Heuristic
Learn a word with the company it keeps
Knowing each word does not guarantee that the words belong together.
When it fits
- Your vocabulary is broad, but combinations sound translated.
When to avoid it
- Do not turn whole paragraphs into fixed scripts. A frequent expression may still be wrong for the audience or meaning.
Why it matters
Capture useful word partnerships, including their grammar and setting. Store raise a concern as a usable action, not three isolated translations. Then change the situation while keeping the partnership natural.
An example
A phrase learned in a project discussion becomes a way to raise a concern about a supplier deadline, rather than another sentence about the same fictional project.
Check your result
Can you use the partnership appropriately without copying the original sentence?
Keep this limit in mind
- Do not turn whole paragraphs into fixed scripts. A frequent expression may still be wrong for the audience or meaning.
Connected ideas
Useful withCheck a phrase in real usage
Evidence and sources
A small classroom study associated instruction that noticed formulaic sequences with better perceived oral proficiency than its comparison instruction.
The rating outcome is narrower than general proficiency; collecting expressions alone is not the tested treatment.
Formulaic sequences and perceived oral proficiency: putting a Lexical Approach to the test · Abstract, intervention and oral ratings.