PDF worksheet for your student

A pdf of all education vocabulary to give to your student once you have taught them the majority of the phrases on this list.

Ability

Intermediate

English speakers use ‘at’ to express their ability for something with ‘‘to be good, bad, terrible, great at something.’

‘I am good at history but terrible at geography.’

Also, there is ‘to find’ + gerund + easy, difficult, hard.

‘She finds singing easy but dancing hard.’

To be a talented + occupation.

‘He is a talented painter.’  ‘She is a talented lawyer.’

Advanced

To nail something – to do a task perfectly in that moment.

‘What do you think of the cake?’ ‘You nailed it. It’s perfect.’

To have the right skill set for something.

‘We should give the contract to them. They have the right skillset for this job.’

To be a piece of cake – saying to say that something is very easy.

‘Don’t worry. Navigating this computer system is a piece of cake.’

It’s not rocket science – another way to say something is very easy.

‘It’s alright, I can check the car tyre pressure. It’s not rocket science!’

Speaking activity

Get your student to use these verbs and expressions to tell you who is the best and worst among their family and friends at these activities.

• Cooking
• Navigating in a place they don’t know
• Fixing computer problems
• ‘Small talk’ – chatting with people they don’t know in social gatherings.

Exams

Intermediate

To pass/ to fail an exam.

To cheat on/in an exam – to ‘copy’ someone in an exam.

‘My cousin got caught cheating in his final year exam and so they failed him.’

To take an exam – to ‘do’ an exam.

To retake an exam – to ‘do’ an exam again because you failed last time.

‘He has to retake his psychology exam in order to pass to the next year.’

To get a result, mark, driver’s licence.

‘Rebecca got her driver’s licence at 18. She finds driving a piece of cake.’

To mark an exam – to ‘correct’ an exam and give it a final score.

‘It takes two weeks to mark all the students’ exam sheets.’

To revise for an exam (UK), to study for an exam (US) – to review and memorise the subject in order to get a good mark in the exam.

Revision (noun).

‘I revised a lot for my French exam and it paid off. I got 85%’

Advanced

To pass an exam with flying colours – a popular phrase to express that someone has passed an exam with very good marks (UK and US).

To ace an exam – a popular phrase to express that someone has passed an exam with very good marks (US).

‘My son passed his finals with flying colours.’ ‘Great! In the USA we also say “he aced his exam.’“‘

To fail an exam miserably – to get terrible marks and fail.

‘How did you do?’ ‘I failed miserably. Let’s go to the pub.’

To scrape by in an exam – to pass with the minimum mark.

‘I hate chemistry. I thought I was going to fail but I just scraped by.’

To get stuck on a problem – when you can’t solve a problem and need help (not, ‘to be blocked on a problem’).

‘We’re stuck on this software problem. We need help from the developer.’

Speaking activity

• Ask the student to tell you about their time as a student at school and university.
• Were they good at exams or did they have to revise a lot?
• Have they ever aced an exam or do they usually scrape by?
• What about cheating in an exam? What were the policies if you got caught?

Subjects and qualifications

Bachelor of Arts (BA) – a linguistic, humanities or artistic degree.

Bachelor of Science (BSc) – a science, maths, engineering or technology degree.

Curriculum – what you will learn from each subject.

A degree – your qualification when you complete a university course.

A Master’s of Arts (MA) – a two year post graduate degree.

A Master’s of Science (MSc) – a two year post graduate degree.

Subjects – the ‘topics’ you take during the course.

Qualifications – the general word for a person’s academic achievements (not ‘titles’).

Matriculation

To apply for a course – to send an application to a university to see if you will be accepted.

Application (noun).

‘I applied to four universities. I was accepted into the course that I wanted and so I have just enrolled.

To enrol – to ‘matriculate’ for a course.

Enrolment (noun).

‘My daughter has just enrolled in a BSc in engineering. Afterwards she might do an MSc.’

Tuition fees – the money you pay to do a course.

‘Fees are going up and up. It’s terrible for young people.’

Out of school education

To train someone – short courses to train someone to do a job (not ‘to form.’)

Training (noun).

Vocational training – education to train someone to do a particular job (often this starts at 16 years’ old).

Speaking activity

Ask your student the following questions:

• If your student were the minister of education, what changes would they make to the education system in their country?
• What are the positives about the current system? what are the negatives?

Picture activity

How many of these stationary objects can your student name? Full pdf download below.

Pdf download

Final thoughts

We hope you enjoy teaching this education vocabulary to your students. What have we missed? Add your vocabulary in the comments section below.

Below, you’ll also find a speaking practice with some debate topics provided by Janie C

Ways to express your opinion

Intermediate

In my opinion…

I think, I believe…

I am in favour of…

I feel that…

To be for/ against something.

‘She is against animal cruelty.’

Advanced

I reckon… (informal)

‘I reckon that electric cars will become more popular in the coming years as the price of petrol rises.’

Expressing your opinion in academic writing

In my view…

It seems to be that…

I would argue that…

Expressing your honest opinion

Frankly.

Truthfully.

To be honest.

To tell the truth.

‘To tell the truth, I don’t like sushi. I just eat it because all my friends like going to Japanese restaurants.’

Expressing how the situation affects you

Personally speaking.

From my point of view.

As far as I’m concerned.

‘As far as I’m concerned, the CEO can do what she wants. I’m retiring next year.’

Agreeing and disagreeing

Intermediate

To agree/ disagree (verbs).

‘I agree that climate change is a serious issue.’

To be right/ that’s right.

‘That’s right, we’re having another election this year.’

 To come to an agreement.

‘The politicians came to an agreement about the amendment to the law.’

Let’s compromise – when two parties find a middle ground.

Advanced

The argument does not hold water – a way to say you think a person’s reasoning is bad.

‘The argument that climate change isn’t happening doesn’t hold water. There is more and more evidence every year.’

Let’s agree to disagree – a phrase when two parties cannot come to an agreement but respect each other’s views.

‘Let’s agree to disagree: you think Juventus is the best team in Italy, while I think it’s SSC Napoli.’

Expressing advantages and disadvantages of an argument or task

Advanced

The advantages and disadvantages

The pros and cons.

‘Explain to me the pros and cons of having a diesel car.’

The plus and minus of a situation.

‘One plus to this job is that you get flexible working hours. A minus is that you have to be in the office every Friday for the weekly meeting.’

The upside (s) and the downside (s).

‘The upside of having a diesel is that it is very efficient with fuel. The downside is that it’s worse for the environment.’

Advanced

On the other side of the coin – the other side of the argument (not, ‘medal’).

‘Going abroad for our holiday would be great. On the other side of the coin, staying in Italy would be cheaper.’

On the flip side – the other side of the argument.

‘Getting a dog would be a lot of work for our family. On the flip side we would get plenty of exercise.’

The drawback(s) – the disadvantage.

‘A major drawback of having a credit card is that you can easily go into debt.’

Explaining your reasons

Intermediate

Due to + noun

‘The house was badly damaged due to the storm.’

Due to the fact + verb

‘The house was badly damaged due to the fact there was a storm.’

Thanks to + noun (only for positive results).

‘Thanks to new funding, the school was able to build a new gym.’

Advanced

Since / as + verb

‘Since it’s raining, shall we stay in and have some coffee?’

Therefore + verb

‘We’re saving for a deposit for a house; therefore, we can’t afford a holiday this year.’

When you’re not sure of the facts

From the look of things…

It is understood that…

As far as I know…

‘As far as I know, there are European elections every four years.’

In theory…

To my knowledge…

‘To my knowledge, it was the ancient Greeks who first invented the idea of democracy.’

Giving examples

Especially.

Particularly.

Specifically.

Let me give you an example.

For instance.

‘There are many difficult mountains to climb in Europe. For instance, what about Monte Bianco?’

Such as.

‘He has written articles about many industries in his career, such as finance, IT, medicine and manufacturing.’

Referencing a source

Regarding, concerning.

‘Regarding your report, there were lots of good points but you didn’t go into much detail.’

In relation to.

Namely.

According to.

‘According to the latest figures, Netflix is the world’s most popular streaming service.’

Speaking practice

Ask your students to make their case with these debate questions. Encourage them to use the vocabulary you’ve taught them and not just answer the question.

Questions

• Should parents be allowed to choose if they want their children vaccinated or not?
• Should public universities be free?
• Should the government be allowed to spy on your activities in the name of counter-terrorism?
• Should countries face sanctions if they continue to pollute using outdated technology such as coal?
• Should very thin or morbidly obese women and men be allowed to feature on the covers of magazines?

Homework

‘Why you think you’re right, even if you’re wrong,’ is an 11-minute TED talk talking about perspective.