collocations

• Composition


  A short piece of writing, often used for school work, usually 50-100 words
• Essay


  Longer than a composition, more serious, hundreds or thousands of words
• Assignment


  A long essay, often part of a course, usually thousands of words
• Project


  Like an assignment, but emphasis on student's own material and topic
• Portfolio


  A collection of individual pieces of work; may include drawings and other examples of creative work as well as writing
• Dissertation


  A long, research-based work, perhaps 10-15,000 words, for a degree or diploma
• Thesis


  A very long, original, research-based work, perhaps 80-100,000 words, for a higher degree (e.g. PhD)
• Cram


  Study in a very concentrated way for a short time
• Genius


  An exceptionally clever person
• Past papers


  Exam papers from previous years
• Rote-learning


  Learning purely by repetition
• Mnemonics


  Tricks that help you remember something
• Bury yourself in your books


  Spend the maximum time studying
• Study intensively


  In a very focused way
• Know the subject inside out


  Know it completely
• Academic journals


  Magazines with academic articles
• Access it online


  Get hold of (it) on the internet
• Inter-library loan


  A system where libraries exchange books/journals with one another
• Open educational resources


  Online materials that can be freely used by teachers and students anywhere
• Drop out


  Leave the course before the end
• Finals


  Last exams before the end of a college or university course
• Well-qualified


  With the right formal qualifications
• Opposite number


  Has the same position/does the same job as me
• Working relationship


  Way of communicating and working together
• Collaboration


  Working together to achieve shared goals
• Counterpart


  More formal equivalent of opposite number
• Take the initiative


  Make decisions without being told what to do
• Hierarchical


  Has a structure with important and less important people
• Pecking order


  A system where some people have the right to get benefits/promotions before others
• Job-share


  An agreement where two people each share the same job
• Hot-desking


  A policy of sharing desks in an office, so people sit at whichever desk is free on a particular day
• Workmates


  Colleagues you are friendly with (especially in non-professional occupations)
• Talk shop


  Talk about work
• Mundane


  Ordinary, not interesting
• Deadline


  Have something finished by a fixed day or time
• Volunteer


  Offer to do something without being asked or told to do it
• Rewarding


  Making you feel satisfied that you have done something important or useful, or done something well
• Stimulating


  Encouraging new ideas or new thinking
• Workload


  Amount of work I have to do
• Mechanical


  You don't have to think about what you are doing