How to build vocabulary?

Question

I want to be able to use them in my writing.

Answer 1

Language has 4 steps of development

You start with the auditorial (Listening)
Then the verbal (Speaking)
THen Reading
and last but not least writing

You have to follow those steps

So If you want to build your vocabulary..use a lot of listening skills.

Answer 2

To build an English (American) vocabulary... I too am keen on this and I'll tell you what I do.
- I read the New York Times
- I do cross word puzzles
- read - the classics, Nobel prize winners
- i go to the theater, cinema / movies and watch "smart" television.

Remember that writing is an exercise... like going to the gym. The more you do it the better you get. When you get to a stage that you need to do more and better (exercise) then you'll "dig and delve" to find the right word to fit the experience you need to express.
Exercise & write right and be understood..... and help others understand.

Answer 3

learn three new words every day - e.g. from a dictionary, put them on stickers everywhere you can see them (bathroom mirror, computer screen frame). The next day try to use each of the words from the previous day at least five times in a sentence. Does not sound much but increasing your active vocabulary by more than 1000 words in about a year is quite a lot.

Answer 4

Some ideas that I have tried out to help build my own vocabulary:

-Read more (And if you don't have a lot of time to read a novel, try news articles, short stories, wikipedia articles, magazines)

Hint: Try to read a variety of subjects as writers of different interests are going to introduce you to different terminology.

-Subscribe to dictionary.com's "word of the day" e-mails or Knowledge News e-mails! I've found both to be very educational. I've learned quite a bit from both subscriptions.


-Spell check everything you write...even if it's a message on the internet. (An idea that I am neglecting for this post :P)

Answer 5

write down every word you know and repeat it into a language master and build your words up one day at a time.
Write the words the way they sound to you. The spelling will come later when you learn the words. Be consistent.

Answer 6

if your talking about your mother tongue-then read. As many different novels as you can. Fiction autobiographies etc. Try loadza different ones. If another language-depends how good you are. Watch videos of that language, or try to read newspapers etc.

Answer 7

Read the dictionary.

Answer 8

challenging thing. research using bing and yahoo. it may help!