How to Speak (MIT OpenCourseWare)
B1 · IntermediateAmerican English64 minPatrick Winston
About this lesson
The classic MIT lecture on giving talks. Measured, carefully articulated American English that is easy to follow sentence by sentence.
Pace: about 139 words per minute, 863 sentences.
Key vocabulary
The more advanced words in this lesson. Click any word in the sentence above for its meaning and pronunciation.
- parameter/pɚˈæmətɚ/C2
- nounA parameter is a boundary or a limit.
- colloquial/kəˈloʊkwiəl/C2
- adjectiveIf something is colloquial, it is a manner of speaking or writing that is common in a place.
- kinetic/kəˈnɛtɪk/C2
- adjectiverelating to the motion of material bodies and the forces associated therewith
- proportional/pɹəˈpɔɹʃənəl/C2
- adjectiveIf A is proportional with B, they are similar in size or amount.
- prop/pɹɑp/C1
- nounA prop is an object that is supporting another object by being place underneath it or in some other way leaning against it.
- collaborator/kəˈlæbɚˌeɪtɚ/C1
- nounsomeone who assists in a plot
- clutter/ˈklʌtɚ/C1
- nounA clutter is a bunch of things that are left in an untidy state.
- inherent/ɪnˈhɪɹənt/C1
- adjectiveA part of something that is natural and cannot be separated from it.
- mechanism/ˈmɛkəˌnɪzəm/C1
- nounA mechanism is the way something works
- squander/ˈskwɑndɚ/C1
- verbIf you squander something, you waste or splurge; to spend lavishly or profusely.
- align/əˈlaɪn/C1
- verbIf you align some things, you make them point the same direction.
- constraint/kənˈstɹeɪnt/C1
- nounA constraint is a limit.
Levels follow the CEFR scale and are approximate.
