Profile Update Double VIP Class (Nick)

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Next update September 2019

Previous Levels

Listening: 4.5
Speaking: 4
Pronunciation: 4.75
Writing: 4.5

Class Notes from today:

Practice some TOEFL writing!

Vocabulary

Leech – a small worm that lives in the water and will attach itself to you to suck your blood

Lake House – usually a second house near a lake for vacations, to escape the city

JD – three-year law first-degree in law (but you can only get a JD after a Bachelor’s degree)
LLM – one year second-degree in law

Exploit – to use someone only because you need their help (negative)
e.g. He is acting like they are old friends, but really he’s just trying to exploit his connections to advance his business interests.

Midwest – the area around Chicago; the flat area where people grow corn and soybeans (not quite as far West as the Plains, where people mostly grow wheat and herd cattle)

Boarded up – when a building is no longer in use and they cover the windows with boards so that vandals can’t break the windows or try to break in the doors
e.g. When you go down to that part of the city you can tell it isn’t doing well because of all the boarded up stores.

Impoverished – a place that has little money; very poor

Antonym – opposite word

Criminal law – when you do something that is illegal and the government takes you to court for money or to put you in jail
Torts – the law of injury; when one person causes some harm to another and sues for money (usually)

Private Citizen – someone acting only for themselves, not for a government or corporation
Corporate Representative, Government Official

Talking with / talking to – both usually mean conversation, but “with” really emphasizes that both people are exchanging ideas
Talking at – only one person is talking, probably because only the person talking is interested in what they are saying, or they are just a more dominant person than the other (usually sort of rude)
e.g. The boss called a meeting to discuss the new proposal, but in the end he just talked at everyone for half an hour. (This sentence is trying to express that it was supposed to be a discussion, but the boss didn’t let the other employees contribute anything.)
e.g. He thought the date went well, but I ran into them while they were at the bar and it seemed to me that she was bored and he was just talking at her. (Either he never left her any space to speak, or she wasn’t interested in talking to him.)

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) – a very detailed alphabet that shows all the possible sounds

Comprehend – to be able to wrap your mind around; an idea that is somehow difficult to understand the entirety of; something very strange or surprising that you have to think about a while before you can really understand the many parts or implications of something
e.g. Can you even comprehend the magnitude of your mistake??
Understand – general all-purpose word

Trustworthy / Reliable – something that you can depend upon; someone who is honest; information that you really can believe (trustworthy is a bit more about honesty)
e.g. If you have business in China, aren’t you a more reliable consultant on the business climate there?

Verbal – spoken

Fake it until you make it – if you show confidence then eventually you will really feel confident; eventually you will have the experience that produces confidence naturally

Examiner – a person who gives you a test

Score / Grade – how much you get on a test (a number), or what letter

Grammar

It makes Beijing looks like – look

She wanted to be disappeared – to disappear
— “To be disappeared” is to be abducted, taken away by force, or maybe killed

Even if we got phone number of her – her phone number

Watching TV helps a little – Watching TV only helps a little / Watching TV helps but little
— This is a positive sentence, it means that this helps more than nothing, and that this is a good thing
— The second is negative, and is better for comparing it with something more effective (like conversation)

All the native speakers haven’t realized this issue – None of the native speakers have realized this issue

My oral English level is much better than her – hers

Totally out of my expectation – totally unexpected / totally out of the expected range of possibilities