LEARN 105 ENGLISH VOCABULARY WORDS DAY 3

Today is our third day in our 30-day vocabulary 
challenge for 2021. One new video a day for the  

next 30 days to help you learn and boost 
your vocabulary. We’re learning 105 words.  

We’re taking our words from the academic word 
list so these are words you’ll need to know if  

you’re preparing for the IELTS or TOEFL exam, but 
also if you read or watch news in English, or have  

conversations with native speakers. These are 
intermediate words and they are useful, so grab  

a friend have them join the challenge with you and 
let’s do this. As always, if you like this video,  

or you learned something new, please like and 
subscribe with notifications, it means a lot.

We’re on day three and we’re learning four 
words today. I do have a download for you a  

list of all the words with definitions and sample 
sentences, as well as quizzes to make sure you’re  

really getting and remembering these words. You 
can get that download by following this link,  

or the link in the video description. Today’s 
words are: significant, role, major, and period.  

And we’re looking at the different ways these 
words are used in various situations. For each  

word, you’ll get the definition, we’ll cover the 
pronunciation, you’ll get to see up close footage  

of the mouth saying this word, and we’ll also 
have five examples from real life English.

Our first word is SIGNIFICANT.  

Significant. It’s a four-syllable word 
with second syllable stress. Make sure  

those unstressed syllables are flatter, lower in 
pitch. Sig-nificant. Ficant. Ficant. Significant.  

As an adjective, it means large enough 
to be noticed, or have an effect.  

Very important, there’s a significant 
difference between prices in the two stores.  

Let’s again see this word up 
close and in slow motion.

And now we’ll go to Youglish for five 
examples of this word in real situations.

The site is a work in progress 
but it’s significant progress.

Significant progress. Not just a little 
bit of progress, also not a whole,  

whole lot of progress but enough to be noticed 
and have an effect. Significant progress.

The site is a work in progress 
but it’s significant progress.

Here’s another example.

And here there are significant, quantifiable 
racial disparities that cannot be ignored.

Significant. Noticeable enough 
to matter and have an effect.

And here there are significant quantifiable 
racial disparities that cannot be ignored.

Another example.

The question is: will you find something 
that is scientifically significant?

Scientifically significant. 
From a scientific perspective,  

enough to be noticed or have an effect.

The question is: will you find something 
that is scientifically significant?

Here’s another example.

It is a significant problem around the 
world, there’s about one billion people.

A significant problem. Maybe not a huge problem,  

but not a tiny problem either. Big enough 
to have an effect to be important.

It is a significant problem around the 
world, there’s about 1 billion people.

Here’s our last example.

Shortly after I turned 30, I decided I wanted to  

dedicate a significant amount of my 
life to solving climate change.

A significant amount of my time. Not all of 
his time but a significant amount, enough  

to make a difference in his schedule, enough 
to feel like he’s really doing something.

Shortly after I turned 30, I decided I wanted to  

dedicate a significant amount of my 
life to solving climate change.

Next. The word ROLE.

We have the R 
consonant, the OH diphthong, and the dark L.  

Role. Uhl, uhl. uhl. The dark L does affect 
that diphthong. It’s not row, row, role,  

but it’s role, more like a single sound, a 
little bit more lip rounding. The tongue pulls  

back a little bit more. Role, uhl, uhl. And 
then finally, the dark sound where the tongue  

pushes down and back a bit more to make that dark 
sound. The tongue tip can stay down. Role. Role.

Noun, a character played by an actor 
or a part that someone or something  

has in a particular activity or situation. I 
had a minor role in the play. You played a role  

in my decision to move to New York. Let’s look 
at this up close and in slow motion again.

And now we’ll go to Youglish for five 
examples of this word in real situations.

I think everybody here recognizes 
the importance of a role model.

A role model. This is a common use of 
role. A role model is someone you can  

look to as a model person in that role. 
An outstanding example, something that  

you might strive to be yourself, to imitate. A 
student who studies hard and gets good grades  

could be a good role model for 
another student who’s struggling.

I think everybody here recognizes 
the importance of a role model.

Here’s another example.

Haley, what role would you play in a movie?

A role in a movie is a part. I am playing 
the role of the mother. Or she has a lead  

role. That means she’s one 
of the main characters.

Haley, what role would you play in a movie?

Another example.

While the moon fulfills its 
role of lighting the night,  

it also serves key roles in the cycles of life.

Its role in lighting the night. That’s what it 
does at night in that situation. When it’s dark,  

the moon provides some light.

While the moon fulfills its 
role of lighting the night,  

it also serves key roles in the cycles of life.

Here’s another example.

Our role as the foundation will be to help 
facilitate an environmental education program.

Our role. The part we play, what we need to do,  

what is expected of us, how to 
help facilitate this program.

Our role as the foundation will be to help 
facilitate an environmental education program.

Here’s our last example.

And also importantly, what 
role does government have?

What role does government have? What 
should it do in and for society?

And also importantly, what 
role does government have.

Next the word MAJOR.   

It’s an adjective,  it means very important. A large number or amount

or very serious. Researchers have announced 
a major advance in the treatment of cancer.  

As a noun, it means the main subject studied by a 
college or university student. He chose History as  

his major, and French as his minor. Let’s 
see this again up close and in slow motion.

And now we’ll go to Youglish for five 
examples of this word in real situations.

I started out as a math major in 
college with an education minor.

A math major. What she chose 
to study in college. Actually,  

I was a Math major too. I majored in Applied 
Math and Computer Science and also Music.

I started out as a math major in 
college with an Education minor.

Here’s another example.

And we’ve learned that there are major 
differences in the ways that women and men  

experience disease.

Major differences. That is big differences.

And we’ve learned that there are major differences  

in the ways that women and 
men experience disease.

Another example.

The country lies along the delta 
of three major European rivers.

Three major European rivers. That is 
not minor rivers, not small rivers, but  

big rivers, important rivers.

The country lies along the delta 
of three major European rivers.

Here’s another example. This caused major 
delays in the development of the Falcon Heavy.

Major delays. Big delays. They 
were way behind schedule.

This caused major delays in the 
development of the Falcon Heavy.

Here’s our last example.

This is not the last major 
outbreak we’re ever gonna see.

Major outbreak. A huge outbreak with 
a lot of people getting sick.

This is not the last major 
outbreak we’re ever gonna see.

Our last word of this video is PERIOD.

It’s a three-syllable word with first-syllable  

stress. The IH as in vowel is affected by schwa R. 
It’s not a pure IH but it’s a little bit more like  

EE with the tongue being a little closer to 
the roof of the mouth. So it’s not ih– pih–  

period, but it’s pee– ee– per– period.

As a noun, it means a length of time 
during which something happens. The  

period between Christmas and 
New Year’s Eve is very busy.  

As an adjective, it means about a particular 
time in history. The actors wore period  

costumes from the 1800s. Let’s see this word 
up close and in slow motion one more time.

And now we’ll go to Youglish for five 
examples of this word in real situations.

It’s also a time period that I particularly 
love. I love the music from the 40’s.

A time period. A set length of time. What’s 
your favorite time period in history and why?

It’s also a time period that I particularly 
love. I love the music from the 40’s.

Here’s another example.

How long is the incubation period for Covid-9?

Incubation period. The length of time, how many 
minutes, days, years, or weeks, for example.

How long is the incubation period for Covid-9?

Another example.

Five percent of Russia was occupied and 
often for a very brief period of time.

A brief period. Not very long.

Five percent of Russia was occupied and 
often for a very brief period of time.

Here’s another example.

They brought Nathan in, kept him in the 
warmer for about 30 days. It was a very  

scary period for all of us, we weren’t 
sure if he was going to survive or not.

A very scary period. Those 30 
days, that length of time.

They brought Nathan in. Kept him in the 
warmer for about 30 days. It was a very  

scary period for all of us we weren’t 
sure if he was going to survive or not.

Here’s another example.

Well we’ve come to the end of our 
time, and of course there is a lot  

of information we couldn’t cover in such 
a relatively short period of time.

A short period of time. Not enough to 
cover everything they could have said.

Well we’ve come to the end of our 
time, and of course there is a lot  

of information we couldn’t cover in such 
a relatively short period of time.

Seeing their real-life examples can really 
help you understand how to use these words,  

can’t it? I have a challenge for you now. 
Make up a sentence with one of these words,  

and post it to social media, tag me, and use 
the hashtag #rachelsenglish30daychallenge

Don’t be shy, you can do this. Our next video 
comes out tomorrow at 10AM Philadelphia time,  

come back to learn four more vocabulary words. 
In the meantime, keep your studies going with  

this video, and check out my online 
courses at rachelsenglishacademy.com  

You’ll become a more confident English 
speaker. And please do remember to subscribe.  

I love being your English teacher. That’s 
it and thanks so much for using Rachel’s  English.