head start: meaning and explanation
The meaning of the expression head start is an advantage you have over someone else. This could be in a competition (e.g. a race), or more generally (e.g. in life).
When you decide that someone should be given an advantage (usually to make a situation fairer), we can say that you should give them a head start. If the advantage already exists, you can say that someone has a head start.
We can use the prepositions over/against/on if you want to include the people or things that someone has an advantage over, e.g. My language skills gave me a bit of a head start over my colleagues.
Have a go at these micro-dictation exercises to hear this expression being used in context – how much can you understand?
Listening exercises
Dictation #1
Accent: Ireland
About the sentence
...Bringing children up to be bilingual...
Notice the important phrasal verb to bring someone up. Do you know the meaning?
Dictation #2
Accent: England (RP)
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Dictation #3
Accent: Northern England
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Extra practice
Here are some questions/links to help you learn the new vocabulary:
- In your country, what kind of things might give someone a head start in life?
- Were you given a head start in life, or are you trying to give your children a head start in life?
The example I’m going to give it’s nothing to see with the questions above.
I believe that life gave me a head start when at young age I could get a job about my career.
Is it okay?
Almost perfect – I would say: “…when I was able to get a job related to my degree”.
Be careful with career – this is a false friend for Spanish speakers. When you want to talk about the subject you studied at university, we say ‘degree’. Your career is the job/jobs you do over the course of your life, e.g. “Martin had a very successful career as a lawyer”.