11 Proven ways to Improve Vocabulary in 2020

Want to improve your vocabulary? Do you always worry that you don’t know much English words as much as people around you do? Don’t worry that’s completely normal and there are ways to overcome this problem. Keep on reading to enhance your vocabulary and become a pro. Enhancing vocabulary is simple yet it needs constant persistence. Want to improve writing skills too? Check out our article on writing skills- Improve writing skills .

Contents

• Brief introduction to vocabulary
• Importance of vocabulary
• Tips to improve vocabulary
• 5 practices you can do every single day to improve your Vocabulary
• Conclusion

Brief introduction to vocabulary

English language has over more than 250000 unique words. In addition to it, it has different meaning in different context. The most effective usage of using different words is to start with the most common words. The key to memorizing English words is only through practice.

Again, enhancing vocabulary is a really overrated concept. At the end of the day, English is just a language. Be good at how you present yourself. Put your focus more on how you speak. Vocabulary and grammar are secondary.

Learn to enhance vocabulary in a logical way. Once you master some of the common terms and use them in the most efficient manner, only then you can move on to more complex and comprehensive terms. The interesting part is, only learning 3000 words is enough to understand almost all everyday English communication.

Once you start and keep on going, you will easily learn and expand your vocab. There are a lot of people who write English very well but when it comes to using them in a spontaneous manner and talking in particular, they fail. Well, this is because our minds are not able to pick correct words in the right context whenever required.

“English language is a work in progress. Have fun with it.”

-Jonathan Calver

The 4 essentials to practice vocabulary :-

                –READ

                –WRITE

                –LISTEN

                –PRACTICE Period.

Importance of vocabulary

Since the ultimate goal of English language is comprehension in all areas of communication i.e. listening, reading, speaking and writing ; it should not be ignored at the same time it should not be overestimated. Optimum knowledge is always better than nothing.

Research shows that in order to understand what you have read, it is important to have proper knowledge of commonly used words.

1. People who develop good vocabulary , tend to think quickly, express themselves better and improve listening skills very fast. Children who has more knowledge in vocabulary have more learning ability and are more successful academically.

2. Saying what you mean is dependent on a wide base of words you use. Using the right words while speaking will eventually make you a good communicator.

Tips to improve vocabulary

Imagine speaking broken English in an interview or in a professional setup just because you know a very little words or your mind could not pick up words to transmit through your mouth. Applying simple tips and tricks so that you are no longer afraid to speak in English anymore.

Learning English is an investment for life because it helps you to get a better job and a better pay. Broken English to fluent is a long and never ending process and the process keeps decreasing only when you take efforts and start ignoring the critics. Do not be afraid and just keep going.

1. Give out compliments to people- 

We as a human tribe face our own problems and issues. So most of the time we are sad, moody, or uninterested, or frustrated, or busy, etc. giving out compliments to people uplift their mood suddenly, either ways you can learn vocabulary by this method by using different words and variety of phrases every time you compliment them.

The idea is to learn one compliment word a day and use it for everybody on that particular day and choose a different word for the next day. This ensures that you remember words for a longer period of time but also you will make that person’s day great.

2. Reading kids story books-

Kids books are interesting and exciting at the same time. They give out feel good vibes every time you read them. Every night before you sleep, read at least two pages of the book to have a peaceful and good night sleep. It is one of the best ways to learn more words instead of wasting your time on the phones.

3. Entertainment-

We all need entertainment in our lives in some form or the other, why not edu-tain yourself ; it makes sure that you learn something new every day and also have some factual data with new words everyday. Choose your entertainment wisely by choosing good movies and good YouTube channels. Also, watch English stand up comedy they make you think.

Some of the sources that you can watch and enhance vocabulary-

4. Read news on a mobile application-

Reading news from newspapers can be a bit overwhelming sometimes because there is way too much of irrelevant information. You want to make sure that you read news which provide you the exact information but in a summary manner.

It keeps you updated through out the day and because you are using your phone at that point of time you can always google what a word means. It keeps you away from using social media anyways.

5. Convert your catch-phrases in English that you often use-

This method is a very fun way to learn new English words and it also helps you with sentence construction.

5 practices you can do every single day to improve your Vocabulary

   You have to practice English every single day and over the time you will improve it. It doesn’t work like one single day all of a sudden you decided and start talking and expect yourself to be better. You can not just practice a lot in a day before your exam or job interview and expect to become a pro.

1. Listen to podcasts everyday-

There are different types of podcasts you can listen to. There is a wide variety of them choose them according to the time availability.

You can also choose to listen an audio version of soap-opera. Basically, it is a series of daily episodes dealing with day-to-day lives and events of the same character. It is like a drama series that will keep you hooked to listen to it everyday which deals with daily routines which is great for your life too. It is the most easiest way to enhance vocabulary.

2. Talk daily-

You can choose native as well as non-native speakers to practice.There are some paid apps that provide you with tutors that help you learn the language better such as Lingoda, italki, cambly, etc. The biggest advantage is that you can learn them anytime. It is so much inexpensive than a traditional language school. Enhancing vocabulary will be much easier in this process as you are interacting and learning at the same time.

However, if you don’t want to spend money on these apps, there are free ways as well. Find a friend who wants to learn it too or find someone who wants to learn your language and you want to learn theirs, that way you both can solve a mutual needs and serve each other.

3. Set a daily word goal-

Make a rule to learn a word or a number of words every single day. In order to build your vocabulary you need to learn at least one per day. Keep a separate notebook specifically to list down all the words that you learn.

Also make sure to know the meaning of the word and its tenses and most importantly know how to use them.

4. Be present at the moment-

Every single time you hear or read a word that you don’t know, make sure to type it on your phone and research it at the end of the day before you go to sleep. This method will train your brain to be always hungry for looking new English words.

5. Journal everyday-

Keep a journal and write about your day at least 5 to 20 lines depending upon your mood and time availability trying to incorporate the daily words list. After Doing this you are making sure that it becomes fully integrated into your brain at the same time enhancing vocabulary.

6. Summarize-

Make a summary of any articles on the subject that you are interested in. So that you can also learn to translate and think in English. Reading articles helps you to find new words too and improve your vocabulary skills.

Conclusion

The simplest way to improve vocabulary everyday consistently is as follows :-

Read, Record and Review.

This is what the whole article talks about in a nutshell. If there is any one secret way to build your Vocabulary it is reading. Pick something that you are really into and read it for at least 30 minutes per day whatever you find passionate about. See, taking the minimum amount of pain is always recommended.

Learning new words is easy but what sets you apart is applying them in your daily lives. Use the words that you have learnt. Review them regularly by keeping a separate journal. Pick one day a week and review all the words that you have learnt through out the week.

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