Today on Aprender Inglés con Reza y Craig, do we say ‘make an exam’ or ‘do an exam’? What’s the difference between a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree? We talk about Academic terms and vocabulary on this week’s show.

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Books we recommend and writers we like?
Bill Bryson – https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Bryson

We’re sorry there’s only only 90 seconds on the Speakpipe service   (you can also attach an mp3 file to an email) As poor podcasters, we can’t afford more than 90 seconds!

Ernest Hemingway – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway

Neil Gaiman (short fiction, novels, comic books) The Sandman, American Gods, The Graveyard Book – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Gaiman

Graded readers (or read a book in Spanish first and then read the original)
Comics
Lord of The Rings, Harry Potter, Batman, Spiderman
What are you favourite authors and genres?
What are you reading at the moment?

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I beg you to…..
It’s messy in my mind
Pronunciation – ‘title’

ACADEMIC TERMS
We looked at some useful academic vocabulary in episode 87

Here are a few more expressions:
To do/sit/take an exam

To redo/resit/retake an exam (if you fail first time round!) – to do resits

To do a degree in ___________ eg. I’m doing a degree in Physics at Oxford (University)
(A career = a long-term profession/job, NOT a degree. eg. Peter had a 30-year career as a policeman until he retired.)

Higher education (HE) = university (UK)/college (USA) level education

Further education (FE) = education after leaving school, eg. a technical college, an agricultural college, a catering college, etc.

Tertiary education = anything after Primary then Secondary education = FE or HE

There are four main degree levels: associate, bachelors, masters, and doctorate.

Associate Degrees
2-year courses for things like nursing, graphic design and other vocational areas. – community colleges and technical schools.

Completing an associate degree program qualify you to get a job.
The most common degrees available at the associate level include:

Associate of Arts (A.A.)
Associate of Science (A.S.)
Associate of Applied Science (AAS)

Bachelor’s Degrees
Undergraduate program – 4 years usually – major area of study, such as finance, history, communications or biology.

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
Bachelor of Science (B.S./B.Sc.)
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)
Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS)

Master’s Degrees
Master’s degree programs are graduate programs that let you specialize in an area of study.
Usually take 1-2 years to complete.
Many master’s degree programs need you to write a thesis for graduation.

Master of Arts (M.A.)
Master of Science (M.S./M.Sc.)
Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Doctoral Degrees
Doctoral degree programs, also known as Ph.D. programs, are the most advanced type of degree program available. Admittance may require individuals to hold a master’s degree, although several programs accept candidates who only hold bachelor’s degrees.

Completing a Ph.D. program usually takes several years, and often involves the completion of a dissertation and a major research project.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Doctor of Medicine (M.D.)

For a fairly exhaustive list of useful academic expressions to write academic English at university level, try the Academic Phrase Bank compiled by Dr. John Morley.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualification_types_in_the_United_Kingdom
Macmillan dictionary: http://www.macmillandictionary.com/thesaurus-category/british/degrees-and-other-academic-qualifications

Improve your speaking with an italki teacher

Email from Ana Perez
Hello Reza and Craig:
I want to thank you for your job (work), I’ve just passed the FCE and you had helped me a lot. I usually go to work listening to your podcasts even now because I want to go on improving my English. I’m 52 years old and I don’t need it for my job but I love it since I was child (I’ve loved it). I’m looking for something to practice my speaking ability, but all what (that) I find such as total inmersión (immersion) is too expensive. Do you know something else?
By the way, your voices are very very nice.
Thank you for everything,
Kisses,
Ana

You could sign up for an online service like italki and pay an online teacher.

You can start by recording yourself on your mobile phone to increase your confidence.

…and now it’s your turn to practise your English. Are you too shy to practise your English online?
PLease tell us what is stopping you from using Skype, or similar software, to improve your speaking.
Send us a voice message and tell us what you think. https://www.speakpipe.com/inglespodcast

Send us an email with a comment or question to craig@inglespodcast.com or belfastreza@gmail.com.

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We want to thank Arminda from Madrid and Alberto from Granada for continuing to transcribe full transcriptions. Alberto has transcribed episodes 132 and 133, so we now have full transcriptions for episodes 131 to 142.

On next week’s episode: Music Vocabulary

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called ‘See You Later’