Learn 20 ‘-ISM’ Words in English: VOCABULARY & PRONUNCIATION

Hello. I'm Gill at engVid, and today we have a lesson on words ending -ism, I-S-M. Okay?

If you speak French or Italian or other Latin-based languages, you probably already know a lot

of vocabulary that ends -ism. In French, "isme", and Italian, "ismo". So, you will probably

know the vocabulary quite well, but in English, there's just one little point to make that

you need an extra syllable at the end. So, for example, if we say the word "optimism",

it's "optimism", so there's an "um", you have to put an extra little vowel sound in to get

the "um". So, "optimism". I guess in French it would be "optimisme", and Italian, "optimismo",

if there is such a word. So, you have to say "ism". So, the extra vowel sound comes between

the "s" and the "m", "ism". So, that's just the slight difference in English. I've heard

people try to say the end of the word without an extra syllable, and it doesn't really sound

right, so this is just to clarify that. And also, whatever your native language is, this

is just a range of vocabulary of words ending "ism", different subject areas. We have some

politics, political words, sort of human-type words, scientific words, medical words, and

so on, all to do... All using "ism" at the end.

So, let's just go through, and if any of the words are a little bit unusual, I will explain

the meaning. Okay. So, let's begin. We have "optimism" and "pessimism", which go together,

so "optimism". If you're optimistic or pessimistic, so there you have the adjective that comes

from it. So, "optimism" is a good thing, although, you know, you need a bit of balance. You have

to be... Have some realism as well. Be realistic. So, there's a balance there, but "optimism"

means you think, oh, everything's possible, or the idea that, oh, we'll... We'll try.

We'll try to do that. We'll give it a try, see if we can. Rather than a "pessimism",

if you're pessimistic, you might say, oh, no, we'll never be able to do that. There's

no point even trying. So, that's the difference between them. And then "realism" is to say,

well, we could succeed. We might not, but it's worth a try, so let's see what happens.

So, that's... Those three go together, really, quite well. Okay.

And then "surrealism". "Surrealism" means more than real. It's a kind of artistic term

to do with if you see a painting, maybe by an artist like Salvador Dali, and it's all

a bit strange. You might have what seem to be solid objects, like a watch, which is sort

of bending and curving and sort of draped across something. So, you know, watches don't

do that, so it's some sort of playing around with reality to make things look a bit strange

and unusual, disorientating sort of effect. Okay, so that's "surrealism", which you get

in art, you get it in theatre, in plays, where people behave in a really strange way, which

isn't very realistic. It's a bit extreme, so that's "surrealism". Okay?

Then we have some political "isms", different types of politics. "Communism", which is often

described as left-wing politics. "Communism". "Fascism", so it's "fasc", not "fasc", but

"fascism", fascism, which is the more... The right-wing politics towards the right. "Capitalism",

systems based on finance, money, buying and selling, all of that. "Socialism", political

system based around society and people. "Humanism", focusing on humanity. Okay. "Pacifism", so

"pac", although it's spelt with a "c", it sounds like an "s". "Pacifism", people who

believe in peace, which hopefully most people do, but some people don't, so unfortunately.

"Pacifism", and people who believe in pacifism who would never want to fight or join the

army or whatever, so it's a kind of belief system. Okay. Right, so then the second column,

just a mixture of things here. "Criticism", nobody likes criticism unless it's constructive

criticism. Sometimes it's a good idea to ask people for feedback on something that you've

done because you can learn from it. So, we don't tend to like criticism; it depends what

kind of criticism it is, whether it's constructive or not, whether it's just maybe... If it's

just unkind criticism, it's not very helpful. Okay. And then a scientific word, "magnetism".

If you have a magnet or two magnets, they might stick together. "Magnetism". And then

a profession, "journalism". So, "ism" words, they can cover all sorts of different subjects.

"Journalism", to do a course in journalism. Okay. And "professionalism", if you do a job

well, you're showing professionalism. Okay. Then, "racism", which is not a good thing,

having prejudice against people of a particular nationality or race. So, "racism". So, "s"

again, "racism", like "pacifism", "racism". "Feminism", more positive if it's to do with

women standing up for their rights and wanting equality, and so on. "Feminism". "Specialism",

if you have a "specialism", if you're studying, you may have done a first degree, then you

want to do a second degree and focus more precisely on one topic and go into more depth

with that topic, that would be your "specialism". Okay. Then, a medical term, "metabolism",

to do with the body and how the body is balanced in the way the body functions. "Metabolism".

Okay. "Rheumatism", an illness of the muscles, "rheumatism". And then finally, something

we should all avoid if we're studying and writing things, "plagiarism" is not a good

thing to do, and sometimes if you... If you don't acknowledge all your sources and if

you're using an idea and you're not saying this idea was developed by a certain person

and who published something about it, if you don't acknowledge your sources or if you look

on the internet for information and copy it and don't acknowledge the source and you make

it look as if you've written it rather than somebody else who wrote it originally, that's

plagiarism. So, "j", plagiarism, so that's to be avoided. And if you're on a course and

if, you know, if somebody is found to be plagiarizing, they can get into trouble for that, so it's

something to avoid. Okay, so I hope that's been some useful vocabulary for you, and also

to be aware of the extra syllable that you need at the end, "ism", "um", "um", "um", like

that. Okay. So, what I'll do just to end is to run through all of these words again just

so that you can hear them and how they're pronounced. Okay, so here we go. "Optimism",

"pessimism", "realism", "surrealism", "communism", "fascism", "capitalism", "socialism", "humanism",

"pacifism", "criticism", "magnetism", "journalism", "professionalism", "racism", "feminism", "specialism",

"metabolism", "rheumatism", "plagiarism". Okay. Right, so if you'd like to do a quiz

on this subject, just go to the website, www.engvid.com, and try the quiz, and I hope it's been a useful

session for you. Thank you for watching, and see you again soon. Bye for now.