Good Ways to Improve Your Vocabulary

Learning vocabulary is a very important part of learning a language. The more word you know the more you will be able to understand what you hear and read – and furthermore the better you will be able to write and say what you want.
Many people build their English vocabulary through a blend of methods – by reading books, watching movies in English, listening to the radio, finding a good podcast that you like in English, taking English classes and studying English with English language software. Every day you have possibility to hear and read many new English words. You can’t learn all the new words, so you should decide which ones to concentrate on.
Doing lots of reading is an excellent way to learn new English words. So read a lot and read good writing. Meeting the word again and again in your reading helps you to learn it and the text contexts will enrich your attempt to build a better vocabulary. Studying list of words in not the best way. Studying words divorced from their context makes those words harder to remember and harder to use later – so do not just read through a list of words with their definitions or translation.
Do not try to learn words that are very rare or not useful. Be focused to learn the words the subjects you are studying or working with. Or learn the words that you know you want to use yourself in every day conversation. You have to really want to learn new vocabulary if you’re going to succeed. Once you have chosen which words you like to learn – then you have to decide how you are going to learn them.
Native speakers learn new words by hearing and reading them again and again. I think, this is the best way for you to learn unfamiliar and new words, too. So try to spell and pronounce all new words you hear and find the context in which it is most likely to be used. Use the words you learn when you’re talking to people or writing an e-mail. Using your new vocabulary is not only exciting and fun, but a great way to remember all the new word. And if you have a friends who speaks English, you can chat, email and even make phone calls them every day. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
And the most important of the all – have fun and play with words. Play Scrabble and do crossword puzzles for example. These and other vocabulary games are available for the computer, so you are not always dependent on a friend to play. Use Google and play games that test your knowledge and will help you to learn new words.
English learning doesn’t have to be a daily routine, just something to do when you have time – so don’t overdo it. If you feel stressed out, you are maybe being too hard on
yourself! The truth is that you will learn new things more effectively when you find it
enjoyable!

Text: Tuomas Nykänen, a student of Independent Study in English course