Learning a new language is a great achievement, and an awesome addition to your resume. Of course, it requires patience and a lot of hard-work, but the results are totally worth it. There are three main parts to language learning: speaking, understanding grammar, and building vocabulary. We're going to focus on the latter, because without building vocabulary, you won't be able to speak any language fluently. Therefore, I would say that vocabulary building is one of the most important parts of any language learning process.
Of course, we are not addressing only non-native speakers today. Native speakers can also expand their vocabulary. Having a poor range of words at hand can be very ineffective in the long term, especially if you are preparing for a demanding career which requires a lot of talking.
So, regardless of what your reasons for being here are, we will teach you some great tips on how to expand your vocabulary quickly!
1. Read and Write Down New Words
Reading is a great way to expand your vocabulary. Make time for it every day, and do not find excuses to interrupt this routine. If you are new to the language, find an easy book at first, and update your level as you go. If you are a native, try reading difficult books (since you are already used to using common vocabulary) or even specialized magazines.
When you don’t understand a particular word, look it up in the dictionary. Then, find a notebook, and write it down. Keep the notebook with you all the time, so you can write down new words whenever you need to.
2. Use Words in the Right Context
After you wrote the new words down, it's time to use them properly. Make sentences with them and find the right context. Google examples if you are not sure of a word’s usage. Read forums and get a full understanding of the word’s meaning. There are a lot of times when we use words that we don’t know to “sound fancy,” yet they don’t make any sense in the context. Avoid that by researching your words well!
3. Use Personal Examples
Specialists agree that using personal examples in sentences enhances your learning process. When your brain seizes a personal example, it will remember it better than when it seizes unfamiliar situations. For example, let’s say that you are trying to improve your English vocabulary. You encounter the word “aberration,” which means “the fact or an instance of deviating or being aberrant especially from a moral standard or normal state,” according to Merriam Webster Online Dictionary.
To enhance your learning process, you will use “aberration” in a personal example. For instance: “I was talking about spiritual journeys and mindfulness in a room full of conservatives. They might have perceived this as a personal aberration.”
4. Find Your Own Way of Storing New Information
“Not all people have the same capacities!” says Laura Kidman, a freelancer at Rush My Essay and former pedagogic assistant, “You need to find your own way of learning and storing new information.”
If your mind doesn't “fit the pattern,”, there's no need to feel worried about it. Be happy that you are different from the rest. For some people, associating words with visual images is the best way to remember vocabulary. For others, associating sounds with new words make them recollect what they’ve learned. Find you own way and start learning!
5. Ask Someone to Help You Practice
All you need is someone to help you practice. Ask a friend or a family member to go through the new vocabulary with you. Make them ask you random words. Then take the words and use them in sentences again. Try to make up different examples to the ones you already have.
6. Play Some Games
Playing Scrabble or Hangman is an interactive way of learning and practicing new vocabulary. Gather your friends together and have some fun! Learning is more entertaining when there are more people involved in the process!
7. Watch Movies
Another great method of building new vocabulary is watching movies with subtitles. Pause the movie whenever you see an unfamiliar word, look it up, write it down, make up a sentence, and play the movie again. At the end of the film, make other sentences using the new vocabulary, and try to remember in what context they were used in the movie.
Building vocabulary is an amazing way to develop your language skills and improve your patience! As I was saying earlier, it takes time and effort, but you can definitely do it. Read, write, speak, engage, master! You got this!
No comments:
Post a Comment