see you guys next time so long

Channel: Interactive English

Views: 12,767

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Id: oO9CXNfo0-I

Length: 28min 22sec (1702 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 28 2020