dead and deceased - no difference - deceased sounds more polite and is used in formal and legal language

Visit http://www.learnamericanenglishonline.com/ for free lessons in American English. Search the internet for "English lessons for Arabic speakers" to buy a program like Pimsleur, or search "free English lessons online" if you want to save your money for the tutor Jura recommends.

We have civilizations in this world where intolerance for ethnic minorities, different political beliefs and different sexual orientation is the norm. Would I call these people savage? No, but I also wouldn't call them worldly or compassionate. I think fear of difference or "the other" is somewhat natural to humans. I would say that tolerance is the mark of an evolved society or civilization. Intolerance can sometimes manifest in savage ways among people that are otherwise reasonable. To overcome intolerance is a noble quest, and I think it bears the reward of greater peace among people and peace of mind for the individual who has overcome their fear/judgement of "the other".

You're right that guessing the meaning from the context is good practice, but if you aren't sure of the meaning, it's best to look it up. Depending on how important it is to understand completely, you can stop and use the dictionary or add it to your vocabulary list to look up later and hopefully include a sample sentence or two in your vocabulary notebook. If you are an IT professional for instance, you can't afford to guess the meaning of terminology essential to your field. If you are reading a novel for entertainment, it's a different story. My comment was in response to questions on this website that are better explained in the dictionary. Also, as an English Instructor, I have found that a lot of my new students tell me they have been using a translation dictionary only. I explain the benefits of using a dictionary like the Cambridge Advanced Learners' Dictionary. If I am reading or even watching TV and hear a word that I'm not sure I understand correctly, I jump on the computer and check a dictionary or search the word on the internet. It's not a hassle for me. When I was younger, I found it bothersome to stop what I was doing to look up a word. Now, I enjoy knowing for sure the meaning and usage of vocabulary in my own language and other languages. I'm nearly sixty and still occasionally hear a new word in English, or more typically, a word that I'm just not one hundred percent sure I understand. Ha ha....maybe because I didn't use the dictionary enough in my youth!

Painkiller is more commonly used as explained above, but I should mention that analgesic does not sound like anal because we pronounce anal or anus (the proper word for asshole) with a long a sound as in ape and analgesic with a short a sound as in apple. So, if you want to sound more scientific, go for it!

In what context did you find this phrase? My guess is that someone is referring to rain drops illuminated by lights, but it's only a guess.

What ever happened to the good idea of using a dictionary? It used to be that we had to learn the International Phonetic Alphabet to know how to pronounce a foreign language. Nowadays, you just click on an icon to hear proper pronunciation. The Cambridge Advanced Learners' Dictionary and many dictionary websites will give you the American and British pronunciations like www.thefreedictionary.com. Some will give only the American English pronunciation, like www.merriam-webster.com If you want accuracy, don't use translate.google.com for pronunciation. Please abandon the code I see in the comments above, as there is so much room for error.