The Reading Warehouse

Introduction to 3,570 Real-world English Phrases for Speaking and Writing Practice: Volume 1

Many English learners understand the importance of building their vocabulary, but simply
memorizing words is, quite often, not enough. Memorized words are soon forgotten from
lack of use. Learners who make it a habit of reading English books, however, are able to
retain some of the words they learn as they come across some of the same words, again and
again.

Even so, it is shortsighted to focus only on individual words. After all, words come in
bundles, or collocations. Already, I have used the expression "come across." If you become
familiar with words that usually go together, you can sometimes predict what a speaker is
going to say. This gives you tremendous advantage when you are taking an English test.
A collocation, by the way, is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as "a word or phrase that
is often used with another word or phrase, in a way that sounds correct to people who have
spoken the language all their lives...." While you should continue to build your vocabulary
through extensive reading, you can give yourself additional practice in English speaking and
writing by also paying attention to word clusters such as the ones offered in this book.

These phrases have been collected through hundreds of hours of listening to radio shows,
television broadcasts, podcasts, university lectures and interviews. Phrases have also been
culled from newspaper and magazine articles, as well as contemporary books of both fiction
and nonfiction. Here's wishing you all the best in your continued efforts to become a more
proficient user of the English language.