Ways to improve and expand your vocabulary

Looking for tips for improving your vocabulary? Whether you are trying to strengthen and broaden your vocabulary for school or personal growth, the key is a commitment to regularly learning new words. Communicate more clearly and concisely using the below tips for learning new words.

Why expand your knowledge and use of words? You'll be able to communicate (speak and write) more clearly and concisely, people will understand you more easily, and you will increase the perception (and reality) that you are an intelligent person. Besides, learning new words is a fun activity and one activity you can even do with the people around you. Challenge a friend, family member, or roommate to learn new words with you.

Read, read, and read
The more you read- especially novels and literary works, but also magazines and newspapers, the more words you'll be exposed to. As you read and uncover new words, use a combination of attempting to derive meaning from the context of the sentence as well as from looking up the definition in a dictionary. Look for new words when you read for pleasure. And yes, read for pleasure. Read magazines, newspapers, and look up the Internet. Look for topical words, words in the news.

Keep a dictionary handy
Use whatever versions you prefer- in print, software, or online. When you uncover a new word, look it up in the dictionary to get its pronunciation and meaning. Next, go to the thesaurus and find similar words and phrases and their opposites (synonyms and antonyms, respectively) and learn the nuances among the words.

Use a journal
It's a good idea to keep a running list of the new words you discover so that you can refer back to the list and slowly build them into your everyday vocabulary. Plus, keeping a journal of all your new words can provide positive reinforcement for learning even more words- especially when you can see how many new words you've already learned.

Sort new words
You can combine the above techniques by writing new words you encounter on sticky notes and then applying your knowledge of word roots to sort words based on their common roots, prefixes, and suffixes. Or group synonyms together, or make sentences with them. Create a word wall and learn from the relationships among words.

Learn a word a day
Using a word-a-day calendar or Website or developing your own list of words to learn is a great technique many people use to learn new words. This approach may be too rigid for some, so even if you do use this method, don't feel you must learn a new word every day. (Find some word-a-day websites.)

Go back to your roots
One of the most powerful tools for learning new words and for deciphering the meaning of other new words is studying Latin and Greek roots. Latin and Greek elements (prefixes, roots, and suffixes) are a significant part of the English language and a great tool for learning new words.

Determine word meanings from their context
Even before you look a word up, try to figure out what it means by the context in which you find it. You'll certainly encounter lots of words in context in your readings. Studies show that strategies in which you self-evaluate how you have figured out what words mean reinforce your learning of those words. Use them in your written assignments. Look for concepts related to the new words you're using.

Play the vocabulary game
Word games that challenge you and help you discover new meanings and new words are a great and fun tool in your quest for expanding your vocabulary. Examples include crossword puzzles, anagrams, word jumble, Scrabble, and Boggle.

Engage in conversations
Simply talking with other people can help you learn discover new words. As with reading, once you hear a new word, remember to jot it down so that you can study it later and then slowly add the new word to your vocabulary.

Use new words in conversation
Don't worry about appearing pompous or too smart by using new word you've learned. You'll learn the words better, and you might even impress your conversation partners.

Cultivate a fascination, affection, and curiosity for words and their histories
If you think of vocabulary improvement as a distasteful chore, you will obviously not get far with it. But if you immerse yourself in words, their meanings, uses, and derivations, you'll develop a life-long facility with words that will serve you well throughout your college years and far beyond.

Finally, remember that you must practice putting your new words into your writing and speaking or risk not retaining them in your brain. Use repetition exercises when you first learn a word and consider other learning techniques, such as index cards, recording yourself reciting your words, association games, and mnemonics.

You hold the key to a better vocabulary. By using the tips outlined in this article, you should be well on your way to discovering and learning new words to expand your vocabulary and strengthen your use of the English language.