What makes a word "real"?

Have you got any adorkable students? If you're just scratching your head wondering what adorkable means, then you haven't watched Anne Curzan's TED talk on what makes the word "real" . 

In her witty talk, Anne Curzan talks about how new words become real and end up in a dictionary. Since it's one of my favourite TED talks I couldn't help but turn it into a lesson for my more advanced students.

In the lesson, students are encouraged to discuss changes in their language in the last few years, learn new vocabulary from the talk, watch a video and answer some comprehension questions from the talk. In the end they get to work in pairs/groups and create their own slang words! 

My older upper-intermediate and advanced students LOVED the video and enjoyed coming up with fun phrases!

Clink on the following to see:

What makes a word "real" worksheet

What makes a word "real" video

What makes a word "real" transcript

Enjoy :)