Learning is an endless process. You can work on your erudition as a teenager or an octogenarian by building your vocabulary. You can develop habits that help you use more precise words, which will make communication, writing, and thinking more effective. Read on to learn more.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Learning New Vocabulary
Step 1. Read voraciously
Once school is over, we are no longer bombarded with words and homework that force us to learn new terms. It's easy to stop reading. If you want to enrich your vocabulary you have to start a reading "regime" and stick to it.
- You can try to read one book per week or one newspaper per day. Choose a reading frequency that works for you and develop habits that are consistent with the time you have available.
- Try to read at least one book and several newspapers each week. Be consistent. In addition to expanding your vocabulary, you will keep yourself updated and informed, your general knowledge will be broader, and you will become an intelligent and well-educated person.
Step 2. Read literature texts
Test yourself and read all the books you can, according to your tastes and the time available. Read the classics, the novels of the past and the modern ones. Get closer to poetry. Read Moravia, Eco, Foscolo.
- Try your hand at technical texts and essays - they quickly help you build vocabulary, but they also teach you new ways of thinking. It ranges from philosophy to religion and science.
- If you usually read the local newspaper, try to buy national or international newspapers and read the longer and more complex articles.
- There are many classics available on the Project Gutenberg site.
Step 3. You can also read online and written articles that don't have big "intellectual pretensions"
Read online versions of magazines, essays and blogs on many topics. Read fashion blogs as well as reviews. A large vocabulary doesn't just mean "big words". To have a complete lexicon you need to know the definition of both "soliloquy" and "macarena." You must be able to read both the texts of Petrarch and Fabio Volo.
Step 4. Write down any words you don't know
When you come across a term you don't know the meaning of, don't skip it hastily. Try to get the definition from the context of the sentence and then search the dictionary to find confirmation.
Buy a small notepad and always carry it with you, in order to write down the terms you encounter in the reading, and then look for the definition later. If you hear or read terms you are unfamiliar with, make a note of them
Step 5. Read the vocabulary
Read voices that are unfamiliar to you. This work requires a good quality vocabulary, which makes the definition more interesting and enriched with explanations of the etymology and use of the word. All of this will help you memorize it and use it appropriately.
Step 6. Read the thesaurus
Look for words you use often so that you can assimilate similar ones and learn to use new ones as well.
Part 2 of 3: Using New Words
Step 1. Set goals
If you're working hard to broaden your vocabulary, set goals to achieve. Try to learn three new words a week and try to use them in your speeches and writing productions. If you make a conscious effort, you can learn thousands of new terms that you will remember and use. If you are unable to use a word correctly and effectively in your speech, then you cannot claim that it is part of your vocabulary.
- If learning three words per seventh is easy for you, up the ante. Try to get to ten words in the following week.
- If you search for twenty terms in the dictionary every day, it will be difficult to remember and use them precisely. Be realistic and build a vocabulary that you will be able to use.
Step 2. Test flash cards and post-its
If you want to develop this new habit, try to take advantage of all the memorization techniques that have been useful to you in school. Attach post-its with the definitions of the words you want to learn on the coffee machine, so you can study them in the morning while you have breakfast, or on the plants you have at home: you can review them while watering them.
Even when you are watching TV or engaging in other activities, always carry flash cards with you and study them. Always be active
Step 3. Write
If you haven't already, keep a journal or start a blog. By training your writing, you strengthen your vocabulary.
- Write letters to old friends trying to be very detailed. If your correspondence is usually short and informal, change your style and start long letters (or emails). Take your time and compose the letters as if it were a school theme. Make thoughtful choices.
- Consider taking responsibility for writing lyrics at work. If you usually avoid composing reports, group emails, or participating in discussions, change your habits and try to write more. This way you will get paid as you improve your vocabulary.
Step 4. Use specific adjectives and subjects
The best writers always seek precision and synthesis. Dust off the dictionary of synonyms and antonyms and look for the exact term for the concept you want to express. Don't use three words when one is enough. A word is useful if it allows you to reduce the number of terms in a sentence.
- For example, the term "dolphins and whales" can be replaced with the word "cetaceans", so the term "cetaceans" is a useful word.
- A term is also useful when it is more descriptive than the word (or phrase) it replaces. For example, some people's voices may be "pleasant". But the voice of some may be very pleasant and perhaps it would be more accurate to use the term "melodious".
Step 5. Don't show off your vocabulary
Many novice writers believe that Microsoft Word's "synonyms & antonyms" feature can improve every sentence. It is not so. A sumptuous and "deliberately difficult" lexicon makes the narration pompous and pompous. Using the appropriate terms demonstrates writing skills and mastery of a complete vocabulary.
You can say that "Iron Mike" is Mike Tyson's "epithet", but in such a phrase the term "nickname" is also fine, as it is more precise and useful. Therefore, in this specific case, the term "epithet", although more sought after, is less useful
Part 3 of 3: Building a Vocabulary
Step 1. Sign up for a mailing list where the "Word of the Day" is sent to you, most of the online vocabularies offer this service
There are also calendars on this subject, but be sure to read them every day.
- Browse the sites dedicated to words, definitions and vocabulary. Expand your vocabulary while eating or doing other useful things.
- There are many websites that undertake to make lists of terms that are unusual, strange, ancient or difficult. Trust your favorite search engine and learn as much as you can. The site of the Accademia della Crusca is perhaps the most authoritative.
Step 2. Solve the crossword puzzles
Puzzles and puzzle games are a great source for expanding your vocabulary, because those who create these "riddles" rely on unusual definitions and terms to make solving difficult and compelling. There are many word games ranging from crosswords, rebus, hidden words, etc … as your knowledge of the terms strengthens, you can test your skills with puzzles. You can try playing Scarabeo, Il Paroliere or Cranium.
Step 3. Learn some Latin
Although it is a dead language, Latin allows you to understand the roots of words. In this way you will be able to guess, without the use of vocabulary, the meaning of a term even if you do not know it directly. There are online sites that can help you in this task as well as, of course, many textbooks (you can find them in the library or in used book markets).
Advice
- There are several online sites dedicated to improving vocabulary. Find the one you prefer and use it as much as you can.
- Frequent use of interlayers such as "like", "so", "that is" can make even people with a large and articulated lexicon seem uneducated. Avoid unnecessary words and contractions.
- Some of these sites show the most popular searches of the day at the bottom of the main page. There you can find phrases or questions to help you learn new words.
- Download a free vocabulary application to your smartphone. You can take screenshots of the definitions of terms that you want to review later.
- Using flash cards is a great way to learn the meanings of new words and their correct spelling. You can buy specific flash cards to always carry with you to learn new vocabulary. Write us the words you are learning and use them when you are on the bus, in line, while you are waiting for someone, and so on.
