Most of us struggle when it comes to articulation in English. A useful vocabulary not only helps in better expression in a more precise and concise way but also builds unwavering confidence in oneself, which can help being perceived as an intelligent person too. There is always a myriad of words to choose from while framing any sentence, and no one comes across as a better person than the one who has a multitude of words in his knowledge box. You, too, can resort to several effective ways of enhancing your vocabulary.
1. Be a Voracious Reader
No one, with a robust vocabulary, can deny this method of improving one’s lexicon. This method surely requires longevity to be useful, but it has a powerful retention ability. One should not only try to derive the meaning of new words from the context but should also couple it with looking up a dictionary for a more effective result. Reading novels, newspapers, and sometimes blogs can prove to be very helpful.
2. Have a love for Words
I don’t know how it is with rest of the people but for me having a genuine fascination for words has a paramount impact on my curiosity and my ability to retain any new word I come across.
Maintain a diary for words – This is a crucial way of imbibing new words into one’s diction simply because our brain tends to forget things we come across for a short duration of time. Jotting down words, along with their meanings, increases the probability of retaining those words manifolds. It also makes it easier to refer back to words you might need in the future.
3. Keep a Journal
Penning down your whole day in the form of a journal can be efficacious as you’ll feel compelled to use the words you come across all through the day. You’ll feel the need to be more expressive, and that will naturally urge you to keep new words in your memory.
4. Always keep a dictionary and thesaurus handy
I hail the technology for apps in my phone like Wordweb and Merriam-Webster to which I can always turn to whenever I need to look up the meaning of a word. Many prefer to keep a printed copy. While writing something, if you’ll try to swap common words with new relatable words from the thesaurus, you’ll improve your writing as well as embed those words into your memory.
5. Watch English shows and movies
Watch English shows and movies, which is probably the most entertainment filled way of learning new words. Visuals combined with audio effects stimulate our ability to grasp new words as well as the language much better. The process becomes more impelling if the shows are watched along with English subtitles.
6. Play Word Games
Playing games makes the whole process of learning and retaining the words into your memory much faster, and as it is usually fun-filled, it also becomes exciting and addictive. These word games are challenging and are an excellent tool for gauging your improvement.
7. Learn new words everyday
The technique of merely cramming the words with their meanings proves useful for many though I find it a bit monotonous and uninteresting. If this method appeals to you, you can install apps on your phone or subscribe to websites that pop up a mail daily with a new word and its meaning.
