English vocabulary. Cramming for success: study and academic work

cram

study in a very concentrated way for a short time

genius

an exceptionally clever person

revise past papers

exam papers from previous years

memorised/learnt (off ) by heart

earning purely by repetition

mnemonics

tricks that help you remember something, for example: ‘i’ before ‘e’ except aft er ‘c’ is a mnemonic for English spelling (e.g. friend, but receive)

to bury yourself in your books

spend the maximum time studying

intensively

in a very focused way

know the subject inside out

know it completely

composition

could be just 50–100 words, oft en used for school work

essay

longer than a composition, more serious, hundreds or thousands of words

assignment

a long essay, oft en part of a course, usually thousands of words

project

like an assignment, but emphasis on student’s own material and topic

portfolio

a collection of individual pieces of work; may include drawings and other examples of creative work as well as writing

dissertation

a long, research-based work, perhaps 10–15,000 words, for a degree or diploma

thesis

a very long, original, research-based work, perhaps 80–100,000 words, for a higher degree (e.g. PhD)

mind map

diagram that lays out ideas for a topic and how they are connected to one another

first draft

first, rough version

plagiarism

using other people’s work as if it was yours

acknowledge

give details of

deadline

date by which you must hand in the work

submitted

handed in; formal

assessed

evaluated and given a grade

feedback

comments from the teacher/tutor

carry out research

less formal is do research

academic journals

magazines with academic articles (we do not use the word magazine to talk about this kind of academic publication)

access it online

get hold of (it) on the internet

inter-library loan

system where libraries exchange books/journals with one another

open educational resources

online materials that can be freely used by teachers and students anywhere

drop out

leave the course before the end

finals

last exams before the end of a college or university course

well-qualified

with the right formal qualifications