How to increase your vocabulary

You never finish learning. By enriching your vocabulary, you can cultivate a
scholarly image as a teenager or even after age eighty. Creating habits to help
you learn and use the most precise words in your language will facilitate your
ability to communicate, write and think. Read on to learn specific tips to increase
your vocabulary.

Part 1 of 3: Learn new words

1. 1

Read voraciously. When you finish school, you will no longer be given word
exercises or homework that requires you to learn new words. It's easy to stop
reading, so if you want to increase your vocabulary, you'll need to establish a
reading regimen and stick to it.

• You could try reading a new book a week or reading the newspaper every
morning. Choose the frequency and pace that best suits you, then develop a
reading routine that fits your schedule.
• Try to read at least one book and several magazines each week. Be constant,
because in addition to improving your vocabulary, you will also be up to date
with current and past events, your general culture will increase and you will be
an intelligent and complete person.
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Read high literature. Challenge yourself to read as many books as you can
according to your free time and inclination. Read the classics, current and old
fiction books, poetry. Read Herman Melville, William Faulkner and Virginia
Woolf.

• Try to read non-fiction and technical books: with these you will quickly learn not
only new idioms to speak, but also new ways of thinking. Read a wide variety of
topics, including philosophy, religion, and science.

• If you regularly read the local newspaper, consider opting for the long, hard-to-
understand stories in international and national business newspapers and
 magazines, such as The New Yorker or The Economist .
• There are many classics available to read on Project Gutenberg g [1] and LibriVo
x [2] .

3. 3

Read online sources and “lowbrow” material, too. Read online magazines,
essays, and blogs on a variety of topics. Read album reviews and fashion blogs.
Vocabulary is not only a cultured language. To have a complete vocabulary you
must know the definition of “soliloquy” and “twerking”. Being well read means
being familiar with both Geoffrey Chaucer and Lee Child.
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Look up any words you don't recognize in the dictionary. When you see an
unfamiliar word, don't impatiently avoid it. Try to decipher its possible meaning
in the context of the sentence, then look it up in the dictionary and confirm its
definition.

• Consider carrying a small notebook with you so you can quickly write down
unknown words you find and look them up later. If you hear or see a word you
don't know, be sure to look it up in the dictionary.
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Read the dictionary. Dive in. Read the definitions of words you are not yet very
familiar with. This requires you to have a good quality dictionary to make it more
interesting, so look for one that has extensive definitions on the origins and uses
of the words, as this will help you a lot in remembering the word and enjoying
using your dictionary.

Part 2 of 3: Using the new words

1
Set a goal. If you are committed to increasing your vocabulary, set a personal
goal. Aim to learn three new words a week and try to adopt them into your
speech and writing. With conscious effort, you can learn several hundred new
words that you will remember and use. If you can't use a word effectively and
accurately in a given sentence, it means it's not part of your vocabulary.

• If you can easily learn three words a week, start increasing the amount. Try to
learn ten words next week.
• Looking up twenty new words in the dictionary daily will make it difficult to use
them accurately. Be realistic and increase a practical vocabulary that you are
able to use.

2.

2
Put cards or sticky notes all over your house. If you're going to get into the
habit of learning new words, try some simple memorization techniques as if you
were studying for a test. Put sticky notes with the definition of some words you
want to memorize on the coffee maker, so you can study it while you make your
breakfast cup of coffee. Place a new word above each house plant so you can
study it as you water it.
• Even if you're watching TV or doing other activities, have some flashcards with
you and study your new words. Always learn them.

3
Write more. Start journaling, if you're not already doing so, or start a blog.
Actively exercising your writing muscles will keep your vocabulary strong.

• Write letters to your old friends and use lots of specific details. If your
correspondence is generally short and informal, vary it a bit and write a longer
letter or email than usual. Take the time to craft your letters as if you were
preparing an essay for school. Make thoughtful choices.
• At work, consider taking on more responsibilities that require writing. If you
habitually avoid writing memos, group emails, or avoid participating in group
conversations, change your habits and write more. They could even pay you to
increase your vocabulary.

4
Use exact adjectives and precise nouns. The best writers strive for concision
and precision. Get out your dictionary of synonyms and antonyms so you can
use the most accurate word in your sentences. Don't use three words when one
is enough. A word will be useful in your vocabulary if it reduces the number of
words in a sentence.

• For example, the phrase “dolphins and whales” could be replaced with the word
“cetaceans,” which will make the second word a useful word.
• A word will also be useful if it is more descriptive than the word or phrase it
replaces. For example, many people's voices may be described as “pleasant,”
but someone with a very pleasant voice might be described as having a
“mellifluous” voice.
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Don't brag. Inexperienced writers believe that using Microsoft Word's
synonyms feature twice in each sentence will make their writing better: It won't.
Using flashy vocabulary and fancy words will make your work look too
pompous, but the worst thing is that it will make your writing not as precise as
with more common words. Using the right word is the mark of a true writer and
the sign of possessing an advanced vocabulary.

• You could say that “Iron Mike” is Mike Tyson's “nickname,” but the word
“nickname” might be the most useful and accurate word in the sentence.
Therefore, “mote” might not be as useful in your vocabulary.
 Part 3 of 3: Increase your vocabulary

1. 1

Sign up to receive the “word of the day” in your email on the dictionary
websites. You could also get a “word of the day” calendar; Make sure you read
the word on the page every day, try to remember that word, and even use it at
some point during the day.

• Visit websites that increase your word pool, such as freerice.com, to build a
large vocabulary while helping fight world hunger or doing something useful.
• There are many online sites dedicated to compiling alphabetical lists of unusual,
rare, old-fashioned, and difficult words. Take advantage of search engines to
find these sites and learn from them. This is great to learn while waiting for the
bus or standing in line at the bank.
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Do crossword puzzles and word games. Crossword puzzles are an excellent
source for enriching your word knowledge because their creators often have to
resort to a selection of unusual words to ensure that the words fit and are
interesting to the puzzle maker. There are many varieties of crossword puzzles,
including word search puzzles. In addition to strengthening your word
knowledge, crossword puzzles are also good for improving your critical thinking
skills. For word games, try Scrabble, Boggle, and Cranium to expand your
vocabulary.
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Learn a little Latin. Although it may seem like a dead and useless language,
knowing a little Latin is excellent for learning the roots of many words in our
language and will help you decipher the meaning of a wide range of words that
you do not yet know without having to resort to the dictionary. There are Latin
learning resources and many texts on the Internet (visit your favorite used
bookstore).
Tips
• The frequent use of fillers, such as: “guy…”, “this…”, “am…”, “pa…”, “eeh…” will
make even people with the richest and most extensive vocabularies seem
uneducated. Avoid unnecessary words and contractions.
• There are many websites dedicated to improving your vocabulary. Find your
favorites and use them to the fullest.
• One of the most used websites, Dictionary.com, has a small section at the
bottom of its home page that shows the day's popular searches.
• You can buy small blank cards that you could carry in your bag or pocket
anywhere. Write the new words you are learning on them and take out the cards
when you are on the bus, in line, waiting to pick up someone, etc., this way you
will refresh your learning.
• Download the Free Dictionary app on your smartphone. Take a picture of the
definition with the screenshot feature so you can easily review your words later.

Warnings
• Be aware that you may use words that others are unfamiliar with, which could
create barriers to communication and mutual understanding. Be prepared to use
simpler synonyms in different contexts to fix this problem. In other words, don't
brag.

Things you will need