Welcome!  [SITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

My name's Francisco Javier and I'm an English teacher at EOI (the Official School of Languages in Spain). On this site, you will find thousands of words and phrases from a variety of topics that are aimed at upper-intermediate and advanced students. Accordingly, a large number of common words and phrases in English have been excluded, since these items are already part of the lexicon of any intermediate or advanced learner.

Vocabulary here ranges mostly from level B2 to C2, so the reader is expected to have reached by now a good command of the grammar and phonology of English.

Language, culture and the world

Every culture has its own view of the world. This view of the world is reflected in their language and becomes apparent as soon as we start learning a particular foreign language. While undoubtedly we have much in common with other countries and cultures, there are still many differences stemming from the great diversity of peoples, races, customs, traditions, geography, etc. of the world in which we live.

This site, then, presents the way English-speaking and Spanish-speaking people see the world. As you read its content you will increase your general knowledge and greatly extend your vocabulary of a wide range of topics in English and Spanish, while becoming aware of the differences and similarities between these two cultures.

Through their lexicon, you will appreciate how English speakers categorize the world around them and express a myriad of concepts. Here are just a few examples:

- aves zancudas is referred to in English as wading birds, that is, “aves que caminan por el agua”.

- An orca is usually called a killer whale (ballena asesina) even though this type of whale ‒ carnivorous as it is ‒ does not attack humans. Beware, however, of man-eating tigers.

- Our saltamontes becomes in English a grasshopper (saltahierba).

- The kind of economic activity evading taxes, which is called the black economy, is referred to in Spanish as la economía sumergida.

- While we may suffer un frío que pela, some British people do seem to feel the cold and say that it's perishing (hace un frío de muerte/vamos a perecer de frío), which means pretty much the same as in Spanish.

This particular view of the world is even more noticeable when we compare the idioms and sayings from different cultures. In England and other English-speaking countries a cat has nine lives whereas in Spain un gato tiene siete vidas. Instead of ahogarse en un vaso de agua, English speakers make a mountain out of a molehill. Sometimes, they get their heads down while we have to hincar los codos in order to pass an exam; or they might be as mad as a March hare (locos como una liebre de marzo) instead of como una cabra. If you are an avid reader, an English friend of yours might call you a bookworm (una polilla) rather than un ratón de biblioteca.

Topics

Vocabulary on this site is organized thematically in 28 topics covering a wide selection of knowledge of our planet, the human race, the animal kingdom, history, society, the economy, leisure, etc. More importantly, I have arranged entries in a logical order grouping together words with similar meanings or a certain degree of relatedness, thus facilitating their understanding and assimilation (other than that, items appear in alphabetical order). In addition, I have included some notes on usage, differences between British and American English, differences in register, thesaurus entries, as well as short definitions and explanations in order to clarify meaning.

To translate or not to translate? That is the question

While some people argue that all translation should be avoided, I prefer to take a middle course. Translation can be useful to quickly grasp a concept, provided the student is already familiar with it in their native language.

A translation is given for every word and phrase on the site, complemented in some cases ‒ as mentioned before ‒ with a note or some clarification in English to increase the student's understanding. Then, one or two example sentences usually follow, which are never translated into Spanish, thus immersion in English is still achieved to a certain extent.

Idioms

Whenever relevant to any particular term or topic, you will find many idioms with their equivalents in Spanish. Idioms will give you a better understanding of the way native speakers see the world and will make your English sound more natural, as there are idioms reflecting almost any aspect of our lives.

Examples

There are numerous examples throughout the site, especially for more difficult words and phrases. These examples come from a variety of sources: everyday conversations, books, movies, the internet, etc. Occasionally, they have been slightly edited for brevity and pedagogical purposes.

Pronunciation

You will see that some words have a phonetic transcription, sometimes with a second variant pronunciation, but bear in mind that you might still find words in English with three or more pronunciations ‒ although those extra pronunciations are less common. 

Since Spanish students at this level already know how to pronounce thousands of words, it is not necessary to include a phonetic transcription for every item of vocabulary. Besides, they can always check the pronunciation of any word in an online dictionary.

Culture and knowledge

In every topic, you will find cultural entries providing information about movies, books, historical characters, etc. as well as some interesting facts and figures. These are included in order to spice up your reading experience.

Final thoughts

I hope that you find this site comprehensive, interesting and, above all, useful in helping you to progress towards a high level of proficiency in English. 

Thanks for visiting!

From around the world, in 2024