Learning & Goals — B1 Essential Words

course /kɔːrs/ noun B1 Education

Meaning: A series of lessons on one subject that you study over a period of time, at a school, a college, or online.

Example: I’m taking an online English course this year.

Another example: The course starts in September and ends in May.

Collocations: take a course · an online course · a training course

Synonyms: class (series of lessons), program

Word family: course (n)

⚠ Common mistake: ’Of course’ means ’certainly’ — a different, very common phrase: ’Of course you can come!’

🗣 In spoken American English: Students ask each other, ’What courses are you taking this semester?’

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

degree /dɪˈɡriː/ noun B1 Education

Meaning: A qualification you receive from a university after finishing your studies; also a unit for measuring temperature.

Example: He got his degree in biology from a university in Boston.

Another example: Today it’s 95 degrees outside in Houston.

Collocations: a college degree · get a degree · degrees Fahrenheit

Synonyms: qualification, diploma (the paper)

Word family: degree (n)

⚠ Common mistake: In the US, temperatures use Fahrenheit degrees: ’90 degrees’ in summer is hot, not impossible.

🗣 In spoken American English: People ask ’What’s your degree in?’ to ask what someone studied at university.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

subject /ˈsʌb.dʒekt/ noun B1 Education

Meaning: An area of knowledge that you study at school, like math, history, or science; also the main topic of a talk or a book.

Example: Math is my favorite subject at school.

Another example: Let’s not change the subject — we’re talking about your trip.

Collocations: a school subject · favorite subject · change the subject

Synonyms: topic, field

Word family: subject (n) · subjective (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: For one subject use ’is’: ’History is my favorite subject’, not ’History are…’.

🗣 In spoken American English: ’Change the subject’ is what you say when you want to talk about something else.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

progress /ˈprɑː.ɡres/ noun B1 Education

Meaning: Movement forward toward a goal; improvement in a skill or a situation over time.

Example: You’re making great progress in English.

Another example: The team reported steady progress on the new building.

Collocations: make progress · good progress · progress in

Synonyms: improvement, advancement

Antonyms: decline

Word family: progress (n) · progress (v) · progressive (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: The common phrase is ’make progress’, not ’do progress’: ’She is making progress.’

🗣 In spoken American English: Teachers write ’Good progress!’ on reports to praise improvement.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

improve /ɪmˈpruːv/ verb B1 Education

Meaning: To become better, or to make something better than it was before.

Example: You can improve your English by reading every day.

Another example: His cooking improved a lot this year.

Collocations: improve your skills · improve quickly · room to improve

Synonyms: get better, develop, enhance

Antonyms: get worse, worsen

Word family: improve (v) · improvement (n) · improved (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: Say ’improve in’ a subject or ’improve on’ a result: ’She improved in math’ / ’He improved on his last score.’

🗣 In spoken American English: Coaches say ’Room to improve’ kindly when someone is good but can still be better.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

achieve /əˈtʃiːv/ verb B1 Education

Meaning: To succeed in reaching a goal or finishing something you planned, usually through effort.

Example: She worked hard to achieve her goal of running a marathon in New York.

Another example: You can achieve a lot with thirty minutes of practice a day.

Collocations: achieve a goal · achieve success · achieve your dream

Synonyms: reach, accomplish, attain

Antonyms: fail

Word family: achieve (v) · achievement (n) · achiever (n)

⚠ Common mistake: You ’achieve’ a goal or a result — not a person or a place: ’achieve my goal’, not ’achieve the teacher’.

🗣 In spoken American English: People say ’You can achieve anything you set your mind to’ to encourage others.

Register: neutral — a little formal, common in school and work

goal /ɡoʊl/ noun B1 Education

Meaning: Something you plan and work to reach in the future, like learning a language or saving money; also the point scored in sports like soccer.

Example: My goal is to speak English fluently in two years.

Another example: Tom scored the winning goal in the last minute.

Collocations: set a goal · reach a goal · a long-term goal

Synonyms: aim, target, ambition

Word family: goal (n) · goalkeeper (n)

⚠ Common mistake: Say ’set a goal’ when you decide it, and ’reach a goal’ or ’achieve a goal’ when you succeed.

🗣 In spoken American English: In sports talk, ’GOAL!’ is the shout when a team scores.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

success /səkˈses/ noun B1 Education

Meaning: The result of doing what you planned — reaching your goal or doing something well.

Example: The school play was a great success.

Another example: Hard work is the key to success.

Collocations: a great success · the key to success · success in

Synonyms: achievement, victory

Antonyms: failure

Word family: success (n) · succeed (v) · successful (adj) · successfully (adv)

⚠ Common mistake: Keep the forms apart: ’success’ (noun), ’succeed’ (verb), ’successful’ (adjective): ’Her success came from a successful plan.’

🗣 In spoken American English: People toast ’To your success!’ at celebrations.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

fail /feɪl/ verb B1 Education

Meaning: To not succeed in doing something you tried; to not pass a test.

Example: Don’t be afraid to fail — mistakes help you learn.

Another example: He studied hard so he wouldn’t fail the exam.

Collocations: fail a test · fail to finish · never fail

Synonyms: not pass, be unsuccessful

Antonyms: succeed, pass

Word family: fail (v) · failure (n) · failed (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: ’Fail’ + the test is the normal pattern: ’fail the exam’. The positive word is ’pass the exam’.

🗣 In spoken American English: Students joke ’Epic fail!’ about funny mistakes, but teachers say ’Failure is part of learning.’

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing

memory /ˈmem.ɚ.i/ noun B1 Education

Meaning: Your ability to remember things, or one thing that you remember from the past.

Example: She has a great memory for names.

Another example: My best memory of Denver is the trip with my grandparents.

Collocations: a good memory · from memory · childhood memories

Synonyms: recollection, recall

Word family: memory (n) · memorize (v) · memorable (adj)

⚠ Common mistake: For studying words, say ’memorize’ or ’learn by heart’: ’I memorized the list’, not ’I memory the list’.

🗣 In spoken American English: People say ’If my memory serves me right…’ before recalling a fact carefully.

Register: neutral — fine in speech and writing