Learning vocabulary is essential to becoming a skilled communicator, though the average English speaker only uses about 5,000 words daily despite there being over 500,000 total words. To truly know a word requires understanding its pronunciation, common usages, prepositions, grammatical characteristics, and formality. It is important to learn words in phrases and how they collocate rather than in isolation. Memorization techniques include learning words in groups, using visual aids, studying systematically with exposure to English through various media, organizing vocabulary notes by topic, and building networks of meaning while revising and using new words.
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Learning Vocabulary
Learning vocabulary is essential to becoming a skilled communicator, though the average English speaker only uses about 5,000 words daily despite there being over 500,000 total words. To truly know a word requires understanding its pronunciation, common usages, prepositions, grammatical characteristics, and formality. It is important to learn words in phrases and how they collocate rather than in isolation. Memorization techniques include learning words in groups, using visual aids, studying systematically with exposure to English through various media, organizing vocabulary notes by topic, and building networks of meaning while revising and using new words.
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LEARNING VOCABULARY
Learning vocabulary is essential in the process of becoming a skillful
communicator. It is known that there are over half a million words in English language. But it is a fact that an average native speaker only uses about 5,000 words in everyday communication.
Knowing the meaning of a word seems not to be enough to say one
masters vocabulary. There are important aspects to be taken into account:
The pronunciation of the word
The words it is usually used with Prepositions that join the word Its grammatical characteristic Whether the respective word is formal, informal or neutral.
It is of paramount importance to learn new words in phrases not in isolation
in order to observe how words go together, how they collocate:
Verb + noun: to do a favour/to take the risk/to make a request/to place an
order
Adjective + noun: developed countries/ folk music/ special delivery
Nouns in phrases: a sense of belonging/ in touch with
Words + prepositions: in case of/ in particular
Special grammatical characteristics of new words are the following:
Nouns used only in the plural: overall, trousers, sunglasses, tights, scissors
Nouns with irregular plural: woman-women, child-children, ox-oxen,
mouse-mice
Adjectives with irregular forms of comparative degrees: good-better-the
best,
Ill-worse-he worst, little-less-the least
How to memorise words
1. Learn words in groups
2. Make use of pictures/posters/flashcards/realia 3. Learn in a systematic way by planning a study time, reading and listening to as much English as possible. Useful ideas: songs, films, fiction, youtube, podcasts. Vlogs, blogs, website, audiobooks, magazines, television, radio, dictionaries, encyclopedias, recipes, conversation with keypals, sports reports, gaming, traveling Exposure to English is highly recommended in becoming fluent and accurate, in learning vocabulary and practicing it. 4. Divide your vocabulary notes into different sections: Words to describe places Words for relationships Words for actions 5. Build a network of meaning because a network diagram can expand in whatever direction one wants it to 6. Revise and use the new vocabulary 7. Stay focus on learning the words in collocations and fixed phrases, synonyms and antonyms, word classes.
Obviously, one can think about his or her own style of learning and the most efficient ways of organizing vocabulary.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
English Vocabulary in Use, Upper- Intermediate, Michael McCarthy,