IMPROVING VOCABULARY

Improving English Vocabulary

(Some Practical Ways)

By Sarlan

As discussed in the previous article, the 4 Basic Skills of English, i.e. Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking are inseparable and interconnected each others. A good English learning program should ideally contain balanced portion of the 4 skills to result a comprehensive English competence, either oral or written. In effort of achieving English competence through the 4-skill-based-trainning, we need some tools to ease the process. One of the regarded most important tool is vocabulary–the collection of English words or phrases we know and we can use in our practices.

Vocabulary is indeed not the only tool someone should have to be successfull in communication. There are still other things he should use as well. Braveness and ability of using gestures are among others. But everyone might agree that vocabulary plays a very important role in creating a communication to start, and keeping it running futher. A sufficient stock of vocabularies will undeniably support someone to express his idea–a basic elemen for a communication to occur.

An abundant collection of words and expressions of English surely does not guarantee someone to be able to speak English smoothly. There are other competences to master, like grammar/structure–an ability in arranging words or phrases in right order based on certain rules to produce clear and meaningful expressions, that will be easily understood by the speaking partners. However, an abundant stock of vocabulary is a benefit, since sometimes someone can express something clearly in a simple way, as simple as saying one word or one phrase. In this case, an ability to choose and use the suitable word or phrase is a central part of making a communication running.

Therefore, a good program of vocabulary improvement is a crucial and important thing to implement. But the problem, not all efforts that most English learners do to improve their vocabulary are effective. An effort like traditionally memorizing a certain amount of words in a period of time, if often a useless and time-wasting activity. Based on this fact, language education and trainning experts all over the globe keep doing effors in creating easy, practical and effective ways to learn vocabulary. Among the various kinds of ways they have found, here are some that we can try. Choose one or more you like to accelerate your vocabulary development.

1.     Use self-study vocabulary books, these should include a good dictionary, and a thesaurus. This way is especially for advanced learners who have had a certain basic of vocabulary, to improve their accuracy, such as in spelling and intonation.

2.     Expose yourself to as much English as possible by reading, watching TV, films or news and listening to radio or music. Read an English magazine. If you can afford it, take out a subscription to a magazine or newspaper. It is a quite effective way to improve your vocabulary since the vocabularies you read or watch are those are really important to use in your daily activity, based on the actual issues.

3.     Do online exercises. Keep a note of how you did and go back in a few weeks to see how you have improved. It is a way to see your progress after a certain effort to have done.

4.     Use stick it notes and label things around your home. It is another effective way of learning vocabulary. The stick it notes or labels will remind you of the most frequent things you always see everyday, and keep your brain retention to memorize them. When you feel it has been enough, widen the area to enlarge the scope of your vocabulary.

5.     Create or play word games. Scrabble, Crossword Puzzles, Hangman, and Dingbats are all great ways to play with words.

6.     Use Notebooks. Keep a notebook to help you remember what you've learnt. One interesting way to practice and check your vocabulary mastery is by drawing vocabulary webs. It is a web form chart to organize your vocabulary about certain subjects. For example your personal life.

 

    

        then try to extend it :

       and then extend it further...

7.     You can try these little gadgets too:

Flash cards

Start a flash cards box. Buy or cut out some cards all the same size. Draw or cut out some pictures. Paste the pictures onto one side of the card and write the correct word on the other side. Put new words in the front of the box. Test yourself using either the pictures, the words or both. If you have forgotten a word bring it to the front of the box. It can also be done using two pockets while you are in spare time, before doing something else. For example when you are waiting for a bus, having a working break, or even staying in a line for a ticket or something.

Singing

It is a fun and relaxing activity. Try learning the words to English songs, and even sing along with them with friends in a singing center, or in the privacy of your own bathroom.

All the techniques presented above are only a few examples. There are still many possible ways you can find or even create yourself. Some ways are probably suitable for your characteristics and condition, some may be not. In these case, you should choose the ones you feel comfortable for you. You know yourself best! The keyword, whatever you do in developing your vocabulary, it will be a great contribution for improving your English competence. The more vocabulary you have, the easier communication you can make. Keep Struggling!

Source: http://www.learnenglish.de