Cambridge Dictionary has announced perseverance as its Word of the Year 2021. It’s a word that perfectly captures the undaunted will of people across the world to never give up, despite the many challenges of 2021. And, of course, the global interest in the NASA mission to Mars. Keep reading for practical resources to use in your classroom to teach about the Word of the Year 2021.
Perseverance, defined by Cambridge Dictionary as continued effort to do or achieve something, even when this is difficult or takes a long time, has been looked up globally more than 243,000 times during 2021.
Prior to 2021, perseverance didn’t appear noticeably in lookups on the Cambridge Dictionary website. However, a spike of 30,487 searches for perseverance occurred between 19–25 February 2021, after NASA’s Perseverance Rover made its final descent to Mars on 18th February.
It made sense that lookups of perseverance spiked at this time. Cambridge Dictionary is the top website in the world for learners of English, and perseverance is not a common word for students of English to have in their vocabulary. We often see spikes in lookups of words associated with current events when those words are less familiar.
Wendalyn Nichols, Cambridge Dictionary Publishing Manager
In addition to this spike, during the following months, perseverance continued to be looked up more frequently on the Cambridge Dictionary site than ever before. This was a fact that resonated with the Cambridge Dictionary team.
Just as it takes perseverance to land a rover on Mars, it takes perseverance to face the challenges and disruption to our lives from Covid-19, climate disasters, political instability and conflict. We appreciated that connection, and we think Cambridge Dictionary fans do, too.
Wendalyn Nichols
Synonyms of perseverance
Learners use Cambridge Dictionary to develop their English language skills, and those who look up perseverance will find more than just the definition. A new Cambridge Thesaurus article on perseverance goes beyond listing synonyms to explain the nuanced differences in meaning between perseverance, determination, persistence, doggedness, single-mindedness, tenacity, resolve, will, and the US term stick-to-it-iveness.
We also have a Cambridge Thesaurus article full of words that you can use to describe a person who shows perseverance, including persevering, determined and dogged.
The Cambridge English Thesaurus is a valuable resource for teachers and learners. It’s a tool that you can use as a springboard for both classroom activities and self-study. The Thesaurus can play a key role in expanding learners’ vocabulary range, while also providing everything they need to know about register and usage. This enables learners to use new words with confidence, safe in the knowledge that they’re doing so in a contextually appropriate way.
Take a look at Katie Pipe’s article for more ideas for teaching with the Thesaurus.
Grow vocabulary with the word list
Research shows that many learners absorb new vocabulary more effectively when they have a record of it. This is because they can go back to study and test themselves. We’ve created a new list of words about being determined for English learners on Cambridge Dictionary +Plus. This word list includes vocabulary related to perseverance, so English language learners can easily find out more about the word of the year while simultaneously expanding their vocabulary.
Need some ideas for using word lists with your learners? Read this blog post for tips and practical examples to get you started with word lists.
Liven up your lesson with a video
Learn English with Cambridge is perfect for learners looking for some additional help in learning English and for teachers to supplement lessons. Our team of international teachers are ready to give learners short YouTube lessons using real-world English.
In this very special video, Rebecca Rios announces the Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year 2021. The video then focuses on teaching key vocabulary around perseverance and giving some top ideas of how to learn with the word list.
Share this video with your students and challenge your class to test themselves with the word list!
Find out more about the Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year 2021.
Want some more ideas on how to teach with the Cambridge Dictionary? Check out Kasia Brzoska’s article with some tips and ideas for teaching remotely with dictionary materials.