English Vocabulary: 5 ESSENTIAL Vocabulary Words! | Vocab Lesson For IELTS and TOEFL

I’ve got 5 new vocabulary words coming at you, with context, so you’ll never forget them.

If you’re a non-native speaker preparing for the TOEFL or IELTS exams,

or you just want to make your conversational English a little bit more sophisticated,

you’ll want to know these words.

We’re using the Academic Word List,

which has narrowed down the most important words for you to know.

So let’s get started.

But first, if you like this video or you learn something,

please give a thumbs up and subscribe with notifications, it really does help.

We’re starting with Band 1, which is the first set of words in the Academic Word list.

This is our third video in this series, I’ll link to the full playlist at the end of this video.

Our first word is CONSTITUTIONAL

and it’s most common use is as an adjective.

It means relating to an established set of principles, a constitution.

In the US we have what we call the Constitution of the United States, it's the law of the land.

It establishes the separation of powers in the United States, for example.

It has amendments that address things like personal and other rights.

For example, if I’m out protesting and someone says ‘go home!’.

I can say, it’s my constitutional right to protest.

The courts interpret the constitution and apply it to our lives today.

Let’s look at some more examples on the web.

I’m using Youglish as my search tool.

A constitutional right to an appointed attorney.

A right. Something that the government says you get to do, or to have, that is protected by law.

Let’s watch that one again.

Here’s another example.

Again, talking about constitution rights.

Someone’s right to do something as written in the constitution.

Let’s see it again.

Here’s another example.

A constitutional majority refers to America's house of representatives.

Whichever political party has the most members in the house, that party has a constitutional majority.

Let's watch that clip again.

And now, the next clip:

A constitutional amendment is a modification,

a change to the constitution.

Let's watch it again.

Now, one more example.

He used this adjective twice:

a constitutional question, meaning, are laws being broken?

And a constitutional lawyer, meaning, a lawyer who focuses on and is an expert in the constitution.

Constitutional.

This is a five syllable word, let's say it slowly together, and do focus on stress.

Simplify those unstressed syllables,

which are lower in pitch: Constitutional.

Constitutional.

Constitutional.

Let's look at that up close and in slow motion.

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Now back to our vocabulary. Our next word is CONTEXT.

Do you remember at the very beginning of this video, I said,

you're going to learn the words, with context, so that you never forget them.

Context is something around something else, the parts before and after,

to help it be fully understood, to help explain something.

Don't just learn the word and definition, study the context,

the words before and after in a sentence,

in a couple of sentences, to help you really understand what the word means, and how to use it.

Let's go to Youglish for some context, some examples.

He said, put it in a broader context.

That means, to understand it, let's look at even more factors, at an even more general story.

If we're studying a word and we see it in a sentence,

there's a chance that you might not really understand how to use it.

But if you use a broader context, maybe you read the whole paragraph,

the meaning of the word can become more clear.

So to have a broader context means to take in even more information about something.

Let's see that clip again.

And now, another example.

A new context. So he's talking about changing our understanding of something.

We used to think this was good, he's a doctor talking about being a doctor and medicine,

but now that we've learned more, we see that oh, we have a different context,

a different understanding,

different things we're considering when we're looking at what it means to be a good doctor.

Let's look at that clip again.

Another example.

In a business context.

So, considering something as it relates to business. This is different than how you might think of it as

it relates to family, or religion, for example.

In a business context, maybe the goal has to be to make more money.

But in a different context, a familial context, you might say,

you know, about money, the goal isn't just to make more.

It's to spend time with my kids or my parents, so how you approach a problem or question might be different depending on the context.

Let's watch that clip again.

One final example.

To put something into context.

This is something we can say when we've said something that might be hard to grasp or understand.

She says 86 billion dollars. Well, that's just a number.

If you compare it to other things, that can help you understand what this number really means.

Is 86 billion a lot or not that much?

It depends on the context.

Let's watch that example again.

This is a two-syllable word with first syllable stress.

Let's break it down and say it slowly together. Con-text. Text.

Here, the letter X here make the KS sounds, ks, ks.

Context. Then the T: kst, kst, kst. Context.

Context.

If this word links into a word that begins with a consonant, you'll want to drop the T.

For example, that's the context that I want you to consider.

Context that, Context that, Context that.

Right from the KS into the TH, we drop that T.

It's pretty common in American English to drop a T between other consonants

so that's what we'll do here.

Let's look up close and in slow motion.

Next, CONTRACT.

A contract is an agreement between two or more people or groups of people.

For example, when you buy a house, you put in an offer, it's accepted,

and you're under contract.

You've signed an agreement saying you will buy this house for this amount of money

on this particular day.

Let's go to Youglish to get some more examples.

A book contract.

That means she has signed with a publisher,

that she will write a book on a certain topic that they will publish.

An agreement. Let's see it again.

Another example.

Extending a contract: this means he worked it out do something even longer than he had originally agreed to.

He extended his work contract another month.

Let's watch that example again.

Another example.

So we're talking about a book contract again.

And here, and he was too young to sign it.

There are laws about how old people have to be to enter into official agreements like a book contract.

Let's watch that one again.

And now, one final example.

Signed the contract without even reading it.

Okay, that's something you probably shouldn't do!

Contract. An agreement, something official.

A two syllable word, first syllable stress, CON-tract.

Contract. The word ends in the CT cluster.

Do you know what will happen if it's followed by a consonant?

Here's a hint: the T will come between two consonants.

We'll drop it. Here's an example sentence.

Did you sign a contract for the house?

Contract for the- for the-for the- K sound into the F consonant, no T sound.

We drop the T because it comes between two consonants.

Let's see it up close and in slow motion.

Next, CREATE. A verb.

To make something. Something that wasn't there before, to bring it about.

To use thought and imagination to make something.

An actor might create a role.

Someone wrote the movie,

but the actor took what was written on the page and made it a person, created a character.

Creativity, a related noun.

This is the ability to make something new, new ideas, new methods,

to do away with rules about how something should be done.

The ability to make something really original.

Let's look at an example.

How to create something new.

He's looking at a problem,

he knows all the ways we've tried to fix it before that don't work.

We need something totally new, totally different.

We need to create that. Let's watch again.

Here's another example.

Create a platform. Something that wasn't there before, a new kind of platform.

We're not using the old platform, we are creating something. Let's watch again.

Another example.

Ah yes. Creating jobs.

That's something you'll hear politicians say a lot.

Creating a job where there was not one before.

Let's watch that again.

And now, a final example.

Create a future. Oh yes, that's definitely something new that hasn't happened before, the future.

Let's watch that again.

Create is a two-syllable word with stress on the second syllable.

Create. Create. Create.

The final T will be a Flap T if this word links into a word that begins with a vowel or diphthong,

like in the phrase: create another.

Create a-dadada-Flap T, create another--

Can you create another draft? create another--

That's more natural than a True T, which would sound like this:

create another-- create another-- create another--

We don't do that, we flap: create another-- dadadadada-- create another--

Also in the word 'creative', it's a Flap T.

In the word creativity, now there, the first T is a True T, the second T is a Flap T,

that's because of stress.

Creati-tih-

Tih-- that syllable is stressed and if a T starts a stressed syllable, it will be a True T.

But the second T is a flap.

Creativity.

Creative.

Create.

Let's watch create up close and in slow motion.

Finally we have DATA. Let's start with the pronunciation of this word.

Now, this is something I really hate about online dictionaries.

It has a phonetic spelling, it has a recording, and the recording is totally robotic.

Data or data.

Data or data.

No. We totally don't say that. We say: data or data.

We make it a Flap T because the T comes between two vowel or diphthong sounds and

doesn't start a stressed syllable. Data, data.

Also, when she said it, the two syllables sounded like they were the same length. Let's listen.

Data or data.

But they're not. The first syllable is stressed, so it's longer.

The second is unstressed, so it's shorter.

Data. Data. Data. Data.

Now, the online dictionary says there are three pronunciations, the AY diphthong, day-ta,

the AA vowel, da-ta, I heard both of those, but it also says dah-ta,

with the AH as in Father vowel, and I've never heard that one in the American accent before.

Data, with the AY diphthong is definitely the most common pronunciation and is what we'll hear in all our examples on Youglish.

Data means information, facts, statistics.

It's something we gather to learn about something,

something we use to make decisions.

Let's go to Youglish for some examples and context.

Now, this word can be used both as a plural or singular:

individual facts or statistics, for example:

These data are convincing. Plural.

Or it can mean a body of facts, a group, then it's used with a singular verb. For example:

Additional data is available at our website.

Okay, let's go to Youglish.

The data to prove. You have an argument, something to prove, you have to back it up with information,

maybe statistics, data.

He also said the data shows.

The data shows, the data proves, these are verbs you might hear with this subject.

Let's look at another clip.

Any kind of good or data, we don't want tampered with.

Like personal data. Have you heard this term? Name, address, social security number, family members.

This is all personal data that we want kept private.

Let's watch that example again.

Another example.

They looked at the data:

the real numbers, the real information on what veterans need.

They didn't just guess, they got the information and they spoke to the veterans themselves.

Let's look at that example again.

And here's one last example.

Big data. Have you heard this term before?

It refers to sets of data that are so big that companies can't use traditional methods of processing.

In this case, she was talking about health data.

Let's look at data up close and in slow motion.

Constitutional, context, contract, create, and data.

Five new words that you've learned with context and examples.

Now you'll probably understand them if you hear them, but are you comfortable using them?

That always takes more time.

A great exercise is to go to Youglish now,

type in one of the words,

and say the sentences that you're hearing out loud, repeat them over and over.

Do 20 sentences, maybe even 50.

Even though you're just repeating, I guarantee you'll be more comfortable using them in a sentence yourself.

Thanks for sticking with me. I make new videos every Tuesday,

primarily to help non-native speakers of American English feel more comfortable with,

confident in, and knowledgeable in speaking American English.

I also have an Academy, Rachel's English Academy,

where you can train your English communication skills to take them to a new level,

check it out at RachelsEnglishAcademy.com.

That's it, thanks so much for using Rachel's English.