I really like the idea of being able to express myself in more ways. People say reading helps, and I read alot of books that not just for that reason, but because I enjoy it. I read books that many people find difficult, but I really don't notice much difference. And looking things up in a dictionary all the time can be a pain, but I usually look up any words I'm unfamiliar with. I try, but I was wondering if anyone has any other ideas?
2007-02-11 16:45:23 · 7 answers · asked by c a t c h 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Other - Education
Go to m-w.com and subscribe to the Merriam Webster word of the day. They email you a new word daily.
2007-02-11 16:54:06 · answer #1 · answered by Aldo the Apache 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's so nice to see someone who is actively trying to enlarge and improve his vocabulary. You are on the right track with reading. Looking up words in the dictionary is only marginally helpful because it doesn't get integrated into long term memory. Also keep in mind that the brain remembers words in lexical sets (grouping by criteria) not in isolated single units. The advice I would have for you is to keep reading but make your reading very eclectic, the variety will help you. Listen to all sorts of intelligent programs on tv ie. history channel, knowledge... Read science magazines..... Choose a new word and see how often you can incorporate it contextually into your speech for one week. You don't say how old you are, but it takes time to build a great vocabulary range and maybe the most important bit of advice I can give you, is to not be impatient. Read books like "The wonder of words", study latin/greek prefixes, suffixes and roots, use a thesaurus, get an etymological dictionary of the English Language. One other thing to keep in mind, your memory probably contains many more words than you realize, until they are re-called within a specific context and you realize that you already know. This phenomena never ceases to amaze me and it's called peripheral learning. Good luck
2007-02-11 17:03:21 · answer #2 · answered by Just Me 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I am going to seem like a weird person, but I've always had a huge vocabulary. I read anything that I can get my hands on: that includes reference books, dictionaries, text books, etc. I'm the type of person that can come up with questions that only a person with a PhD in quantum physics could answer and you'd be shocked to see the amount of math and science on my university transcripts.
2007-02-12 08:11:25 · answer #3 · answered by Ariel 128 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not enough just to look the word up in a dictionary, you have to remember it. To do that, just keep looking for any opportunity you can get to use it in a sentence. By the time you finally can, the word will be in your memory.
The words I always remember are the ones I think sound cool so I make a note to use them. So I essentially do with them as described above, while the words I looked up and didn't make a note of are forgotten in a matter of weeks. I went a year before I finally had the chance to use "vox populi," so I'll never forget that one for sure.
2007-02-11 16:53:25 · answer #4 · answered by nope 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What really worked for me is playing Scrabble and related word games. I'm pretty competitive, and finding words that helped me win really helped my vocabulary.
Combining that with reading is an excellent way to build vocabulary.
2007-02-11 16:50:40 · answer #5 · answered by RichardSP 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Back in the day in high school, our teacher used to copy the vocabulary building list from Reader's Digest. It was kinda funny but it actually worked. Simple yet effective.
2007-02-11 16:55:19 · answer #6 · answered by Ron D 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just keep reading. Word games like scrabble help and doing crosswords.
2007-02-11 16:48:05 · answer #7 · answered by alwaysmoose 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋