There’s no doubt that Listen & Learn by Jaksyn Peacock is a good thing – a very good thing! But after five years of weekly updates, Jaks is moving on to pastures new.
“EnglishClub has been a very rewarding and educational experience for me and I’ll always be grateful for it,” says Jaks. And now, she explains, she’s planning to do her Master’s in creative writing.
Jaks has written 265 episodes of Listen & Learn, cleverly split into six different categories:
Books📚
Famous People🧔🏻
History🏛️
Interesting Facts✔️
Science🔬
And with each episode she has recorded the voice audio for you to Listen and Learn.
Final entry: 29 January 2025 Carl Sagan – Learn about one of the best-known faces of astronomy
In all that time Jaks has demonstrated an imaginative and disciplined approach to creative writing, and EnglishClub wishes her all the very best in her future studies and career!
Many thanks again, Jaks!
Josef Essberger, Founder EnglishClub.com 6 February 2025
PS: Even though there may be no new episodes, Listen & Learn remains a rich resource for learners AND teachers, with audio, reading, gap fill, quizzes and discussion questions — and timeless topics to work through.
The suffix -cide comes from the Latin word caedere, meaning “to kill.” It is used to form nouns that denote the act of killing or the agent responsible for killing a particular thing. Here are some typical examples.
homicide
Part of speech: noun Definition: The act of killing another person. Example sentence: “The detective was assigned to investigate the homicide reported in the downtown area.” Quotation:“Homicide, unlike murder, does not necessarily involve criminal intent.” — Legal Definition
suicide
Part of speech: noun Definition: The act of intentionally causing one’s own death. Example sentence: “The helpline offers support to those struggling with thoughts of suicide.” Quotation:“Suicide prevention is not just a medical issue but a societal responsibility.” — Mental Health Advocate
genocide
Part of speech: noun Definition: The deliberate and systematic extermination of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic, national, or religious group. Example sentence: “The systematic bombing of tens of thousands of civilians, mostly women and children in tents, for over a year can only be described as genocide.” Quotation:“Genocide is an assault on humanity as a whole.” — United Nations Declaration
insecticide
Part of speech: noun Definition: A substance used for killing insects. Example sentence: “Farmers often use insecticide to protect crops from pests.” Quotation:“The insecticide effectively eliminated the infestation but required careful handling.” — Agricultural Guidelines
pesticide
Part of speech: noun Definition: A chemical used to kill pests, such as insects, rodents, or weeds. Example sentence: “The use of pesticides has increased crop yields significantly.” Quotation:“Excessive pesticide use can harm beneficial insects and disrupt ecosystems.” — Environmental Report
patricide
Part of speech: noun Definition: The act of killing one’s father. Example sentence: “The play explored themes of betrayal and patricide in a royal family.” Quotation:“Patricide is a recurring theme in ancient Greek tragedies.” — Literary Analysis
infanticide
Part of speech: noun Definition: The act of killing a child or infant. Example sentence: “In ancient times, infanticide was often practiced due to societal pressures or lack of resources.” Quotation:“The study examines cultural attitudes toward infanticide across different civilizations.” — Anthropological Journal
Additional words ending in -cide
More common -cide words
fratricide – Killing one’s brother
matricide – Killing one’s mother
parricide – Killing a close relative, especially a parent
ecocide – Destruction of the natural environment
bactericide – A substance that kills bacteria
herbicide – A substance that kills plants or weeds
Less common -cide words
deicide – Killing a god or divine being
uxoricide – Killing one’s wife
filicide – Killing one’s child
linguicide – Destruction of a language
tyrocide – Destruction of cheese (a humorous term)
STYLE. Such a convenient little word! Below you can see how food manufacturers try to “pull the wool over your eyes” by “conning” you into thinking that you’re buying real Greek Yoghurt when in fact it’s just Greek STYLE Yoghurt. Not the same thing! In no way are they the same thing.
Greek Style YOGHURT. Sneaky that…
“Greek Style Yoghurt” means yoghurt that is “like” Greek Yoghurt. But it ain’t Greek Yoghurt.
You can tell they’re cheating because the word “style” is so small and the word “GREEK” or “YOGHURT” is so large.
GREEK Style Yoghurt. You don’t say…
Why do they do this? Probably because there’s a law in the country concerned that makes it illegal to sell yoghurt as “Greek Yoghurt” when it isn’t Greek yoghurt. But because Greek yoghurt has such a good reputation, manufacturers can’t resist the temptation to try to con customers by using that innocuous little word “style”.
It’s not just food manufacturers that do this. But Greek Style Yoghurt always seems to be the most blatant example!
Caveat emptor. Let the buyer beware!
EnglishClub wordchecker
pull the wool over your eyes (idiom): to deceive or trick someone into believing something that is not true, often to their detriment. The phrase suggests someone is covering your eyes so you can’t see what’s really going on.
con (verb): to deceive or trick someone, typically in order to take advantage of them or gain something unfairly. It can also mean to persuade someone to believe a lie or fall for a scam.
ain’t (verb): an informal contraction of “am not,” “is not,” “are not,” “has not,” or “have not,” often used in informal speech or dialect. For example, “I ain’t going” means “I am not going.”
innocuous (adjective): harmless or not likely to cause any damage or offence. It can refer to something that is mild, safe, or not controversial in nature. For example, “an innocuous comment” is one that is unlikely to offend anyone.
blatant (adjective): (of bad behaviour) done openly and unashamedly; without subtlety; obvious
Some of our favourite foods have surprising histories!
For example, chocolate wasn’t always a sweet treat. The ancient Mayans drank bitter chocolate as part of their ceremonies. It wasn’t until the 19th century that sugar was added to make chocolate as we know it today.
And did you know that pizza wasn’t always topped with tomatoes? In the early days, pizza was a flatbread with cheese and other toppings. Tomatoes only became popular in Italy in the 18th century.
EnglishClub Wordchecker
treat (noun): something sweet or enjoyable to eat. Ice cream is a popular summer treat.
ceremony (noun): a formal event. Weddings are important ceremonies.
What’s your favourite food with an interesting history?
A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. ― Marcus Tullius Cicero
I have received a sudden flood of emails from EnglishClub members who want to know where their normal Google results have gone! The truth is they’ve gone to AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Google now displays a panel called AI Overview or similar (depends on your country) that many people find unhelpful.
With a quick Yandex search I found an easy way you can see Google results as you love them! It’s called “Web”! Just look at the top navigation links like News, Videos, Maps etc, and you’ll find one for Web. (You may have to check under More… first.) Click on Web and suddenly you get your old Google back, with a list of blue links like you always wanted :)
Default Google web search
Actually, it’s also possible to edit your browser settings to always show you Google with Web results. Depending on your browser and OS (operating system) you just go into Settings > Search, add a “new” Search Engine and give it the following URL:
EnglishClub Wordchecker extradite EX-tra-dite (verb): hand over a person accused or convicted of a crime to a foreign country that wishes to try or jail said person—Finally the UK did not extradite him to Sweden. extradition ex-tra-DI-tion (noun): the act of extraditing a person to another country—His legal team have fought for years to prevent his extradition from the UK to the USA. appeal ap-PEAL (verb): apply to a higher court for reversal of a lower court’s decision—Today he is appealing to the High Court in London. appeal ap-PEAL (noun): an application to a higher court for reversal of a lower court’s decision—If today’s appeal fails, it’s not yet clear whether he can appeal further to a European court.
IRONY is such a hard word to define or explain, for example:
irony (noun): a state of affairs that seems contrary to what is expected and is often wryly amusing as a result ironic (adjective): happening in a way contrary to expectations and therefore somewhat amusing
So we have to thank tennis champion Novak Djokovic for giving us the perfect example of “irony”. And not just one example but FOUR.
Novak famously stood up for his rights (see Nuremberg Code* and informed consent) to refuse the (at the time**) experimental COVID “vaccine”.
Some people may see it as ironic that:
His very name is Novak, which reminds us of “No vaxx” or “No vaccine”
After being refused entry to the USA last year for not being “vaccinated”, he actually won the US Open Tennis Championship 2023
The US Open was sponsored largely by ModeRNA, one of the main manufacturers of the “vaccine”
“No vaccine” Novak won the ModeRNA “Shot of the Day” (“shot” can mean both 1. a hit or a kick of the ball in a game, and 2. an injection of a “vaccine”)
*The ethical guidelines written after World War II prompted by inhuman experiments performed by Nazi doctors
**At the time, the “vaccine” was still in phase 3 clinical trials.
Explore the role and value of family in your cultural context. What about the significance of familial bonds and the impact they have on individuals and society?
You can put your thoughts in the “Leave a comment” box below.
Word stress is golden key number One for speaking and understanding English.
Word Stress is very important. You can try to learn about Word Stress. This is one of the best ways for you to understand spoken English—especially English spoken fast.
What is Word Stress?
Take 3 words: photograph, photographer, photographic, for example. Do they sound the same when spoken? No! They sound very different, because one syllable in each word is “stressed” (stronger than the others).
PHOtograph
phoTOgrapher
photoGRAPHic
This happens in all words with two or more syllables:
The syllables that are not stressed are “weak” or “small” or “quiet”. Native speakers of English listen for the stressed syllables, not the weak syllables. If you use Word Stress in your speech, you will instantly and automatically improve your pronunciation and your comprehension.
If you have an English teacher, ask him or her to help you understand Word Stress. Try to hear the stress in words each time you listen to English—on the radio, or in films for example. Your first step is to hear and recognise it. After that, you can use it!
