Learning English

Session 1

to sign up
(here) to join a course or organisation

fibs
lies about things that aren't important

hot dog
a sausage in a bread bun

software
programmes you use on your computer to do different tasks

daughter-in-law
your son's wife

6 Minute Vocabulary

Compound nouns are nouns that are made up of a combination of two (or sometimes more) nouns or a combination of a noun and a prepositional phrase. Some examples of these are:

• popcorn
• keyboard
• hot dog
• ice cream
• daughter-in-law
• father-in-law

There are three ways that compound nouns can be written: with the two nouns making up the compound noun placed together without a space between them, with the two nouns separated by a space, and with the words connected by hyphens (a hyphen is this punctuation mark - )

There are no rules for the first two ways of writing compound nouns (with or without a space between the two nouns), so it is a good idea to check in a good dictionary. You can also check whether you can write plural forms of these compound nouns (e.g. keyboards)

Form

Without a space:

• pop + corn = popcorn
• key + board = keyboard
• post + card = postcard

With a space:

• hot + dog = hot dog
• ice + cream = ice cream
• alarm + clock = alarm clock

The third way of writing compounds here is a combination of a noun (daughter) and a prepositional phrase (-in-law). When we write these the form is:

• daughter + -in-law = daughter-in-law
• father + -in-law = father-in-law

Pronunciation

We pronounce most compound nouns, especially those made up of two nouns, with the stress on the first syllable. This is important as it can change the meaning.

hot dog (the same stress on each word) = a dog that is hot

hot dog (more stress on the first word) = a snack made from a bread bun and a sausage

 

Session 3

agenda
the subject you plan to talk about in a meeting

item
(here) one subject you talk about in a meeting

deliver
finish a project

competitors
people or companies who are trying to be more successful than you

updates
information about progress of a project

prototype
the first example of a product

budget
the amount of money you have to spend on something

marketing
the things companies do, for example advertising, to persuade people to buy things

market research
collecting and studying information about what people buy and why

sell like hot cakes
to sell very quickly

Session 4

architecture
making and designing buildings

attracts
makes people interested so that they move closer

masterwork
a work of art made with great skill

interrupted
stopped something from happening for a period of time

facade
the front of a building

spires
the pointed tops of buildings like churches

laid
(here) put carefully into position

News Report

graduate (noun)

 

a person who has a degree from a university

unemployment
the situation of not having a job

underemployment
the situation of not having enough work, or not having work which uses your skills

social
related to society

graduate (verb)

 

to finish a university degree course successfully

steadily
at a continuous rate, without stopping

willing
ready and enthusiastic to do something

leadership
(here) the group of people who are the leaders of an organisation

expert
a person with special knowledge on a particular subject

hostile
unfriendly, and ready to fight

state
a country, and especially the government

prestigious
admired and respected

calm
peaceful; not worried or excited

optimistic
believing that good things will happen in the future