Teaching teenage beginners in English has made me come up with the quickest ways to describe new vocabulary on the big screen. If the word is anything concrete, like the different fruits, animals or Halloween monsters, write it in Google and choose “pictures”. The screen will fill with clear images of the noun and its different variations.
If the word is difficult to explain with images, just write the word in Google and you will often get a definition right on the top. If not, you can add “definition” to the word to get several dictionary pages.
If you need to know how the word is used, write the word and “corpus” in Google and you will get a link to a dictionary page with a definition of the word and several sentences where it is used to give you a clear idea what it means and how to use it.
If you wish to get an idea of the connotations of the word, write the word and “thesaurus” in Google and you will get links to pages that list words with closely similar meanings.
If nothing else helps, you can write the word and add “in English” in the language you wish to have Google to “translate” it into. Mind you, after “translating”, it’s always best to double check with a thesaurus to know that you have got the correct meaning for the situation. (Image made with WordClouds.com)
For English (ELL) Teachers
