10 words that English borrowed from German

I'm back with another installment in my series 10 words that English borrowed from… and the focus today is on German!

I don't speak a word in German, except for these words that are used in English. I'm sure my pronunciation is completely off, so it's a good thing that you're reading it and not listening to it!

1. NOODLE
I had no idea, before writing this post, that "noodle" derives from a German word! The original word has a slightly different spelling: nudel.
When I hear the word, I always think of a Chinese or Japanese dish, but I know that's probably just me :)

2. KAPUT
It can also be written with a double "t" as in German. The German word actually derives from the French word "capot" so, maybe, this should be listed under 10 words that English borrowed from French? If you don't know what it means, it is "no longer working", "broken".

3. ZEITGEIST
The general spirit of an era as in "the new movie really captured the 'zeitgeist' of the 60s".

4. KINDERGARTEN
"Kinder" means children and "garten" means, well, "garden" (you didn't see that coming, right?)
Here's a video with a brief explanation of how the word found its way into English.




5. HAMBURGER 
The name of one of the most famous American sandwiches derives from the name of the city of Hamburg in Germany.

6. POODLE, ROTTWEILER, SCHNAUZER
If you love dogs, you'll know that these words refer to dog breeds. I had never realized until now that they are all words that come from German.

Poodle: it derives from "Pudel", which is short for "Pudelhund".
Rottweiler: there is a city in Germany called Rottweil.
Schauzer: it derives from "Schnauze", which means snout.

7. ÜBER
This word meaning "over, beyond" has been adopted as a prefix in English as in übermodel, überfamous, übercool, and so on. Let me ask you something: are you übertired of hearing people using the prefix "über"?

8. WANDERLUST
I love this word, but I don't know if I like it for how it sounds or for what it means. All I can say is that from time to time I'm taken by wanderlust and I wish I could succumb to this strong desire to travel.
This word is also an example of how similar English is to German in some occasions.

9. POLTERGEIST
Raise your hand if you learned the meaning of this word by watching the 80s movie!
In German, "poltern" means "to knock" and "Geist" means "spirit" (as in #3 zeitgeist).

And I couldn't resist embedding the original movie trailer from 1982:



10. DOPPELGÄNGER
As we're approaching Halloween, I thought I'd finish the list with "Poltergeist" and "Doppelgänger" as I believe you can have students working with these two words to generate many scary stories.
"Doppelgänger" refers to a double. It can either be a ghostly one or not, but it usually is the cause of much fear and angst.


So, tell me, did you know all of these words? Are there any German words commonly used in English that I should have included?


Thanks for reading!

Read: 10 words that English borrowed from Japanese

Read: 10 words that English borrowed from Spanish

Read: 10 words that English borrowed from French

Read: 10 words that English borrowed from Portuguese

Read: Teacher-authors around the world

10 words that English borrowed from Japanese

In today's post, you'll get to learn that the following ten words, commonly used in English, actually come from Japanese, which I happen to speak a little because my mom is Japanese (so beside the point, but I just had to share).

1. KARAOKE
Whether you like it or not, I'm sure you have already sung your heart out at a karaoke bar or at someone's wedding. I know I have, and I can tell you it wasn't pretty!

Literally, "karaoke" means empty orchestra. We use the word to refer to singing along to a (usually bad) instrumental tune produced by a machine.

If you have read Lisa's interview here, you know this is one of the words she used to mispronounce until she got to live in Japan.

2. ORIGAMI
One of the first books I can remember flipping through was an origami book in Japanese. I couldn't understand any of the words, but the photo instructions were great. I was ecstatic when I finally got to fold my first crane. No, I haven't folded a thousand of them yet.

"Origami" is also pretty literal in meaning. It means "fold paper".

If you'd like to try your hand at a quite challenging and fun piece, watch the following video. It would be great as an art project for older kids.




3. TSUNAMI 
As I'm sure you'll remember, Japan is no stranger to tidal waves. So much so that they have a word to name the kind of gigantic wave often caused by an earthquake.

"Tsu" means harbor and "nami" means wave.

4. HAIKU
This is a Japanese form of poetry. The haiku poems consist of three lines (with 5, 7, and 5 syllables).
Having students compose haiku is a great exercise because they have to be creative and concise. They need to think about what is most important to say and really concentrate on that. Have you ever had your students write haiku?

5. SUDOKU
Sudoku is a shortened word in Japanese. Thankfully, this is the word we have borrowed or would you rather say "suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru"?

This is a kind of number puzzle that, in my opinion, is highly addictive. It also involves a lot of critical thinking and children should benefit from doing them.

If you want to try them yourselves or would like your kids to try sudoku, you can find thousands of free sudoku puzzles to print at Krazydad.

6. BENTO
This is a word originally used to describe single-serving meals that can either be homemade or purchased. The original bento is composed of rice, vegetables, and fish or meat - everything arranged in a bento box.

More recently, bento has been widely used to describe the cute arrangement of food for kids meals. Here's a video if you'd like to see how to prepare your own Hello Kitty bento lunch box:



7. TYCOON
Do you know any powerful and wealthy business person? If so, you know a tycoon.
Literally, tycoon means "great lord" and was used to refer to the shoguns, military leaders in Japan.

8. MANGA and ANIME
Manga refers to the Japanese comics and they're widely popular with teenagers all over the world. Anime refers to Japanese animation movies, such as My Neighbor Totoro.

Anime is an interesting word because it is actually an abbreviated form of "animation", a word borrowed from English by the Japanese. It's quite interesting to realize that English speakers are borrowing back the word.

9.BOKEH 
"Bokeh" is a Japanese word that means "blur" or "haze". In photography, it refers to a light effect that makes things look, well, blurred.
Even if you've never heard the term, I'm pretty sure you've seen it somewhere.

Check out the following set of Bokeh Digital Papers by KristyBear Designs and the FREE Stretch the Sentence resource by Rachel K Tutoring that uses a bokeh paper on the cover. (click on the images to see the resources)

10.KAWAII
I would say that the most appropriate translation for "kawaii" is "cute". However, the word has taken on a much broader sense to describe a whole aesthetics that involves pastel colors, rounded facial and body features in illustrations, cute characters (e.g. baby animals), etc.

And here's something very kawaii to end this post with:

Read: 10 words that English borrowed from Spanish

Read: 10 words that English borrowed from French

Read: 10 words that English borrowed from Portuguese

Read: Teacher-authors around the world

Have a great week! Sayonara!

10 words that English borrowed from Portuguese

I've been doing this series of posts about words that English borrowed from other languages and today I'm going to focus on my native language: Portuguese.

Read: 10 words that English borrowed from Spanish

Read: 10 words that English borrowed from French

Read: 10 words that English borrowed from Japanese

I have to confess that it was hard coming up with a list of ten words because the ones I rememberd came from Latin via Portuguese so I didn't want to include those.

Anyway, here we go:

1. PIRANHA
I guess you know what it means: it's a small flesh-eating fish. The word comes from Tupi, which is the language originally spoken in Brazil before it was colonized by the Portuguese.

What you probably didn't know is that "piranha" is also a Brazilian Portuguese curse word.

2. JAGUAR
Another word that comes from Tupi via Portuguese. So, whether you're talking about the animal, the car or the OS, you're speaking a bit of Portuguese!

3. ZEBRA
Don't worry, my list doesn't only have animal names, but I couldn't leave out "zebra".
In Brazilian Portuguese, "zebra" might also refer to "the underdog" in a competition/game.

4. SAMBA
"Samba" refers to both the dance and the music that is so popular in Brazil. It's the music/dance of Carnaval. I have to tell you, though, that I can neither sing nor dance samba. I'd much rather listen to jazz.

5. BOSSA NOVA
It's a kind of music originated in Brazil in the 50s. The literal meaning is "new trend", but we rarely use the word for "trend" (bossa) nowadays.
If you've never heard of it, check out this YouTube "video". It's just the song and not a video of the singer, but it's got subtitles in English:



The singer is João Gilberto and this is one of the most famous bossa nova songs.

6. TAPIOCA
If you like tapioca pudding, you should know that "tapioca" is a Brazilian word and dessert. Would you believe that I've never eaten it? If you've got any recipes, let me know!

7. CASHEW
The next three words are borrowed from Portuguese, but their spelling has changed on their travel through languages.
In Portuguese "cashew" is "caju" and it's my favorite nut.

8. TOUCAN
I love how languages work. "Toucan" comes from Tupi via Portuguese via French! Hence, the French spelling instead of the Portuguese one: tucano.
The toucan is also the symbol for one of the most important political parties in Brazil.

9. TANK
"Tank", as in fish tank or fuel tank, comes the Portuguese word "tanque". I have to say that this one surprised me as I was researching for this post as I had never realized where the word had come from!

10. CAIPIRINHA
If you've never heard of "caipirinha" and you have never drunk it, stop everything and go check out how to prepare it. It will change your concept of summer drink. This is one of the most popular drinks in Brazil. It's a cocktail made with lime, sugar and "cachaça", a Brazilian liquor distilled from sugarcane. Just be careful, it's super strong, but you won't feel it until you stand up.

READ: Teacher-authors around the world: meet Catia from Portugal!

Well, there you have it! If you know of any other words borrowed from Portuguese or if you liked reading this post, leave me a comment below (I love comments!).

10 words that English borrowed from Spanish

Today is Cinco de Mayo and I thought I'd continue my series about words borrowed from other languages with a list of 10 words or expressions that English borrowed from the Spanish language.

1. AFICIONADO (A)
Are you aficionado of languages like me? "Aficionado" is the past participle form of the Spanish verb aficionar, which means "to inspire affection". If you're using the word to describe a man, you have to say "aficionado" and if you're talking about a woman, the right word if "aficionada".

2. PATIO 
Have you been daydreaming about spending summer evenings in your patio eating barbecue (which comes from the Spanish word barbacoa)? If so, you're really a teacher finishing up a school year!

3. BONANZA
First thing that comes to my mind is the TV series. No, I wasn't around to watch it, but it was my father's favorite show and I always thought, as a child, that Bonanza was a last name, like Simpsons. The word means "calm at sea" in Spanish, but has taken a different meaning in English: a very large amount, something very valuable.

4. RODEO
This comes from the Spanish verb rodear, which means "to surround".

5. BURRITO
Literally, "little donkey". The "-ito"is a suffix that means small, and that leads me to…

6. MOSQUITO
"Mosquito" is a small mosca (fly).

7. CINCO DE MAYO
The fifth of May is NOT Mexican Independence Day. It's actually the celebration of the Mexican victory over the French in 1862. Do you celebrate it in your classroom?

8. RANCH
The original Spanish word is rancho, but somewhere down the road, English lost the "o".

9. MANO A MANO
If you go "mano a mano" with someone, it means that you two are in direct competition, fight (physically or not). This expression can be literally translated as "hand to hand".

10. COLORADO, NEVADA, FLORIDA, MONTANA
The US has many states and countless cities whose names come from Spanish.
"Colorado" is the past participle of colorar, to color.
"Nevada" is the past participle of nevar, to snow.
"Florida" means florid, flowery.
"Montana" is derived from the word montaña, mountain.

READ 10 words that English borrowed from French

READ 10 words that English borrowed from Portuguese

Read: 10 words that English borrowed from Japanese

Read: Teacher-authors around the world

Thanks for reading and hasta luego!

Anchor Chart Ideas - Plural Nouns Part 2/2

Happy Friday! Here I am posting the second part of Anchor Chart Ideas - Plural Nouns Part 1.

On Pinterest, there are tons of plural nouns anchor charts, but I rarely (if ever) see an anchor chart for the more uncommon cases of plural forms, e.g. the plural of nouns that come from Latin or from other languages. So here's my take on it:

Of course, languages are ever-changing and some of the plural forms in the chart above are becoming less and less used, such as "datum". What happens is that "data" has been more frequently used as a singular noun. Or, some words are taking on other plural form alternatives, such as "indexes" instead of "indices".

I don't really see a problem with that. Languages do (and should) transform.

That being said, I don't think I'll be able to use "paparazzi" as a singular noun if it ever comes to that! I haven't mastered Italian yet, but I know how to make the plural of nouns in that language.

One important case to keep in mind is the use of "alumni". "Alumni" is the plural form of the word "alumnus", which refers to a male student. The female student would be an "alumna" (plural: alumnae). When referring to a group of former students of both genders, the term "alumni" is to be used.

A lot of people, though, end up misusing the word "alumni" as a singular noun - "He's a Harvard alumni" (instead of "He's a Harvard alumnus") - or using it to refer to a group of female students only - "The alumni of a prestigious all-girls school" (instead of "The alumnae of a prestigious…")

I've recently read and heard some people using "alum" (singular) and "alums" (plural) to avoid the gender issue, but I don't use those terms myself. What about you?

If you happen to read my blog, you know that I like to offer some chart ideas for teachers of French. So, allow me to post two anchor chart for French teaching:

READ at For French Immersion: 7 Pinterest boards for French teachers

Thank you for reading and have a great weekend!

10 words that English borrowed from French

I looove languages. I like to teach them, I like to learn them. I enjoy thinking about the similarities and contrasts between English and Portuguese, Portuguese and French, French and Italian, and so on.

When introducing vocabulary, I can't help but think about the origin of some of the words I'm teaching.
I thought that would make for a fun post to share with you.

Since I teach English and have taught French, I thought it would only be fitting to start with…

1. BOULEVARD
Baron Haussman is the one responsible for creating,  in the mid-19th century, the wide avenues for which Paris is known for. An example is the Champs-Élysées.
As a movie buff, that word immediately reminds me of the classic movie "Sunset Boulevard". None of my students knows what I'm talking about…Do you?

2. PRAIRIE
I first heard this word when learning about the American prairies and find it curious that such an American word actually comes from Old French. I think that's more a case of "stealing" instead of "borrowing" a word.

3. AMATEUR
This word means exactly the same thing in French, but the pronunciation is different. Sometimes, when I'm saying this word in French conversation, the American accent takes over and I really sound like an amateur :)

4. FIANCÉ(E)
Ah, l'amour! I think romance has everything to do with the French language and it comes as no surprise that the word for an engaged man/woman would come from it.

5. MARDI GRAS
Mardi = Tuesday and gras = fat. Literally, "fat Tuesday". I know, I know, you don't really need to learn how to say "fat" in any language other than your own.

6. RÉSUMÉ
When preparing a résumé, people have to summarize what they've done so far in their career and that's what the word means: summary.

7. CLICHÉ
Literature and cinema abound with it: the overused expression or situation. Yet, I love myself a good clichéd rom-com every now and then :)

8. DÉJÀ VU
You have seen this one before…You have seen this one before…

9. OMELETTE
10. CHEF
The French cuisine is praised worldwide and many words and expressions related to food and cooking are taken from French, such as "omelette", "chef", "sous-chef", "croissant", "entrée", etc.

Well, it's about dinnertime as I write this post, so let me go eat the omelette with toasted croissant prepared by my amateur chef husband!

I've started a new blog. The name says it all: For French Immersion Blog. Come check it out and subscribe to the For French Immersion Newsletter. Merci!

READ at For French Immersion: 7 Pinterest boards for French teachers

READ: 10 words that English borrowed from Spanish

READ: 10 words that English borrowed from Portuguese

READ: 10 words that English borrowed from Japanese

READ: Teacher-authors around the world

See you soon,