It’s back-to-school season! To celebrate, we’ve chosen school as our Word for Wednesday theme for September. The word school comes from the Old English ‘scol’ meaning ‘place of instruction’, from the Latin ‘schola’ meaning ‘intermission of work’ and ‘leisure for learning’. The idea of children attending a school is from around 1300 and the idea of a school building is from the 1590s. Our first word of the month is semester. A semester is one of two divisions of a school year. The word is common in North American schools where the academic year is usually split into two eighteen-week semesters. Here i...
3 Word Lists for May For this month’s word lists, we looked at synonyms of funny, exceptions to the ‘i before e except after c’ spelling rule, and colours. There are lots of different ways you can use a Spellzone word list to help you practise your spelling – learn more about them here. 10 Words for…Fast In our 10 Words blog post. we shared alternatives for the word for fast. From breakneck, to hasty, to swift – we’ve got the word for you! American English vs. British English: The School Edition Semester or Term? Student or pupil? Math or Maths? Some ...
This month’s American English vs. British English blog post theme is school. Click here to read an overview of the main differences between American English and British English spelling, and here for more detailed information. Here are 25 American English school-themed words and their British English counterparts: break – holidays cafeteria – canteen college – university elementary school – primary school, junior school eraser – rubber exclamation point – exclamation mark faculty – staff freshman (college) – fresher (university) grade,...
American vs. British English
Common Mistakes
Commonly Confused Words
English Idioms Explained
English Literature
Exams & Tests
Grammar & Punctuation
Mindful Spelling
Spelling at School
Spelling Games
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Spellzone Tips & Tools
Supporting Adult Learners
Supporting Dyslexic Learners
Supporting EAL Learners
Word Origins & Stories
Writing & Vocabulary
One of the students has put in a huge amount of effort in completing Spellzone at least 3 times a week since his arrival with us in January. Looking at his scores after the latest GL testing, his standardised score has risen from 99 to 131. This is a truly phenomenal result. I just wanted to share the best result I have ever seen.
Terrie Penrose-Toms, Casterton College
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