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Welcome to our four-part series on expanding your vocabulary for the IELTS exam. Don’t forget to check out the other three posts:
When working on expanding your vocabulary for your IELTS test, it’s important that you choose a method to achieve your goals in the time that you have available. For example, reading novels and other types of literary works in English can be great for expanding your vocabulary, but it wouldn’t be of much help if your test is only a few days away.
Vocabulary sets related to education
On the IELTS Speaking test, it’s very common for candidates to be asked questions related to their own school experience. Because of this, it’s essential that you feel confident using the necessary vocabulary to talk about your education. In fact, it would be a good idea to use these words and phrases as a starting point for your vocabulary sets. Once you’ve covered the vocabulary that is relevant to you personally, you can then expand each set with vocabulary that you can use to talk or write about education in a more general way. Before we analyze a few different sample vocabulary sets, take a minute to think about the information that you’ll need to include so that you can use the new vocabulary appropriately. Writing the vocabulary item and its meaning is a good start, but there are other details that you should also include to make your sets even more effective. These details can include the part of speech, common collocations, examples, and notes on pronunciation. Now take a look at the vocabulary sets below and pay close attention to the details presented for each word or phrase.
1. Types of school
word/phrase | part of speech | meaning | common collocations | example | pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
primary | adjective | the type of school for children ages 5-11 | primary school, primary education | I think primary education should be compulsory worldwide. | /ˈpraɪ.mer.i/ |
secondary | adjective | the type of school for children age 11 and up | secondary school, secondary education (synonym: high school) | I still keep in touch with many of my friends from secondary school. | /ˈsek.ən.der.i/ |
mixed | adjective | a school where girls and boys are taught together (antonym: single-sex school) | mixed school, mixed-sex education, mixed-gender education | In my opinion, mixed schools are the way forward. | /mikst/ |
2. School work
word/phrase | part of speech | meaning | common collocations | example | pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
assignment | noun | a piece of work given to someone as part of their studies | homework assignment, reading/writing assignment | Back then, I was working on my last reading assignment of the term | / əˈsaɪn.mənt/ |
lecture | noun | a formal talk on a subject | deliver/give/present a lecture, attend/go to a lecture | She delivered a very interesting lecture. | / ˈlek.tʃɚ/ |
thesis | noun | a long piece of writing on a particular subject | write a thesis, complete a thesis, a thesis about/on (subject) | I wrote my thesis on effective treatment strategies for children with ADHD. | / ˈθiː.sɪs/ |
3. Qualifications: university & college
word/phrase | part of speech | meaning | common collocations | example | pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
bachelor’s degree | noun | a first degree at college or university | a bachelor’s degree in (subject) | I have a bachelor’s degree in | /ˌbætʃ.əl.ɚz dɪˈɡriː/ |
fellowship | noun | money for teaching or study given to a person studying for an advanced degree | to apply for a fellowship, to be awarded a fellowship | I then applied for a research fellowship at the university. | /ˈfel.oʊ.ʃɪp/ |
doctorate (PhD) | noun | the highest degree from a university | to do a doctorate in (subject), to have a doctorate, a doctorate degree | In developing countries, there aren’t as many people with doctorate degrees. | /ˈdɑːk.tɚ.ət/ |
4. People in education
word/phrase | part of speech | meaning | common collocations | example | pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
principal | noun | the person in charge of a school | school principal | She was the school principal for 15 years. | /ˈprɪn.sə.pəl/ |
graduate | noun | a person who has finished their school, college or university education | high school/ college/university graduate, a graduate in (subject), a graduate of (school) | There are many opportunities for university graduates nowadays. | /ˈɡrædʒ.u.ət/ |
professor | noun | a teacher of high rank in a university | college/university professor, visiting professor, (history, law, etc.) professor, professor of (history, law, etc.) | He later became a professor at a local university. | /prəˈfes·ər/ |
Conclusion
You can also add other sub-topics such as school subjects (maths, geography, physical education, etc.) and other useful vocabulary (campus, scholarship, student loan, etc.) To extend your vocabulary sets, read articles on education and pick words or phrases that you can use on your IELTS, keep a dictionary and thesaurus handy and look for vocabulary activities on your IELTS preparation course book or online. And don’t forget to keep your vocabulary notebook (or notes) at hand whenever you’re studying for your IELTS.
In our next post on expanding your vocabulary for your IELTS, we’ll be looking at vocabulary related to transportation, so don’t forget to keep checking for new articles.