CASTLETON, VIRGINIA – Greetings from sunny Virginia.
I’m back home for a few weeks visiting family.
Soon I’ll return to Europe.
But now I’m enjoying the woods and the sunny days.
(Prague is not known for its January sunshine.)
Hiking last weekend with two nephews and a niece.
A Very Good Question
Later that day, the whole family was talking at the dinner table.
I said, “I don’t think you can call it an insurrection.”
My 13-year-old nephew said, “What does that mean?”
I said, It’s like a revolt.
He said, Oh.
Another Conversation, Another Day
I was talking with a student.
I said, Big English Word.
There was a pause.
I knew he didn’t understand.
But the conversation continued.
Now here’s my question for you:
Who will learn more words this year?
The 13-year-old or the adult?
According to an online survey I read, the average eight-year-old knows 10,000 words.
And the average adult knows 20,000 words.
That means kids learn about 1,000 words a year.
There are a number of reasons for this.
But could one reason be the questions they ask?
“What does that mean?” is a very, very good question.
Try it in your next conversation.