Do you know the word migrate? It is a word usually used to talk about certain animals such as birds, fish and so on. When animals migrate, they travel a long way from one part of the world to another according to the season. For example, swallows (燕子) migrate south in winter. Many animals migrate - they do this often at the same time and to the same place each year. They move to places where conditions are better — where the weather is warmer, where there is more food and water, or where their young will be safer.
People also migrate. When people migrate, they go to live in another area or country, especially in order to find work. In English, when people leave their home country in order to live in another country, we use the word emigrate instead of migrate. From migrate and emigrate come the words migration and emigration. However, if people move from their home country to another to live there forever (永久地), the word changes from emigrate to immigrate in the English language. Then the word immigration is born.
Isn't word-making of the English language interesting? And can this process (过程) of finding out the relationships between words and learning them in a group or groups be a way for you to learn the language?
Based on Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 6th edition
