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Happy 2025! Here's to new words, smarter emails, and no more brain rot!

Let's start the year right!

Author

Chris Madden
January 3rd, 2025 • Reads in 5 minutes

Happy New Year, everyone!

As we step into 2025, it's the perfect time to embrace new opportunities for learning English. Let’s make this year count by enhancing our language skills and boosting our professional growth!

Today’s edition of the EZ English Newsletter will feature:

- Start 2025 with a word goal! Why not start your New Year by learning a new word everyday?

- Want to learn English quick? Skip the rot! Engage in more meaningful content to maximize your online presence.

- Wait, what’s the rot? Learn more about “brain rot,” Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2024.

- Ready to test your English? We have some games for you to try out!

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT!

New Year, New Words!

Choose one specific goal for your English learning journey—like expanding your vocabulary by 50 new words by March! Here’s how to make it happen:

  • Daily Word Challenge: Pick a new word each day and use it in a sentence.

  • Flashcards: Create flashcards for quick review.

  • Weekly Check-In: At the end of each week, test yourself on the words you’ve learned!

And you don’t have to learn all of this alone! Join the EZ English Club to find a learning companion!

TRIVIA JAM!

Did you know that "bookkeeper" is the only unhyphenated English word with three consecutive double letters? It’s a quirky fact that’s sure to impress!

EZ LAUGHS 😂

GAME ON!

Word Ladder Challenge!

Transform one word into another by changing one letter at a time, with each step resulting in a valid word.

For example:

  • Starting Word: FIND

  • Ending Word: SAND

  • Steps: 3

    • From FIND, we…

    • Step 1: FEND (change i to e)

    • Step 2: SEND (change f to s)

    • Step 3: SAND (change e to a)

This ladder takes you from "FIND" to "SAND" in just three steps! Each next step is a valid word, making it a fun and engaging challenge for English learners.

Today’s challenge involves:

  • Starting Word: HAT

  • Ending Word: COT

  • Steps: 2

Email us your guess! We’ll give the correct answer in tomorrow’s newsletter!

MASTERY PRO-TIP

Skip the brain rot! Be a more intentional learner.

Mastering anything - especially a new language - requires focus. If you want to fast-track your English mastery, now’s the perfect time to be more intentional with your learning and skip content that doesn’t do you good.

Immerse yourself in English by consuming content that excites you—be it podcasts, articles, or videos. Here’s how to maximize this approach:

  • Active Listening/Reading: Take notes on new phrases or expressions you encounter.

  • Summarize: After finishing an episode or article, summarize it out loud in your own words.

  • Discussion Partner: Share what you’ve learned with a friend or colleague to reinforce your understanding.

Interested in more edutainment? Go check out the rest of our offerings at the Good Future Network!

FACT ATTACK!

What exactly is brain rot?

Folks well-versed in internet culture call any low-quality content brain rot. This can also describe the negative effects of consuming too much short-form entertainment on cognitive and psychological health.

While popularized today, “brain rot” is already a term used as early as 2004, with its first recorded usage dating as far back as Henry David Thoreau’s Walden (1854), where he used “brain rot” to describe the preference of the times towards simple - rather than complex - ideas.

“Brain rot” was originally popularized by Gen-Alpha and Gen Z-ers members, but has since attained mainstream popularity. It even defeated “demure” and “romantasy” for Oxford Word of the Year 2024!

GAME ON!

Synonym Search!

Identify synonyms for the following words. This game tests your vocabulary and understanding of nuanced language.

Find synonyms for:

  • Happy

  • Difficult

  • Quick

Email us your guess! We’ll give the correct answer in tomorrow’s newsletter!

Know someone who wants to master English quickly? Share this newsletter!

Thank you for reading today's newsletter! Here’s to making strides in your English learning journey this year.

Let’s make 2025 amazing together!

Regards,

Chris Madden