Unit 6: Vocabulary

I. The Nature of Vocabulary

Vocabulary is the stock of words a speaker uses to encode and decode meaning; in a communication course it is organised by field (topic area) so that learners can retrieve the right word quickly in a real situation. Words rarely work alone — they carry register, connotation, and fixed partners.

• Lexical field: words grouped by shared subject, e.g. waiter, menu, bill, tip all belong to the "eating out" field; learning them as a cluster aids recall.
• Register: the formality level a word signals — purchase (formal) versus buy (neutral) versus grab (informal); workplace emails favour the formal end.
• Denotation vs connotation: slim and skinny both mean "thin," but slim is positive and skinny is negative.
• Word form: the same root shifts class — employ (verb), employee / employer (nouns), employment (noun), unemployed (adjective).
• Collocation: words that habitually co-occur, e.g. make a decision, not do a decision — the backbone of natural fluency.

II. Everyday and Institutional Life

A. Orientation

This section covers the vocabulary of earning, learning, and buying — the three daily settings a learner describes most often. Note the role nouns, place nouns, and transaction verbs that recur in each.

B. Vocabulary related to job

Words naming occupations, duties, and employment status.

• Occupations by field: accountant, engineer, surgeon, electrician, journalist, chef — note that -er/-or/-ist/-ian suffixes mark the person (teach → teacher, art → artist).
• Status and conditions: full-time, part-time, permanent, temporary, freelance, salary, wage, overtime, promotion, resignation.
• Hiring cycle verbs: apply for, recruit, hire, employ, promote, dismiss / fire, resign, retire.
• Documents: CV / résumé, cover letter, job description, contract, reference.

C. Workplaces and school

Nouns for institutions, their spaces, and the people in them.

• Workplace types: office, factory, warehouse, workshop, laboratory, studio, call centre.
• Workplace roles: manager, supervisor, colleague, intern, client, staff (uncountable — "the staff are ready").
• School types and stages: primary / elementary school, secondary / high school, college, university; stages kindergarten → graduate.
• School people and spaces: pupil, student, lecturer, principal, dean; classroom, lecture hall, laboratory, canteen.
• School actions: enrol, attend, revise, sit an exam, pass, fail, graduate.

D. Shopping

Vocabulary of retail places, items, and payment.

• Shop types: supermarket, department store, boutique, grocer's, chemist / pharmacy, newsagent.
• Transaction verbs: browse, try on, purchase, return, exchange, refund.
• Price words: discount, bargain, sale, on offer, receipt, voucher, instalment.
• Payment methods: cash, debit / credit card, contactless, in instalments.
• Example: "These shoes were a real bargain — 50% off in the sale, and I paid by contactless."

III. Leisure, Fitness and Wellbeing

A. Orientation

These three fields describe how people spend free time and keep healthy; verbs of participation (go, play, do) and adjectives of judgement dominate.

B. Entertainment

Words for performances, media, and audience response.

• Forms: cinema / film, theatre, concert, gig, exhibition, musical, stand-up comedy.
• People: audience, cast, director, performer, critic.
• Media verbs: stream, download, binge-watch, release, broadcast.
• Review adjectives: gripping, moving, dull, overrated, hilarious.

C. Sports and fitness activities

Vocabulary distinguished by the verb that each activity takes.

1. Ball / team sports — "play": play football, play tennis, play basketball.
2. Activities ending in -ing or needing gear — "go": go swimming, go cycling, go jogging, go skiing.
   • Gym / general — "do": do yoga, do aerobics, do exercise, do a workout.
   • Fitness nouns: stamina, strength, flexibility, warm-up, cool-down, reps, personal best.
   • People and places: coach, referee, opponent, pitch, court, track, gym.

D. Food and health

Words for diet, cooking, and wellbeing.

• Cooking verbs: boil, fry, grill, roast, bake, steam, chop, season.
• Taste adjectives: bitter, sweet, savoury, bland, spicy, stale, ripe.
• Nutrition: protein, carbohydrate, fibre, vitamins, balanced diet, portion.
• Health states: fit, exhausted, sick, recover, symptom, prescription.
• Diet collocations: put on / lose weight, cut down on sugar, go on a diet.

IV. Place and Movement

A. Orientation

This section groups the vocabulary of journeys and of the world's places; it separates travel (the activity) from the proper nouns of countries and cities.

B. Travel

Words for journeys, transport, and accommodation.

• Journey nouns: trip (short, return), journey (one leg), voyage (sea), tour (circuit), commute (daily).
• Transport: flight, ferry, coach, underground / subway, platform, gate, boarding pass.
• At the airport: check in, go through security, board, take off, land, baggage claim.
• Accommodation: hotel, hostel, B&B, resort, book, check in / out, vacancy.
• Travel adjectives: scenic, remote, bustling, breathtaking.
• Example: "We booked a flight, checked in online, and the journey to the resort took two hours."

C. Countries and cities

Vocabulary for naming places and the words derived from them.

• Nationality adjectives: France → French, Japan → Japanese, Spain → Spanish, Poland → Polish — spelling and ending vary and must be learned per country.
• Capital pairs: Italy → Rome, Egypt → Cairo, Brazil → Brasília.
• Describing settlements: capital, port, suburb, outskirts, population, landmark.
• Adjectives of size / character: cosmopolitan, overcrowded, historic, industrial.
• Article rule: most countries take no article, but the precedes plurals and unions — the Netherlands, the United States, the UK.

V. Describing People

A. Vocabulary to describe one's appearance

Adjectives and phrases for how someone looks, ordered by feature.

• Build: slim, well-built, stocky, plump, overweight — remember the positive/negative pairing slim (kind) vs skinny (critical).
• Height: tall, short, of medium height.
• Age: in her twenties, middle-aged, elderly — softer than exact numbers.
• Hair: colour (blonde, auburn, grey) + length (shoulder-length) + style (curly, straight, wavy, bald).
• Face: fair / dark complexion, freckles, wrinkles, dimples, a beard, a moustache.
• Fixed structures: "She has got blue eyes" (have got + noun) vs "She is tall" (be + adjective) — the two patterns are not interchangeable.

VI. Collocations

A. Collocations

A collocation is a pair or group of words that native speakers habitually use together; choosing the wrong partner sounds unnatural even when grammar is correct.

• Verb + noun: make a mistake, do homework, take a photo, have breakfast — make/do are the commonest error source (do a decision is wrong; make a decision is right).
• Adjective + noun: heavy rain, strong coffee, fast food, hard work — note strong coffee not powerful coffee.
• Adverb + adjective: deeply disappointed, highly likely, fully aware.
• Verb + preposition (dependent): depend on, apply for, consist of, result in.
• Why they matter: collocations are stored as single chunks, so learning "heavy traffic" whole is faster and more accurate than assembling it word by word.

VII. Business Idioms and Phrases

A. Business idioms and phrases

Fixed figurative expressions used in professional contexts whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words; they signal fluency in workplace English.

• Decision and progress: get the ball rolling (start something), touch base (make brief contact), move the needle (make noticeable change).
• People and roles: the big picture (overall view), a team player (cooperative worker), think outside the box (be creative).
• Pressure and risk: cut corners (do carelessly to save time), in the red (losing money) vs in the black (profitable), tighten our belts (reduce spending).
• Negotiation: a win-win situation (both sides gain), ballpark figure (rough estimate), on the same page (in agreement).
• Register warning: idioms suit meetings and informal emails but should be avoided in formal reports, where plain wording ("begin the project" rather than "get the ball rolling") is clearer.
• Example: "Let's touch base on Monday to get the ball rolling before we go into the red."