Most people who are not native English speakers have a hard time understanding the nuances of the language. Even if you’ve been speaking it for years, there are so many words that everyday situations require. But luckily, there are ways to learn them without spending hours doing research or taking classes. Here are 9 tips on how to level up your vocabulary in no time!
1. Use pictures and flashcards
If you’re willing to put in the time and effort, make a deck of cards with new vocabulary on them. You can use online tools to do this or create a paper version yourself. Then, every day learn 15-20 words from your deck by seeing what they mean from context clues, making up sentences with them, and writing them out. Pictures and flashcards are very helpful ways to learn new vocabulary because they allow you to see the words in many different contexts. They rely on visual memory and take advantage of the brain’s natural ability to remember images. In the long run, this will be much easier and more helpful for your learning.
2. Use online tools and apps
There are a lot of great online resources that can help you learn new vocabulary words. You can use word finders, memory games, and word scrambles to aid you in your learning. As seen on Wordgiraffe, a word finder allows you to type in the word you don’t know and then gives you a list of words that are similar. This can help you figure out the meaning of your word by comparing it with others. It also offers a lot of different tools, such as finding vowel only or consonant only words. Memory games make use of another important function of our brains, they can recall visual memories. Playing memory games will help people learn new words because those games work with visual memories. Word scrambles are also great because they take a word and scramble it up so that you have to figure out the original word, but it does this in different ways, such as by changing the order of letters or switching some words around. This helps people learn new words by challenging themselves to rearrange the words in the right order.
3. Read!
Reading is one of the best ways to improve your vocabulary because it exposes you to new words constantly in context. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand a word immediately, context will help you figure it out after a few more encounters. Reading will help improve your vocabulary because you’re required to understand the text as a whole, not just looking up definitions in the dictionary. It’s not relevant whether you read news articles, Harry Potter, or a children’s book – the words in context will help you learn and remember them. The more difficult your reading material is to understand, the harder it will be for you to figure out the meaning of new words. So start with something more simple and work your way up from there.
4. Listen!
Listening to music, news broadcasts or any other form of English media will also help you pick up new words. If you find yourself in an unfamiliar situation, but your vocabulary isn’t picking up, you can still understand what’s going on by using context clues. The more frequently you hear a certain word, the more quickly it will stick in your brain. People tend to pay attention better when they find what they’re listening to interesting and fun, so make sure that if you listen to something for its vocabulary, it’s something you enjoy. For example, you can merge fun and learning English by watching your favorite TV show without subtitles. It will be a little harder than usual, but you’ll pick up on the vocabulary faster because it’s something that interests you.
5. Speak!
If you want to become better at using new vocabulary in your everyday life, then you need to practice speaking it! The more often you speak English with people who are willing to help you improve, the faster your vocab will grow. This is because when we speak with others, we have to think faster and can’t always find the right word. This process of thinking of a word but not being able to find it forces us to use a word we might not normally use, which is a great way to expand our vocabulary. Speaking is the best practice for language learning, which will help you sound more natural and grow your vocabulary at the same time.
6. Keep a vocabulary journal
A vocabulary journal is a great way to track your learning and monitor your progress. Write down 10 new words along with their definitions every day, and you’ll see a big jump in your vocabulary level! After some time, you can go back through your journal to study any words that you’re still not sure of. A vocabulary journal will not only help you learn vocabulary, but it will also help your writing by forcing you to improve your sentence structure. Also, if you make a vocabulary journal it will be like your own personal dictionary, and it’s a great reference to use when you’re not sure of the meaning of a word.
7. Use a dictionary
If you’re not interested in making a vocabulary journal, use a dictionary instead. A dictionary is an excellent way to find words and their definitions. You can use one in a number of ways. You can look up the definition of a word, find out how it’s used in context, and learn about different spellings and pronunciations for it. It’s also a good idea to go through and make flashcards for any words that you’re having difficulties remembering or understanding. This will help you remember how they’re spelled and what they mean by reminding you when you need it most – when you’re studying!
Learning new words is one of the most challenging aspects of learning a language, but there are plenty of ways to improve your vocabulary. These 7 tips provided in this article will help level up your English skills and improve how you communicate with others. Whether it’s reading books or watching TV without subtitles, there are plenty of ways for the average person to expand their knowledge on words they might not otherwise come across. If you want to take your learning even further, then try journaling new words that you encounter every day as well as making flashcards out of those difficult-to-remember ones!