LEARNING ENGLISH

AdaTeaches
idiosyncratic
relating to idiosyncrasy;
peculiar or individual.
extant
still in existence;
surviving.
dirigiste
 economic planning
controlled or guided by
the state
armament
military weapons and
equipment
bibulous
Given to or marked by
the consumption of
alcoholic drink:
abrogate
to abolish, usually by
authority
evanescent
fleeting, momentary
gregarious
drawn to the company of
others, sociable
modicum
a small amount of
something
pellucid
easily intelligible, clear
IMPROVING ENGLISH
FLUENCY
 CHUNKS!

What are chunks and how can they help improve my fluency
in English?
Knowing the meaning of a word is useful, but knowing how
to use it in context is vital. Words aren't used in isolation
and will often form part of an expression or fixed set of
words. Being able to call on these 'chunks' of vocabulary
will help you to improve English fluency skills.
Take the word 'thing' for example. We know 'thing' means a
nameless object, such as in the expression: 'a thing for
peeling potatoes'. However, you will also find the word used
in 'ready made' phrases.
'the thing is',
all sorts of things
'there's no such thing'
are three very common chunks well worth remembering.
 WHAT KIND OF CHUNKS
SHOULD I LOOK OUT FOR?

Chunks appear in all sorts of ways: as collocations and

idioms, in set phrases such as 'I was wondering if' and 'all
the best' and what teachers call 'discourse markers' like 'as
I was saying' or 'as far as I know'. Let's look at each of
these in more detail.
 COLLOCATIONS AND IDIOMS

Chunks include common collocational phrases, idioms and

phrasal verbs. For example, which prepositions are missing
from the sentences below?
A) Driving ______the influence of alcohol is a serious
offence. (collocational phrase)
B) You're not old and you really should not think that
you're _____the hill at 60. (idiom)
C) The thief made ____ with valuable personal possessions
and a great deal of money. (phrasal verb)
2) Common polite expressions Chunks like 'See you later' or
'Take a seat' are often used in everyday communication and
learning them can help you improve English fluency. Which
of the following do you regularly use? 'All the best' 'See you
soon' 'Mind how you go' 'Have a nice day' 'How do you do?'
'You're welcome'
 3) Discourse markers Discourse markers are used in both
written and spoken English to link what has come before to
what comes next. You'll already know of discourse markers
used in written English such as 'on the one hand', 'turning
now to' or 'in conclusion'. Typical single word discourse
markers in spoken English include 'now', 'so' 'actually' and
'well'. As your English fluency skills improve you'll find
yourself using informal discourse markers such as the
following more often: 'I see what you mean but' 'By the
way' 'Sort of' 'Mind you' 'You know' 'Let's see' How can I
learn chunks? First of all you'll need to notice them.
Read interviews in English magazines which feature direct
speech and make a note of any chunks you come across.
The most frequent - and therefore most useful - chunks will
consists of the most common words, not specialized or less
frequently used vocabulary. Try grouping new chunks into
categories depending upon how you would use them. For
example, the following can all be used to indicate that you
have something else to say: 'By the way' 'While I remember'
'And another thing is' 'Before I forget' Say the expressions
out loud to get a feel for the rhythm.
 You may like it or not, but every English speaker be it
native or foreign is bound to hesitate at some stage
during a conversation. While excessive hesitation is a sure
sign of an English fluency issue whereby you constantly
keep mixing up things in your head while speaking, in
moderate amounts it doesnt indicate any serious fluency
problems.
A customer asks you: Can you tell me, please, if there are any shops in
this mall selling sports memorabilia?
Youre starting your reply with Yes, you can get all sorts of sports
memorabilia in and then you suddenly forget the name of the shop.
You have to admit that if you dont say anything to fill the silence while
youre trying to remember the name of the shop, it would turn into an
awkward situation.
Your response could be the following Yes, you can get all sorts of
sports memorabilia in what do you call it Hold on I have it right
there Yes! Its called Collectors Paradise and its located on the
second floor down at the very back of the mall!
This way you can buy more time while youre trying to remember the
name of the shop, and most importantly youre avoiding the awkward
silence! Another benefit of using such hesitation filling words and
phrases is in binding the words together in a sentence.
Even if youre not trying to buy more time to remember
something specific, youll still find yourself pausing between
sentences as you speak, and youll also sometimes need to
choose the best way to put a certain thing to your
conversation partner. Even a simple sentence I dont know
will sound so much more better if you begin it with Well I
dont know! or else you run a risk of making sounds like
errr or ahh.

like thats a good question or to be honest with you

well instead of errr or ahh.
 FILLERS

1. WellYoure half an hour late today, did anything happen? Well (thinking on whether to
reveal the whole truth) I was out last night and simply forgot to set the alarm clock!
2. You seeRobby, how come you still havent created a Mac version of your English Harmony
System 2.0? You see (thinking about the arguments to present in order to explain the
issue) Actually its quite an expensive process and that is whats been holding back my plans
of creating the Systems Mac version!
3. All right. Jessie said she wouldnt attend the meeting today, so Im not sure if theres any
point in having one today. Jessies not attending? All right all right (accepting the fact
and considering the consequences) I guess we have to call the meeting off indeed!
4. I see Im not sure if we can push the order through today, we havent enough capacity to
manufacture all the necessary parts. So you cant make up the entire order today I see
I see (thinking on a possible solution to the problem) Well Can you finalize the parts that
have been manufactured by now so that the customer gets at least something?
5. You know Drinking has always been Jims way of dealing with problems, you know? But it
can be used as a hesitation filler just as successfully: Is this all you could accomplish with
the new machine?
6. Like And then she was like What else do you want me to do? Its like shes making me
responsible for her choices, like.
You can repeat the question you are asked at the start of
your reply to buy even more time.
What do you think about what just happened?
What I think about what just happened Well You
know Sometimes things are much different from what
they seem to be. First I have to talk to James to find out
why he acted out like that.
You can also start a new sentence right after the pause; you
dont necessarily need to continue the same sentence: The
reason why it happened is well its actually hard to
say!
 SPEAKING TIPS

1. If you need time to collect your thoughts use

expressions (sparingly) like: 'That's a good question.',
'Well, let me think ...'.
2. 2. Don't forget to avoid short, 'yes', 'no' answers. Try to
offer examples to back up a statement.
3. 3. Help make your contributions memorable. Try
explaining a point using a short, personal anecdote.
 Q: Are employment opportunities for graduates good in
your country? A: There are lots of opportunities for people
who have experience but it can be difficult to get a good
position when you come straight out of university. (Give an
example!) I've got a lot of friends who are like me ... having
to work in part-time jobs while they look for a better
position. Obviously some degrees are more marketable than
others so it depends on the person's qualification.