Vocabulary Power Pack: You NEED This Vocab | How to Learn English Vocabulary

Today we’re going to continue to teach you the best English vocabulary words to know, the most useful.

We’re using the Academic Word List.

You need to know these words if you’re preparing for the IELTS or the TOEFL exam,

or just even for more sophisticated conversation,

even if you’re not preparing for an exam.

These words are for intermediate students.

As we study the words and definitions, we’re going to go to Youglish

so we can see lots of examples of these words being used in real life

so you can better understand the meaning.

And don’t forget, if you enjoy this video, or learn something new,

please like it and subscribe with notifications. It means a lot to me.

These are words you can expect to encounter on a daily basis in everyday life,

newspapers, on TV, and so on.

You’re going to learn, REALLY LEARN, 5 words today.

We’re pulling words from Band 1 of the Academic Word list, in alphabetical order, this is the second five.

And we’re going to do something important here,

we’re going to give you the definition in English.

And then you’ll hear examples in English.

So you’ll learn this as an English word, not just as a translation of a word in your own language,

and that will help you to think in English and integrate this word into your use of English.

Our first word is authority.

Four syllables, second syllable stress, and we have a Flap T in there.

Au-thor-ity.

Let's watch it up-close and in slow motion so we can really study the mouth movement.

Authority. It’s a noun, and it means power.

The power to give orders, make decisions.

For example, the owner of company has the authority to hire and fire people.

The parents have the authority in the family.

They get to make the decisions.

We decide when kids go to bed.

Power. It’s also confidence.

When you know a lot about something, when you’re respected in that field, you have authority.

He’s the leading authority on penguins.

He knows so much about them, we trust what he says about them. He’s the leading authority.

Or you could say, he’s an authority on, with the preposition 'on'.

He's an authority on penguins.

An authority on penguins.

He spoke with authority.

That means, he had confidence that what he was saying

would be trusted and that everyone would believe and respect these words.

He said it with authority.

It’s power, it’s confidence, but we also use it to refer to people who have authority.

Have you ever noticed the word ‘authority’ used in the news?

Local authorities are investigating the issue.

This would probably mean police.

He complained to the authorities about his neighbor’s dog.

Now, let’s go to Youglish to look at some more sample sentences.

He said he has the authority, that is, he has the power to do something.

The next sentence:

Is a real authority.

So, referring to the person.

He IS an authority in a particular field.

He is seen as one of the most knowledgeable people in the modern art scene.

Our next sentence:

May lack the authority.

That is, they may lack the power to do something.

Might want to do something but not be able to do it because of the laws.

The laws have not given that person or group the power to make that decision, the power to act.

They may lack authority.

The next sentence:

Question authority. Have you heard this before?

It means to challenge the power of somebody.

Maybe to break the rules: challenge authority.

For example, a college professor is giving a lecture.

She’s an authority on the subject.

A student might say, excuse me, I’m not sure that’s right, have you thought about this?

Questioning authority.

Some people would never do that, and some people think it’s very important to do that.

Question authority.

Our next sentence:

An authority on.

Confidence, knowledge, believed to know a lot about something, respected in that way.

An authority on youth culture.

Knows a lot about that, her opinions and what she says about it is respected.

Authority.

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Ok, we're going to move on to the next word, that is ‘available’.

And to give you guys a heads up, we’re looking at benefit, concept, and consistent next.

Available. Just like ‘authority’ it’s a four-syllable word, with second syllable stress,

and we have a schwa in the first syllable. Uh, uh, uh, authority.

Uh, uh, uh, available.

Do you hear how the rhythm is the same? Da-da-da-da.

Authority. Available.

Let's watch this up-close.

It’s an adjective. It means easy or possible to get, to find.

Just before the big storm, emergency supplies were not available anywhere.

It was not possible to find emergency supplies, they were all sold out.

The opposite of available is ‘unavailable’.

We also use it with people.

Someone is able to talk with someone, or meet with someone, or not.

I need to call my boss, but she’s not available until after 2pm.

It’s not possible to get her on the phone before that.

Hi, is Rachel there? Sorry, she’s not available right now.

It can also mean not being used, not occupied.

If you’re sitting at a conference and someone says, is that seat available?

You can say, yes, it’s available, you can sit here.

Or, no, it’s not available. My friend is sitting here. She’s in the bathroom. Sorry.

It also means free or ready to do something: I’m available to babysit most weekends.

That means I’m free. I would like to do that. I’m available.

And finally, we also use it to mean not involved in a romantic relationship.

Your friend Jack is so cute. Is he available?

No, he’s been dating someone for a long time.

Possible. Free or easy to get.

For a person: able to speak with someone or do something with or for someone.

Not occupied, like the chair, and not dating someone.

Let’s go to Youglish and check out some more sentences.

Made benefits available.

Made them easy or possible to get.

Our next sentence:

And it is also available in 17 different languages.

Available in 17 different languages – possible to get in 17 different languages.

Our next clip:

The teachers who are available.

That is, the teachers who are able to take on new students.

Our next clip:

When he's available, when the doctor is free to see patients, for what time can she make an appointment.

Oh, when is he available? Thursday next week?

Available. Easy to get, free, not busy, not occupied.

Next is ‘benefit’. Three syllables, first-syllable stress, be-ne-fit.

Let's look up-close.

Benefit. A noun: it’s a good or helpful effect or result.

One of the benefits of solar is lowering your energy bill.

It’s also something extra that an employer can offer in addition to salary.

For example, the benefits at my new job are great: full health coverage, 401k, 6 weeks paid vacation.

It can also be a social event to raise money:

We’re having a benefit to raise money for the local homeless shelter.

There’s going to be dinner and dancing.

Have you ever heard the phrase ‘the benefit of the doubt?’

If someone gives you the benefit of the doubt, then they believe you in a given situation.

For example, some people think he’s lying, but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt.

‘Benefit’ is also a verb, and it means to be helpful or useful.

The new park really benefits the families in the neighborhood.

How did you benefit from your experience at your last job?

That means, what did your last job help you learn?

Benefit: a helpful result; something in addition to a salary in a job.

Now, let’s go to Youglish for some more phrases.

For the benefit of our viewers.

A helpful result. The interviewer believes this man has experiences, ideas, opinions to share

that would benefit people watching. That would be helpful to them.

Our next sentence:

The enormous benefit. This partnership has been extremely helpful to them.

And our next sentence:

He’s going to benefit from those decisions.

He will have a positive impact from these decisions.

Helpful, positive.

And now, our next clip:

The retirement plan.

That is a benefit of some jobs. In addition to your wages, you might get a retirement plan.

I hope this video benefits you in some way.

Has a positive impact.

Concept. A noun. Two syllables. Can you tell which syllable is stressed?

Concept. It’s the first syllable.

Let's look up-close.

An idea of what something is or how it works.

Maybe someone is explaining a new invention to you and you say,

I get the concept.

I have an idea of how it works. Or, she doesn’t get the concept of how to write an essay.

She doesn’t understand that you need an introduction, then a body, and a conclusion.

She doesn’t get the concept of how writing an essay works.

Or maybe someone thinks they have a really great idea of a new way to approach nutrition in school cafeterias.

Someone could say, that’s not a new concept.

They’ve been doing that in Europe for years.

That means it's not a new idea.

Or maybe, if I like the way a history teacher explains something in a video, I might think,

I’m going to borrow that concept in my next video.

Concept. An idea – what something is or how it works.

Let’s go to Youglish.

That idea was coupled with the concept.

That means paired together, with the idea of the free market.

With an understanding of the free market and how it works. That concept.

Our next sentence:

Consider a concept more broadly.

That means take this idea, and how we think it works,

and ask ourselves to expand that, to look beyond how we think it works and ask ourselves:

Could it work like this? Could it work like that?

Expand our concept of it.

The next sentence.

It’s the same concept, but with lots of bells and whistles.

It’s the same idea, it works the same way, but with extra things.

'Bells and whistles' is an idiom, this means extra things, things you don’t necessarily need,

but some people might want.

For example, a toaster.

I bought a toaster recently for my family, we hadn't had one before,

and I couldn't decide, did I just want something basic and simple

or did I want one with more bells and whistles like a digital clock?

I went with the simple one.

Our next clip:

There was no concept of stopping bullying.

No idea about it – no one was considering it, or thinking about how that might work,

everyone was just accepting that it was okay, and that they didn’t need to do anything about it.

There was no concept of stopping it.

And our last word, consistent. An adjective, three syllables with middle syllable stress.

Make sure that first syllable doesn’t even have a vowel in it. Kn. The N absorbs the schwa. Kn.

Consistent. Also notice I’m not releasing the T at the end. I’m not saying ‘consistent’.

I’m saying ‘consistent’ and making that a stop. That’s the most common pronunciation you’ll hear.

Let's watch this up-close.

If I wanted to give you a definition of just one word, it would be 'same'.

Acting the same way. We need to be more consistent in how we discipline the kids.

Sometimes we ignore them, sometimes we yell at them, sometimes we try to reason with them.

I think we need to come up with our concept of parenting.

And be more consistent with it.

We need to be consistent in our approach to parenting.

I threw in the word ‘approach’ there which is a word we learned in our last Band 1 vocabulary video.

You can find the link to that video here.

Now, I’m going to use it as an adverb by throwing on LY:

Their Pad Thai is consistently the best I’ve had.

It’s the same .

Every time I have it, it’s the best.

If it’s inconsistent, then that means sometimes it’s great and sometimes it’s not.

You don't really want a product that's inconsistent. You want people to be able to rely on that.

Notice, it's IN, inconsistent.

Earlier we had ‘available’ and ‘unavailable’,

UN, as opposites.

But here, it’s not UN, it's IN.

Inconsistent. Unavailable. Inconsistent.

Consistent also means the same over time.

The pain has been consistent since the accident.

It’s been the same.

It hasn’t gotten any better.

Your symptoms are consistent with the flu.

That means your symptoms are the same symptoms that someone would have if they have the flu.

We think you have the flu based on your symptoms.

His story about what happened is not consistent with what she said.

That means not the same, so one of them must be lying.

Let’s go to Youglish.

What they do is consistent with what they teach.

This means, what they do is the same as what they teach.

They don’t say, “It’s important to exercise at least three times a week”, but then never exercise.

That wouldn’t be the same, that would be inconsistent.

They do the same as what they teach other people to do.

They exercise at least three times a week.

What they do is consistent with what they teach.

Our next clip.

It takes consistent effort.

It takes the same effort over time.

You can’t do it for a week, then not put in any effort for months and expect to be any good at it.

Consistency, that’s the noun, consistency is important.

Our next clip:

Consistent in what he says, consistent in what he does.

That means, over time, he says and does the same things relating to a particular topic.

For example, he always treats people with respect.

He doesn’t ignore the person bagging his groceries. He says, “How are you today?”

He’s consistent in what he does and what he says over time.

Our next clip:

The problem is producing consistent quality at scale.

Consistent quality.

The same quality, at scale.

'At scale' means as you grow bigger and bigger.

For example, they make a great pizza when they only have to make one every 10 minutes.

But when they have to make one every three minutes, the quality goes down.

They can’t produce at scale.

They can’t produce consistent quality at scale.

That same, high quality.

There it is. The second set of 5 words in Band 1 of the Academic Word List.

We studied several contexts to help you understand how to use these words.

Let me know in the comments, if your concept of any of these words became clearer.

Which word?

Should we keep going with this list?

We’ve got a lot more useful words we could study on the Academic Word List.

And don’t forget to try your free 15-minute lesson with a Cambly teacher.

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