Does English really have two ways of saying everything? In short, yes. But don’t blame us, blame the French!
Level: higher •
Category: vocabulary; listening
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Picking up new words and idioms isn’t always straightforward.
I’m not sure I follow you!
Acquiring new vocabulary and expressions isn’t always easy.
That’s not what you said the first time!
Isn’t it?
Is it?
If you speak a Romance language like Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, French, Romanian, Italian… one of the more difficult hurdles is to use the “other”, Germanic vocabulary.
Watch the video above for a short explanation as to why English has a dual vocabulary.
If you’re interested in the history of English and have wondered about why our spelling is so crazy or where “OK” came from, or why we have irregular verbs, you can find the whole series here:
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