One more vocab test

   I've been reading the EFL.ru feed for quite a number of years now.  There a lot of Russian guys there, who, instead of actually speaking the language or requesting second opinion or something post links like this . And guys like me actually follow these links and test themselves.
    What is interesting is the criteria for the results are based on something that reeks of digested high-caloried food. How would you then account for the fact that a week ago, around 9:00 p.m. my vocabulary was slightly over 17000 (according to this super site http://testyourvocab.com/ )
 

Your estimated vocabulary size: 7000

You've answered 50 of 50 questions.

Learning Languages

"Why do children learn languages so quickly and so easily? Unlike adults, kids don't usually need so much formal study to learn a language. It's a question that has confused educators and psychologists for a very long time.

It seems that a person's native language gets in the way of learning another language. It starts in infancy. Babies usually hear their parents use only one language. Baby brains ignore other sounds that don't fit the pattern of sounds they most often hear. In fact, even at eleven months, the ability to hear new and different sounds of a foreign language becomes more difficult.
Researchers have made a few discoveries. Children need to experience a foreign language as early as possible. If the parents speak a second language, they should speak it at home. However, researchers have learned that TV and CDs alone don't work for foreign language learning. Babies need interaction. So if the parents only speak one language, then play groups, lessons, and other opportunities are necessary.
Children are like sponges. Researchers hope to learn more about how children learn, and apply that to adult language education in the future.

Discuss: Answer these questions with a partner.

1. Do you speak more than one language? Please explain.
2. Do you want to speak four or five languages? Why/not?
3. Do you children can learn a foreign language more easily than adults?
4. Some people learn languages very easily. Why do you think so?
5. What study advice would you give to someone who wants to learn another language?

True or False?: Guess (before the article) or answer (after the article) if the sentence is true or false. If false, correct the sentence.

1. Researchers now understand why children learn languages so quickly.
2. The native language often gets in the way of other languages.
3. Babies ignore sounds that don't fit the language they usually hear.
4. TV, CDs, and lessons all work equally well.
5. Researchers will soon understand and apply their research to adults.

post-Comprehension: Talk about the following questions in pairs/groups. Remember to support your answers and ask more questions with your partner.
1. What do you think about learning a foreign language? Please explain.
2. What are your experiences for learning a foreign language? Please explain.
3. Do you wish that you had learned English as a baby? Why/not?
4. Why do you currently study English? Please explain.
5. Do you think someday adults will be able to learn a language like children?

22 reasons why the English language is hard to learn...

1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
2. The farm was used to produce produce.
3. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse
4. We must polish the Polish furniture.
5. He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10. I did not object to the object.
11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13. They were too close to the door to close it.
14. The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18. After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19. Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
22. A mother walks into her daughters room holding a condom in her hand, "I found this while cleaning your room today.... Are you sexually active?" To which the daughter replies, "No, I just lay there."

Language Facts

--According to Illinois state law, it is illegal to speak English. The officially recognized language is "American."
---Widow is the only female form in the English language that is shorter than its corresponding male term (widower).
---There is only ONE word in the English language with THREE CONSECUTIVE SETS OF DOUBLE LETTERS.... Bookkeeper
---There is a word in the English language with only one vowel, which occurs five times: "indivisibility."
---There are only 4 words in the English language which end in "duos": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
---Rudyard Kipling was fired as a reporter for the San Francisco Examiner. His dismissal letter was reported to have said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just don't know how to use the English language. This isn't a kindergarten for amateur writers."
---Of all the words in the English language, the word "set" has the most definitions.
---"The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in English.

The top ten misquotes by British people

are as follows:
1) A damp squid (a damp squib)
2) On tender hooks (on tenter hooks)
3) Nip it in the butt (nip it in the bud)
4) Champing at the bit (chomping at the bit)
5) A mute point (a moot point)
6) One foul swoop (one fell swoop)
7) All that glitters is not gold (all that glisters is not gold)
8) Adverse to (averse to)
9) Batting down the hatches (batten down the hatches)
10) Find a penny pick it up (find a pin pick it up)