Speaking: Vocabulary for Speaking B2 - Lesson 5: Topic-Specific Vocabulary
Welcome to our final vocabulary lesson! While general English is essential, a key skill for B2 speakers is the ability to discuss personally relevant topics—like your job or hobbies—with depth and precision1. Developing topic-specific vocabulary2 will boost your confidence and increase your credibility3 when speaking about subjects you know well.
The Power of Specialized Language
Using the correct terminology4 shows that you are knowledgeable and passionate. Compare these two descriptions of the same job:
Version 1 (General Vocabulary):
"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."
Version 2 (Topic-Specific Vocabulary):
"I work in e-commerce. I'm responsible for improving the user experience (UX) on our platform. My goal is to optimize the customer journey from Browse to checkout. I analyze analytics to understand consumer behavior and improve our conversion rate."
The second version sounds much more professional and impressive because it uses the specific language of the industry.
How to Build Your Own Lexical Fields
A lexical field5 is a group of words related to one topic. You can build one for any area of your life.
- Identify Your Key Topics: What do you talk about most? Your job (e.g., accounting, marketing, education)? Your main hobby (e.g., gaming, football, photography)?
- Actively Collect Words: When you read an article or watch a video about your topic in English, keep a special notebook or file. When you find a new, relevant word, write it down with its definition and the sentence you found it in.
- Use It or Lose It: 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 in Cambodia.
- 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`, `the main storyline`, `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`, `field work`.
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."
This practice of defining and simplifying helps to solidify the new vocabulary in your mind.
Practice Quiz: Which Word Fits?
Choose the word that best fits the topic-specific context.
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.
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. For example, if you work in accounting and learn the term `audit trail`, your sentence might be: "In my job, I must ensure there is a clear **audit trail** for every transaction."
- Start using these words. This is the final and most important step to mastering B2 vocabulary: owning the words that matter to you.
Vocabulary Glossary
- Precision: (Noun) - ភាពច្បាស់លាស់ - The quality of being exact, accurate, and careful. ↩
- Topic-Specific Vocabulary: (Noun Phrase) - វាក្យសព្ទប្រធានបទពិសេស - A set of words and phrases that are related to a particular subject. ↩
- Credibility: (Noun) - ភាពអាចទុកចិត្តបាន - The quality of being able to be believed or trusted. ↩
- Terminology: (Noun) - បច្ចេកសព្ទ - The special words or phrases that are used in a particular field. Also known as jargon. ↩
- Lexical Field: (Noun Phrase) - វាលវាក្យសព្ទ - A group of words that are related in meaning, often connected to the same topic. ↩