Unknown words
Dealing with unknown words
You’re going to watch a trailer of the film No country for old men. What do you know about this film? What kind of film is it? Who is in it? Watch the clip to find out:
Listen again to the trailer. What do the following words mean. What part of speech are they? Try and work out the meaning of each word or phrase from the context.
- a coin toss.
- satchel.
- a trailer.
- a loose cannon.
- badass.
- to call.
Recording new vocabulary
When you are ready, click on the vocabulary worksheet and print off a copy. Write in the words above to your worksheet so it looks like this:
| Word | Word class | Example sentence | Meaning | Collocations |
| Coin toss | noun | What’s the most you ever lost in a coin toss? | ||
Now check the meaning with the online dictionary. You will see that the word toss can be used as a noun or a verb. Click on the noun. Write the meaning in the box provided. Two examples of the use of the word toss come up: the toss of a coin and a toss of your head/hair. Write these in your collocations box.
Your worksheet should now look like this:
| Word | Word class | Example sentence | Meaning | Collocations |
| Coin toss | noun | What’s the most you ever lost in a coin toss? | The act of throwing a coin in the air to decide something, especially who will do something first in a game | toss of a coin, toss of your head, hair |
Recording new words like this will help you improve your vocabulary and your use of English. Don’t write hundreds of words a day – it will be too difficult to remember everything. The best way to improve your vocabulary is to record new vocabulary a little but often. That way, the most relevant and memorable words or phrases to you will be recorded.
Discussion
Why do you think it is important to make guesses about the meaning of words when you are listening to something?
