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📚 Vocabulary
10 new words Learn new words with real examples and audio.
Podcast: Education & Learning
Listen to today’s conversation.
📝 Podcast Transcript
Welcome back to Word Kitchen! I am Maya.
And I am Lena. Today we are going back to school, because our ten words are all about education and learning.
That is right. Whether you are a student, or you are learning English on your own, these words come up all the time. Lena, when was your last exam?
Oh, an exam. That is our first word. An exam is a test of what you know at school. My last real exam was at university, years ago. But every English test still feels like an exam to me.
Same here. Exams can be stressful, but I have a good memory. In high school, I had a math exam on a Friday morning. I studied all week, and I walked into that exam feeling ready. It was one of the best exam experiences I ever had.
My worst exam was in college. It was a history exam, and I forgot everything in the first ten minutes. My mind went completely blank.
That happens to everyone. But an exam does not have to be scary. Take the exam one question at a time. Do not think about the whole exam at once. Just answer the question in front of you, and the exam becomes much easier.
Good advice. And our second word connects to exams. A grade is the mark you get for your school work. In America, grades are usually letters, like A, B, or C. In other countries, they use numbers.
When I got a good grade, my parents celebrated with pizza. When I got a bad grade, there was no pizza that night.
The pizza system! I love it. But a grade is just one picture of your learning. One bad grade does not mean you cannot learn. Keep going, so your next grade is better than the last.
Exactly. Our third word is assignment. An assignment is school work you must do at home. The teacher gives an assignment, and the students finish the assignment before the next class.
I got an assignment every single night in school. A math assignment, a reading assignment, a science assignment. Sometimes I finished the assignment quickly. Sometimes one assignment took the whole evening.
The secret with an assignment is to start early. If you wait until the last night, the assignment feels impossible. But if you do a little bit each day, the assignment becomes much easier.
Word four is lecture. A lecture is a talk a teacher gives to students. At university, you sit in a big room, and the professor gives a lecture to hundreds of students.
Lectures can be long. I had one lecture that lasted three hours. But a good lecture is amazing. A good teacher can make one lecture feel like a story. The best lecture I ever heard was about the history of English. The teacher told it like an adventure.
I love that. In a boring lecture, it is hard to stay awake. One student I knew took notes during every lecture, and that helped. If you write during the lecture, your brain stays active.
Good tip. Word five is a big one. A scholarship is money a school gives you so you can study for free. If you win a scholarship, you do not pay for your classes.
That can change a life. My cousin won a scholarship to study in Canada. Without that scholarship, she could never have afforded the school. The scholarship paid for her classes, and she worked part time for her living costs.
Many students dream of a scholarship like that. Some scholarship programs are for sports. Some are for students with excellent grades. And some are for students from a certain country.
If you want a scholarship, apply for many of them. Do not just apply for one scholarship and hope. Apply for ten. Every application teaches you something.
Word six: degree. A degree is the paper you get when you finish university. When you finish all your classes and pass your final exam, the school gives you a degree.
A degree opens doors. My brother has a degree in engineering, and he found a job quickly with that degree. But a degree is not the only way. You can learn a lot without a degree too.
True. But for many jobs, a degree is the first thing employers ask about. I earned my degree in teaching, and it helped me become a teacher. The day I received my degree, my whole family celebrated with me.
That brings us to our verbs. Word seven is memorize. To memorize means to learn something so you can say it from memory. For example, I memorized twenty new words yesterday.
That is our method on this show! We want you to memorize new words by hearing them many times. When I learned Spanish, I had to memorize many verbs. To memorize well, say the word out loud. When you memorize with your voice, not just your eyes, it stays in your memory better.
Do not just read silently. To memorize something, repeat it many times. I memorized my best friend's phone number when I was ten, and I still remember it today. That is the power of repetition when you memorize.
Word eight is concentrate. To concentrate means to give all your attention to one thing. I cannot concentrate when it is noisy.
Nobody can concentrate with noise around. When I need to concentrate, I go to a quiet room. If you want to concentrate on your studies, turn off your phone. The phone is the enemy when you try to concentrate.
True. To concentrate well, give yourself short breaks too. Study for twenty five minutes, then rest for five. That rhythm helps you concentrate much longer.
Word nine: tutor. A tutor is a private teacher who helps you one to one. My English tutor is very patient.
A good tutor changes everything. In school, I had a tutor for math. My tutor explained things slowly, and I finally understood. A tutor gives you personal attention that a big class cannot give.
Today you can even find a tutor online. If you cannot afford a tutor, study with a friend. But a tutor who really knows the subject can save you a lot of time.
Our last word is graduate. To graduate means to finish school or university. She will graduate from college next June.
When my sister wanted to graduate early, she studied all summer. To graduate on time, she took extra classes. And when she finally got to graduate, we all cried happy tears.
After you graduate, a new life begins. Some people graduate and start working right away. Others graduate and travel for a year. Whatever you do after you graduate, never stop learning.
Beautifully said. Let us review all ten words. Exam, grade, assignment, lecture, scholarship, degree, memorize, concentrate, tutor, graduate.
Say them with us. Exam. Grade. Assignment. Lecture. Scholarship. Degree. Memorize. Concentrate. Tutor. Graduate.
Practice them today, and you will use all ten in real conversations. Thanks for listening to Word Kitchen.
See you tomorrow!
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Shadowing: Mina's Big Week
Mina is a hardworking student at a busy high school.
She has an important exam on Monday morning.
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📝Grammar: Ability and possibility - can, could, be able to
Use **can** for present ability or possibility. She **can** memorize twenty new words in one day. For past ability, use **could**. Last year I **couldn't** pass the exam, but now I **can**. **Can** has no future or perfect form. For those tenses, use **be able to** + verb. Next June she will **be able to** graduate from college. Use **be able to** after "have" too. She has **been able to** concentrate better since she changed her study habits. **Be able to** also works in the present and past when you want to sound more formal. "I **was able to** finish the assignment" sounds more careful
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