Hi guys ...
Today I'm gonna be sharing with you my top 10 tips to increase your vocabulary. Let's have a look.
If you want to refer back to them so let's say that you came across a new word today. For example came across the word preposterous today I hadn't come across that word before. So I made sure to write it down on my notes in that word means something that is not common sense or something that is absurd or ridiculous.
So if you think someone has a completely ridiculous idea you could say that idea is preposterous. So I learn that word today and that's gone straight into my little word diary.
For example a synonym of the word preposterous would be absurd. So if I wanted to expand that even more, I would look in a thesaurus.
So I just have thesaurus.com open here on my phone and I'm going to look at more synonyms of the word preposterous. So you have things like absurd, crazy, excessive, exorbitant extravagant, extreme, fantastic, foolish, and many many more.
So, you get the gist and sometimes that just triggers your brain to find even more words that you wouldn't think to be associated with that word. That's a really great way to build up your vocabulary. Imagine that you just look at one word and you realize that you already know five or six words that mean exactly the same thing as that word.
I'm currently in my office / study room. And if I look around I see the most basic things like door, window, curtain, laptop, so just look around you and name all the things that you know and you might find things that you don't know when in that case.
If you don't know a word look it up, write it in your little word diary and every time you go back to that room, you're going to look at that item, that you just wrote and it's going to help you build your vocabulary slowly.
If you do that to every single room of your house then you go and do that to your school or your workplace then slowly you're going to start adding on to your vocabulary.
I love photography and I've started to take an interest in learning all the jargon, in all the specific language that goes with photography. There are lots of specific terms like a aperture, depth of field and shutter speed and these are all things that are specific to the subject of photography or Videography.
That is a great way to improve your vocabulary because if you like that topic then you're likely to talk about that topic with your friends.
So I'll just give you a quick little example of a word that someone might at the moment in Portuguese. The word preposição is very similar to the word preposition in English. Both in the way that they are spelt and in the way that they sound.
So, if I were to try and make a connection between the word in Portuguese and the word in English, that would save me a lot of time trying to figure out what that word in English means. Obviously, that doesn't work for every single word and there are many words out there. They give you a false sense of security into thinking that you know what they mean when in an actual fact.
They mean something completely different. So, if you're in doubt always check in a dictionary but, as a general rule it's a good way to build your vocabulary if you can find those connections between English words and your native language.
Continue...
Today I'm gonna be sharing with you my top 10 tips to increase your vocabulary. Let's have a look.
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| English Vocabulary |
1. Keep a Diary
Keep diary of new words that you come across. You can keep a physical diary where you write things down or you can also write things on your phone which is my preferred method because I always have my phone on me so it's just quicker and easier and it's a good way to make sure that you always have those words on you.
If you want to refer back to them so let's say that you came across a new word today. For example came across the word preposterous today I hadn't come across that word before. So I made sure to write it down on my notes in that word means something that is not common sense or something that is absurd or ridiculous.
So if you think someone has a completely ridiculous idea you could say that idea is preposterous. So I learn that word today and that's gone straight into my little word diary.
2. Try and Learn Synonyms
Try and learn many synonyms as possible of the words that you already know because that is going to increase your vocabulary so much. If you don't know what a synonym, synonym is the words that means exactly the same thing as the word that you already know.
For example a synonym of the word preposterous would be absurd. So if I wanted to expand that even more, I would look in a thesaurus.
So I just have thesaurus.com open here on my phone and I'm going to look at more synonyms of the word preposterous. So you have things like absurd, crazy, excessive, exorbitant extravagant, extreme, fantastic, foolish, and many many more.
So, you get the gist and sometimes that just triggers your brain to find even more words that you wouldn't think to be associated with that word. That's a really great way to build up your vocabulary. Imagine that you just look at one word and you realize that you already know five or six words that mean exactly the same thing as that word.
3. Take Stock
By that, I mean every once in a while look around you, look the room that you're in, what do you know about that room, if you're just chilling out at home sitting in your living room or in the kitchen, just look around you and start naming things that you know about that room.
I'm currently in my office / study room. And if I look around I see the most basic things like door, window, curtain, laptop, so just look around you and name all the things that you know and you might find things that you don't know when in that case.
If you don't know a word look it up, write it in your little word diary and every time you go back to that room, you're going to look at that item, that you just wrote and it's going to help you build your vocabulary slowly.
If you do that to every single room of your house then you go and do that to your school or your workplace then slowly you're going to start adding on to your vocabulary.
4. Dig deeper - Try and Explore a New Topic
Maybe not every single day but every once in a while possibly, once a week or once every two weeks depending on how frequently you're practicing your English. Look for something in the news or in a magazine or in the newspaper and find a topic that you're interested in and explore that topic.
I love photography and I've started to take an interest in learning all the jargon, in all the specific language that goes with photography. There are lots of specific terms like a aperture, depth of field and shutter speed and these are all things that are specific to the subject of photography or Videography.
That is a great way to improve your vocabulary because if you like that topic then you're likely to talk about that topic with your friends.
5. Try and Find Connections
Try and connection between English words in your own native language words. You're bound to know a lot more words in your native language and sometimes those words are fairly similar to English.
So I'll just give you a quick little example of a word that someone might at the moment in Portuguese. The word preposição is very similar to the word preposition in English. Both in the way that they are spelt and in the way that they sound.
So, if I were to try and make a connection between the word in Portuguese and the word in English, that would save me a lot of time trying to figure out what that word in English means. Obviously, that doesn't work for every single word and there are many words out there. They give you a false sense of security into thinking that you know what they mean when in an actual fact.
They mean something completely different. So, if you're in doubt always check in a dictionary but, as a general rule it's a good way to build your vocabulary if you can find those connections between English words and your native language.
Continue...
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