ESL Vocab Flashcards
Capacity
Ability or Amount that something can hold
Gezahagn has a high capacity to learn.
The small bottle did not have a large capacity to hold water.
Contender
A group or person competing with others.
He was a strong contender and they thought he would win the competition.
Devotee
Committed to something
Justin Bieber’s devotees follow him to every concert.
Diplomacy
International relations, often between different countries
The US ambassador is in charge of diplomacy between the US and Ethiopia.
Hare
Rabbit
The hare has long ears.
lingua franca
A language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different.
Margaret and Gezahagn use a lingua franca that is a mix of Amharic and English.
Royal Decree
An order given by a queen or king
Queen Elizabeth the II issued a royal decree making today a holiday.
Symptoms
A physical or mental problem that someone has that may mean they have a disease
Cough, fever and sore throat are symptoms of COVID.
Diluted
To decrease the strength of something, often a liquid
I diluted the strong coffee by adding water.
Exponentially
Greatly
Gezahagn’s English has increased exponentially.
insatiable
Not able to be satisfied
The kids have an insatiable appetite and eat and eat and eat.
Prestigious
Having a good reputation - Considered to be very good
The medal was a prestigious award.
Linguist
A person who is good at language.
The linguist studied Amharic, Oromifa, Tigrinian and English.
Dialect
A variation of a language
There are three dialects of Amharic, Gondar, Gojjami, and Showa.
Dominate
The strongest one
Manchester United dominated in the football game and beat Manchester City.
Accent
The way someone says a language.
My accent when I speak Amharic makes it hard for people to understand me.
technique
The way you perform a skill
Robel has a special technique when he sews clothes.
Anecdote
An interesting piece of information
The teacher used an anecdote to explain the information.
Usurp
To take by force
The army tried to usurp the leader’s power.
Gather
Get
They gathered the teff from the field.
Focus
Where you look/The main point
His focus was on his friend. The focus of the story was on right vs. wrong.
Abbreviations
Short form of a word (Noun)
The abbreviation of Ohio is OH.
Abbreviate
To shorten a word (Verb).
I can abbreviate Ohio OH.
Don’t Panic
Do not worry a lot
Don’t panic, finals will be over soon!
Highlight
To show the importance
I highlighted the important parts of the book.
Database
A collection of data.
We keep the information of all of our families in the Selamta database.
Stickler
A person who needs perfection
The teacher was a stickler for the rules and made everyone follow them.
Cyber Cafe
A place to get the internet
I found a cyber cafe in Addis so I could get wifi!
Disgusting
Is not good
I think the taste of ketchup is disgusting and I do not eat it. EVER
Gross
Disgusting or not good
Ketchup is gross and tastes terrible.
Smelly
Smells bad/ bad odor
The garbage was so smelly they took it outside.
Dreaded
Fear about it
Geza dreaded his Map exam because he didn’t have a study guide.
Integrated
It’s within or include
Math is integrated in chemistry.
Improvise
Come up with right now
I left my computer at home and had to improvise and use my phone as a computer.
Stage Fright
When you are nervous when you perform
I get stage fright every time I give a speech.
Prioritize
Make something more important
I had so many thing to do, that I had to prioritize which ones to do first.
Concept
General Idea
I understand the concept of chemistry but not all the details
Conceptual
The forming of concepts (general ideas)
I had a conceptual understanding of chemistry but not a deep understanding.
Melody
Song
She was singing the melody of the worship song.
Cadence
Rhythm of sounds or words
Solders march to a cadence
Ecosystem
Connected system of living beings or organisms
Every plant and animal is important to its ecosystem.
polyglot
Speaking or writing in several languages.
The polyglot worked at the FBI to translate multiple languages.
Tongue Twister
Words that are difficult to say or pronounce
The word amiseganalu is a tongue twister for Foringe.
Incrementally
A little bit at a time
I am finishing my work incrementally, some each day.
Insomnia
Unable to sleep
Because of her insomnia at night, she is often tired during the day.
Mnemonics
A process or technique to memorize things
Please use the mnemonic ROYGBIV to remember the colors of the rainbow (Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet).
Phonetics
The study of speech sounds and their pronunciations.
Kindergarteners study phonetics as they learn to read.
Melodramatic
Over dramatic, very emotional
The child was melodramatic and cried nonstop when she lost her toy.
Prestigious
Having a good reputation, being honored
He won the prestigious award for doing so well in school.
Sheer
Clear
You could see through the sheer fabric.
Bound to
Connected
The servant was bound to his master
Neutralize
To make something ineffective
They neutralized the threat of attack by capturing the lion.
Parody
A funny imitation of a serious story
I watched the parody of Romeo and Juliet and it was very funny.
Perspective
A viewpoint
From my perspective, he was guilty of the crime.
Rebuttal
A response to someone, often in a debate
She had a rebuttal for all of his arguments.
Hold to a Standard
Make sure someone follows expectations
All students at Marietta College are held to a standard and expected to follow all the rules.
Launch into
Quickly begin
She launched into a conversation with her friend.
Interdependence
Relying on others
The US and Canda have an interdependence on each other and each needs the other.
Refresh
Renew, make like new
I refreshed the room by adding new paint.
Run into
meet someone
I ran into my friend at the store
Envious
Wanting something someone else has
She was envious of his new car.
nurturing
Taking care of in a motherly way
Zene is very nurturing towards her kids.
sympathetic
Feeling sorry for
She was sympathetic towards his problem and helped him.
In its entirety
All of it
I watched the movie in its entirety.
gullible
believing everything
She was so gullible she believed everything.
condolences
Expression of sympathy when someone experiences loss or pain
I have my condolences to Zenebech’s family.
neanderthal
Early man
Neanderthals lived a thousand years ago.
Patriarchy/Patriarchal/Patriarch
Lead by a man
The man led house is a patriarch. The head of the house is the patriarch. His leadership is patriarchal.
Matriarchy/Matriarch/Matriarchal
Woman led
The woman led house is a matriarchy. The mother leaer is a matriarch and her leadership is matriarchal.
Solidarity
Friendship forming around a common interest
The soldiers stayed together in solidarity.
Mansplaining
To explain something to a woman in a way that insults her intelligence.
During the meeting, the male coworker disrespected the woman and mansplained things to her.
Objective
Your goal/To look at something without feeling or emotion
Geza’s objective is to become an orthopedic surgeon.
She has for his objective opinion on her paper.
