Speaking: Vocabulary for Speaking B2
Topic-Specific Vocabulary
The Power of Specialized Language 🔧
Using the correct terminology shows that you are knowledgeable and passionate. Compare these two descriptions of the same job:
"I work for a company that sells things online. I help with the website to make it easy for people to buy things. I look at data to see what people like."
"I work in e-commerce. I'm responsible for improving the user experience (UX) on our platform. I analyze analytics to understand consumer behavior and improve our conversion rate."
The second version sounds much more professional because it uses the specific language of the industry.
How to Build Your Lexical Fields
A lexical field is a group of words related to one topic. Here's how to build one for any area of your life.
What do you talk about most? Your job (e.g., accounting, marketing)? Your main hobby (e.g., gaming, football)?
When you read or watch something about your topic in English, keep a vocabulary notebook. Write down new words, their meanings, and example sentences.
Make a conscious effort to use your new words the next time you discuss the topic. This is the fastest way to make them part of your active vocabulary.
Example Lexical Fields 📚
Here are some examples of topic-specific vocabulary for common fields.
For a Career in Banking/Finance:
Keywords: `loan application`, `interest rate`, `transaction`, `portfolio`, `asset management`, `risk assessment`.
For a Hobby like Online Gaming:
Keywords: `to level up`, `a quest`, `an NPC (Non-Player Character)`, `a guild`, `to grind`, `the meta`.
For a Career in NGOs/Development:
Keywords: `stakeholder`, `grassroots level`, `capacity building`, `monitoring and evaluation (M&E)`, `a grant proposal`.
Techniques & Practice 🎯
💡 The "Explain it to a Child" Technique
A great way to test your understanding of specialized vocabulary is to try and explain it in simple terms. If you can't explain a complex term easily, you probably haven't fully understood it yourself.
Example: "What is a target audience?"
Good Explanation: "It's the specific group of people that a company wants to sell its product to. For example, the target audience for a new energy drink might be young men aged 18 to 25."
✍️ Practice Quiz: Which Word Fits?
1. In football, when a defending player is closer to the goal line than the second-to-last opponent when the ball is passed, it is called the __________ rule.
A) substitute
B) offside
C) grassroots
→ Answer: B. This is a specific rule in football.
2. Before the bank approves a major business loan, they need to conduct a thorough __________ to understand the potential dangers.
A) risk assessment
B) quest
C) itinerary
→ Answer: A. This is a standard process in finance and business.
Key Vocabulary
- Precision The quality of being exact, accurate, and careful.
- Topic-Specific Vocabulary A set of words related to a particular subject.
- Credibility The quality of being able to be believed or trusted.
- Terminology The special words or phrases used in a particular field (also known as jargon).
- Lexical Field A group of words that are related in meaning, often connected to the same topic.
Your Mission: Become the Expert ⭐
Your mission is to begin building your own specialized vocabulary list.
- Choose ONE topic that is important to you: your job, your dream career, or your favorite hobby.
- Spend 15 minutes online finding an English article or YouTube video about that topic.
- Your goal: Find and write down 5-7 new words or phrases that are specific to that topic.
- Create your own mini-dictionary: For each word, write a simple definition and an example sentence that is true for you.
Start using these words. This is the final and most important step to mastering B2 vocabulary: owning the words that matter to you.