The English teachers voice

  Word pairs , for both native speakers and students of English, can often cause great confusion. For native speakers, this is especially so when they are writing.  Many pairs of words in English sound alike or nearly alike, but each one has a different meaning. For example,  affect  means to influence something, while  effect  means the result of something. Words like these can be easily confused with each other. You must be careful to use the correct word from a pair of such confusing words when you are writing and speaking. If not, you may express something different than what you mean. For example, suppose you are writing about the importance of a good marriage. You write that  martial  bliss is a wonderful thing. The word  martial  refers to war. You should have written that  marital  bliss is a wonderful thing. The word  marital  refers to marriage. You wouldn't want to embarrass yourself by addressing a letter ...

  Many people believe that a  proficient level of English is only achievable once they have learned a large amount and variety of advanced vocabulary , but, in my many years of experience as an advanced English teacher, I have found that this is only half of the journey to achieving that goal. Many times I have had students who have dedicated themselves, in one way or another, to learn the vocabulary that they feel that they need to know, especially ESP , with many of them neglecting the more important, basic words that are imperative for connecting the more advanced vocabulary together. If you imagine vocabulary as being like a brick wall , with the most advanced vocabulary being the layers and layers of individual bricks. Then look at the thousands of basic words and imagine them as the cement that holds and connects all of the more advanced words together. Without this basic vocabulary , the brick wall will simply be unable to sustain itself, it will fail and fall over....