3,570 Real-world English Phrases for Speaking and Writing Practice - Volume 1

Introduction to 3,570 Real-world English Phrases for Speaking and Writing Practice : Volume 1 Many English learners understand the importance of building their vocabulary, but simplymemorizing words is, quite often, not enough. Memorized words are soon forgotten fromlack of use. Learners who make it a habit of reading English books, however, are able toretain some of the words they learn as they come across some of the same words, again andagain.Even so, it is shortsighted to focus only on individual words. After all, words come inbundles, or collocations. Already, I have used the expression “come across.” If you becomefamiliar with words that usually go together, you can sometimes predict what a speaker isgoing to say. This gives you tremendous advantage when you are taking an English test.A collocation, by the way, is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as “a word or phrase thatis often used with another word or phrase, in a way that sounds correct to people who havespoken the language all their lives....” While you should continue to build your vocabularythrough extensive reading, you can give yourself additional practice in English speaking andwriting by also paying attention to word clusters such as the ones offered in this book. These phrases have been collected through hundreds of hours of listening to radio shows,television broadcasts, podcasts, university lectures and interviews. Phrases have also beenculled from newspaper and magazine articles, as well as contemporary books of both fictionand nonfiction. Here’s wishing you all the best in your continued efforts to become a moreproficient user of the English language.