Effective vocabulary learning

1 Learning vocabulary

2 Organising a vocabulary notebook

3 Using your dictionary

4 Guessing and explaining meaning

Topics

5 Countries, nationalities and languages Irish, Yemeni, Arabic

6 The weather damp, tropical, heatwave

7 Describing people: appearance wrinkles, freckles, sunburnt

8 Describing people: personality talented, crafty, dumb

9 Idioms describing people a pain in the neck, head like a sieve, heart of gold

10 Relationships loathe, fancy, make it up

11 At home bungalow, loft, socket

12 Everyday minor problems broke down, grazed knee, spilt tea

13 Global problems famine, erupted, wounded

14 Education compulsory, skip classes, modules

15 Higher education tutorial, funding, scholarship

16 Work unskilled worker, make a living, a workaholic

17 Business customer care, recession, feedback

18 Sport oar, trophy, spectators

19 Art and literature work of art, landscape, novelist

20 Theatre and cinema production, rave reviews, screenplay

21 Music sync, lead guitar, canned music

22 Food bland, stodgy,gone off

23 Physical geography landscape, geysers, gorge

24 Environmental problems ozone depletion, polar ice caps, extinct

25 Towns suburbs, outskirts, vandalism

26 The natural world paw, pollen, twig

27 Clothes try on, baggy, V-neck

28 Health and medicine pick up a bug, bruise, dizzy

29 Medicine and technology crutches, prosthetic, keyhole surgery

30 Health and lifestyle boost the immune system, obese, reduce the risk

31 Travel turbulence, jetlag, put me up

32 Holidays pitch a tent, get away, stunning views

33 Science and technology traditional branches, hydroponics, chemicals reacted

34 Computers hard disk, drive, crash

35 Communications and the Internet cloud, wiki, blogs

36 Social media posted, upload, tag

37 The press and the media mass media, catch-up TV, tweeting

38 Politics and public institutions republic, monarchy, dictatorship

39 Crime abduction, proof,get time off

40 Money overdraft, transfer, VAT

41 Describing objects bizarre, tough, trivial

Feelings and actions

42 Belief and opinion to my mind, fanatical, radical

43 Pleasant and unpleasant feelings delighted to hear, fed up with, thrilled

44 Likes and dislikes captivated by, can’ t bear, longing for

45 Speaking whisper, confess, gladly

46 The six senses gaze, poked, pungent

47 What your body does snore, wink, grin from ear to ear

48 Praising and criticising green fingers, run down, pick holes

49 Emotions and moods on cloud nine, have a long face, at death’s door

50 Commenting on problematic situations tight corner, in a muddle, pour oil on troubled waters

Basic concepts

51 Number, quantity, degree and intensity minute amount, heaps of time, utter chaos

52 Numbers and shapes oh one double two, octagon, spiral

53 Time ice age, over the course of time, time flies

54 Distances and dimensions faraway, long-distance, stretches all the way

55 Obligation, need, possibility and probability mandatory, through lack of, an opportunity

56 Sound and light hum, dim, flash

57 Possession and giving estate, inherited, hand over

58 Movement and Speed swerve, dawdling, plodding

59 Texture, brightness, weight and density shady, jagged, bulky

60 Success, failure and difficulty come off, cope with, backfire

Connecting and linking words

61 Time: connecting words and expressions formerly, thereafter, the minute that

62 Condition In case of, so long as, whichever

63 Cause, reason, purpose and result sparked off, prompted, consequently

64 Concession and contrast that’s all well and good, poles apart, yawning gap

65 Addition on top of that, besides, to boot

66 Referring words your claim, the real point, our position

67 Discourse markers in spoken English now the, mind you, on the other hand

68 Linking words in writing leaving aside, in parenthesis, that is to say

69 Talking and communicating small talk, the wrong end of the stick, talk shop

Word formation

70 Suffixes -able, -ment, -ize

71 Prefixes anti-, mono-, pseudo-

72 Roots pose, port, spect

73 Abstract nouns expectation, politeness, hostility

74 Compound adjectives well dressed, quick-witted, all-out

75 Compound nouns 1: noun + noun babysitter, trademark, blood donor

76 Compound nouns 2: verb + prepositions walkout, turnover, printout

77 Binomials ranting and raving, rough and ready, part and parcel

78 Abbreviations and acronyms WHO, ASAP, AWOL

79 Multi-word expressions feel down in the dumps, as good as gold, takes the biscuit

Words and pronunciation

80 Words commonly mispronounced

81 Onomatopoeic words sprinkled, whizzed, mash

82 Homophones and homographs peal/peel, wind/wind, some/sum

83 Uncountable nouns information, soup, news

84 Words that only occur in the plural shorts, goods, cards

85 Countable and Uncountable nouns with different meanings paper, time, potato,

86 Making uncountable nouns countable piece of music, loaf of bread, lump of coal

87 Collective nouns flock of sheep, crew, bunch of flowers

88 Containers and contents carton, jar, sack

Phrasal verbs and verb-based expressions

89 Expressions with do and make do away with, make off with, make up

90 Expressions with bring and take bring down, take after, take control

91 Expressions with get get to know, get on, get up to

92 Expressions with set and put set up, put up, set a target

93 Expressions with come and go come to a standstill, come into, go with

94 Expressions with other common verbs look down on, turn over a new leaf, break off

Varieties and styles

95 Formal and informal words 1 offspring, children, kid

96 Formal and informal words 2 tube, telly, nosh

97 Similes as mad as a hatter, as sick as a parrot, worked like a dream

98 Proverbs no smoke without fire, when the cat’s away …, too many cooks …

99 The language of signs and notices alight from here, pay and display, kindly refrain from …

100 Headline English WOMAN FROM MARS TO BE FIRST BRITON IN SPACE,

101 US English truck, trash, line

How to choose a Vocabulary lesson.

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Your Vocabulary lesson will be added to the schedule.