The English teachers voice

Idioms or idiomatic expressions are ways of expressing ideas that over time become accepted as standard usage in language even though they are often not readily understandable from their grammatical construction or from the meaning of their parts. Many idioms are created by adding a preposition to a basic verb, which forms a verb phrase known as a phrasal verb that is different from the meaning of the verb alone. For example, the verb "to drop" means “to let something fall.” In contrast, as a phrasal verb "drop in" means “to visit someone without having received an invitation,” whereas "drop out" means “to stop doing what one usually does.” You will find that many phrasal verbs have more than one meaning. For example, "turn in" means “to give something to someone,” as in "I turned in my test paper to the instructor." However, it can also mean “to go to sleep,” as in "Because it was late, I decided to turn in for the night." So...

  As an English teacher, I have been preparing students for international exams for more than 20 years, and no matter which exam you wish to take, be it TOEFL, IELTS, SAT, GRE GMAT, or any of the many other exams, there is no doubt that your knowledge of vocabulary plays a huge role in your level of success. A robust knowledge of vocabulary improves all areas of communication. For students who are planning to undertake an international exam, vocabulary helps you to understand the context and the questions, what you are reading and listening to, it helps you to include the best words in your writing and to be able to confidently and fluently answer the questions in your speaking interview . Whilst a comprehensive list of vocabulary to fully cover every requirement for these exams would be as large as a huge dictionary, and literally impossible to learn, the list in this article is designed to provide a solid foundation upon which to build your level of academic English. In addition,...