10 Tips On How To Improve Your Vocabulary
Using the right vocabulary is very important, it allows you to communicate well, be it in writing or speaking. A well developed rich vocabulary will help in being confident and have people pay attention when you speak. Here are some fun ways to help you build and develop your vocabulary.
1. Read, read, read
Make it your mission to read novels and literacy works. Try a new book every week, read your local newspapers, magazines. Stay consistent in your reading, it also improves your general knowledge and helps you be a well rounded person.
2. Keep a dictionary/thesaurus
Make use of your dictionary to look up any new word that you can’t recognize, do not ignore the new words that you come across, try to find its meaning in the context of the sentence then confirm the definition from the dictionary.
3. Keep a journal/diary/blog
You can start a blog online it will help you keep on learning and improving your vocabulary. If a blog is too much for you then you can keep a diary or a journal, put all the new words you come across and learn to apply them to your everyday speech.
4. Write more
Start writing more, it’s a great practice for your vocabulary. If you work where they require a writer, volunteer to write and better yourself. The most important thing for a writer is accuracy, this will help you stay committed, focused and pay more attention to your vocabulary.
5. Play word games
Find word games that will challenge you and help you discover new meanings and new words like crossword puzzles, anagrams and boggle. This is a fun way of learning in your quest to expand your vocabulary.
6. Word roots
Most English words are come from Latin and learning the root language of a word will help you figure out the meaning of a wide range of words that you don’t know yet without opening the dictionary.
7. Set goals
To succeed at anything you need to set goals for yourself, you can start by teaching yourself at least three new words a week and work them into your speech and writing until you can do more but you have to be realistic, there’s no point in learning twenty words that you are not able to use effectively and accurately in a sentence.
8. Make it practical
Start with words that are practical to you, words that express your environment and things which are important to you. Work on words that are mostly used in your line of work, business and vocation. Find fresher, cleaner words to express ordinary things you do with your peers.
9. Vocabulary tests
Participate in vocabulary game tests that will test your knowledge, this will make you learn new words and let you know how much progress you are making.
10. Engage In Conversations
Involving yourself in conversations with different people will boost your vocabulary, you’ll learn many new words and how they are used in different contexts.