Master 120 common phrasal verbs

Course Handbook – Study Guide

Introduction

Welcome! Let me just say how happy I am that you have joined me on this course.

Over the years, I have seen many of my students get frustrated with their efforts to
learn vocabulary in general and phrasal verbs in particular. That is why I have decided
to dedicate this course to these rather challenging verbs.

I always say that it better to learn 10 new words that you can use actively than 100 that
you can only understand passively. We all know from experience that learning
vocabulary from lists that we have translated into our own language is a waste of time.
Vocabulary can only be learned effectively in context.

Course Content & Goals

For this course, I have selected about 120 common phrasal verbs that you are going to
first learn in dialogues and then practise orally in new contexts. The total audio and
video content is 128 minutes, which you will be listening to and repeating several times.

By the end of the course, you will be able to understand these verbs easily in any
situation and use them spontaneously yourself.

In addition, thanks to the intensive oral practice that involves listening to, answering and
repeating many complete sentences that include important structures and daily
expressions, you will also improve:

- your listening comprehension of native speakers;

- your mastery of important English structures;
- your pronunciation and fluency.

Your Step-by-step Study guide

To ensure that you gain maximum benefit out of this course, it is important that you
follow the study guide closely, and that you do not skip any of the steps.

Please start by reading the step-by-step study guide on the next three pages to
get an idea of the activities and the timescale involved. Then, refer to your
study guide regularly and follow the instructions closely as you progress
through each stage of the course.

1
 Your Step-by-step Study guide

PREPARATION

1. Print out all the pdf files in your handbook, including this study guide.
2. Study the section ‘Answers to Frequently Asked Questions’.
3. Browse the lists of both separable and non-separable verbs as follows: Cover
the definitions and put a tick next to the phrasal verbs that you understand.
Put a cross next to the ones you don’t understand.

VIDEO LESSONS

Watch the first video lesson:

1. Listen to the dialogue once and make sure you understand all the
phrasal verbs in the conversation.
2. Find the transcript of the dialogue in your handbook and write down
the definition (not the translation!) of the verbs that are new to you.
3. Listen twice more and repeat each sentence without looking at the
transcript.
4. Do the gap-filling exercise at the end of the video twice.
5. Now do the same gap-filling exercise in your handbook, and check
your answers using the Answer Key.
6. Make a note of your mistakes.
7. If you had more than 2 mistakes, listen to the dialogue and repeat it
again.

Repeat steps 1 to 7 for each of the 10 video lessons.

ASSIMMILATION CHECK

STEP 1: How many of the verbs do you understand now?

Go back to the lists of the verbs in your handbook and browse the verbs again:

1. Cover the definition and put a tick next to the phrasal verbs that you now
understand. Many of the verbs you had put a cross next to in the
preparation stage should now have a tick next to them.
2. Make a list of the ones you still don’t understand.
3. Find them the in the transcript of the dialogues and remind yourself of
their meaning and usage.

Repeat steps 1 to 3 until you understand the meaning of ALL the verbs.

2
 STEP 2: How many of the verbs can you remember now?

Go back to the lists of the verbs in your handbook and browse the verbs again:

1. This time, cover the phrasal verbs, read the definition and see if you
remember the verb. Put a tick next to the phrasal verbs that you
remember, and a cross next to the ones you don’t.
2. Make a list of the ones you still don’t remember.
3. Find them the in the transcript of the dialogues and remind yourself of
their meaning and usage.

Repeat steps 1 to 3 until you can remember ALL the phrasal verbs when you see
their definition.

STEP 3: Watch all the video lessons one more time.

1. Listen to the dialogues and repeat the sentences out loud without looking
at the transcript.
2. Do the gap-filling exercises
3. Repeat steps 1 & 2 until there is absolutely no hesitation on your part in
repeating the sentences or finding the correct verb to fill in each gap.

AUDIO EXERRCISES

Preparation (handbook)
1. Do all the exercises in your handbook first.
2. Check your answers and make a note of any mistakes.
3. Review the ones you couldn’t remember using either the transcript of the
dialogues or the list of verbs.

Audio only
1. Do the exercises orally without looking at the transcript.
2. Always repeat the correct answer even if your own answer was correct.
3. Repeat steps 1 & 2 Several times until there is absolutely no hesitation on
your part in producing the correct answer each time.

TIPS

1. Avoid looking at the transcripts when you are repeating the dialogues or doing
the oral exercises.
2. Avoid doing too many video lessons together, or spending more than 45-60
minutes a day studying phrasal verbs. Cramming will lead to confusion. Do it
slowly.
3. Watch a section of a movie that you like and are familiar with every day, so you
can hear the phrasal verbs you are learning in new contexts.

3
RECOMMENDED STUDY PROGRAMME

Naturally, you will each progress at a different speed, depending on your own
abilities. However, whatever pace you would like to adopt, I strongly recommend
that you set yourself a study programme before you start.

Here is an example of a 2-week study programme: (45-60 minutes / day)

Day 1: Preparation & video lesson 1

Day 2: Video lessons 2 & 3
Day 3: Video lessons 4 & 5
Day 4: Video lessons 6 & 7
Day 5: Video lessons 8 & 9
Day 6: Video lesson 10 & assimilation check step 1
Day 7: Assimilation check step 2
Days 8-9: Assimilation check step 3
Days 10-11: Audio Exercises: Steps 1-3 (Preparation in Handbook)
Days 12-14: Audio Exercises; Steps 4-5 (Audio only)

In addition, every day, watch a 20-30 minute section of a movie.

After that, once a month: Repeat all the audio exercises over 2-3 days to keep the
verbs fresh in your mind.

© 2014, Anglo-Link Languages Limited