Quickly Improve Your Vocabulary
When most people think of improving vocabulary, they will generally think of school children being taught the subject in English class. However, improving the vocabulary shouldn’t be limited to school children.
Increasing Your Vocabulary Can be Accomplished at any Age
No matter how old you are, it is very unlikely that you’ve mastered every word in your language. What this means is that increasing your vocabulary should be a life long journey, and it shouldn’t be something that you stop just because you graduate from high school or even college. Many people make the mistake of only wanting to improve their vocabulary when they have to take a test.
When you do this, it will not help you improve your vocabulary over the long term. While you may do well on the test temporarily, the information that you learned will be forgotten, because you didn’t take the time to store it in your brain for the long term.
One of the best ways to improve your vocabulary is to read a lot of books. While you will naturally want to read something that interests you, it should also be something that is challenging. If you don’t challenge yourself, you will never be able to increase your vocabulary. You must learn a new word on a consistent basis, and you must learn to use that word.
How Reading Improves Your Vocabulary Level
It has been shown that reading will improve your vocabulary dramatically. When your read, your brain is forced to analyze the words that are on the page. You must scan the pages with your eyes, and your brain must interpret their meaning. As you can imagine, this is a very complex process. While you can increase your vocabulary by reading books within your favorite genre, it has been shown that you will increase your vocabulary even more by reading books that are not in your genre. If you place an emphasis on reading non-fiction books, not only can you increase your vocabulary, but you will also increase your general knowledge as well.
When you read a variety of books, you will naturally come across words that you don’t know. Instead of just skipping these words, you will want to make a note of them. You will want to take the time to research them, so that you can find out what they mean. The very act of taking note of a word before looking it up has been shown to greatly enhance the vocabulary skill of the people who do it. While I have mentioned reading in previous articles, another great way to improve your vocabulary is by playing word games. Not only can these games educate you, they are fun and entertaining.
The Importance of Word Games
Word games such as Scrabble are a great way to have fun while building your vocabulary at the same time. Your brain will be forced to play with the letters, and in addition to working with words, you will also learn new words. One additional tool that you might want to include in Scrabble is a dictionary. When you use a dictionary while playing Scrabble, you will be encouraged to use words that you wouldn’t normally used. Another great thing about word games is that they are interactive. As you play the game, you can also enjoy the company of others.
Word puzzles are another great way to build up your vocabulary while having fun at the same time. Many newspapers or magazines will have crossword puzzles, and you will want to use them. You can greatly enhance your vocabulary by working with these puzzles on a weekly basis. It should also be noted that the puzzles will become harder each week. While it may sound strange, reading the dictionary is a great way to strengthen your vocabulary. While most people get their dictionary when they want to look up a word, why not read it?
Conclusion
Using the general techniques in this article will ensure that you can grow your vocabulary. Everyday things such as playing word games or reading can allow you to build up your vocabulary within a short period of time. The best way to increase your vocabulary is to engage in educational activities that you enjoy.
