As social beings, we are always in the position of relating with others and this is done through conversations. When engaged in discussions, we all have ideas; sometimes these ideas are vague and other times they sit clearly in our minds. Whatever the case is, being able to express our ideas and get your point across is largely dependent on knowing the right words to use.
A poor vocabulary can have a negative effect, not only on our confidence but also on the perceptions that people hold of us. Beyond this, however, expanding your vocabulary gives you a better command of the English language when engaging in conversations.
In academics, a solid buildup of vocabulary is necessary to communicate and pass down knowledge effectively. While you might communicate in the words of others, communicating fluently and soundly in your own words helps you get through a lot of necessary tasks as a student- reading and understanding lecture materials, performing written projects and sitting for examinations.
If you are interested in enhancing your vocabulary, here are tips for you;
Read
Reading ushers you into the creative world of other people. After you leave school, academic tasks that require reading would no longer be necessary, and so, if you want to enhance your vocabulary, you would need to consciously develop a reading habit.
Read novels, magazines, news articles- read anything you can. This is because there are several writing styles that would definitely have impact on your choice of words. There are also many unfamiliar words that you would come across, alongside their correct usage.
To get the most out of reading, create a practical schedule for your reading time. As new words are uncovered from the text, make attempts to figure out their meaning from the context they were used. As time goes by, your guesses would be apt but it is always necessary to double check with a dictionary to be sure of the meanings.
Play Word Games
There are several word games that you can benefit from. Scrabble is an awesome board game that demands for some prowess with words. There are also mobile games that require you to know several words to pass its stages. Playing games is an excellent way to casually let the meanings of new words sip through your brain. You can also engage friends and family in this leisure activity.
Catch phrase and cross word puzzles are also games you can consider to take up.
Write
Writing does not necessarily mean that you should start a blog or write for public consumption. You may not want to do that. However there is a saying that ‘the best way to learn a language is by speaking it.’ In this case, write it. For starters, it might not be easy to find someone to always listen to you while you speak and try to build your vocabulary muscle.
You could exercise this option by writing daily in a personal diary or journal. This removes the pressure of meeting the expectations of a listening audience. You could write about your daily experiences or an altercation you watched between two people. Any daily story is fine, just write and improve.
Writing is a smart way to trigger ideas in your mind and express them. With time, you begin to utilize words that you may not have known were existent in your word bank. To a great extent, writing also helps you to search for alternative words to express yourself as clearly as possible. This has an amazing way of polishing your vocabulary.
Learn a Word Daily
Another way to enhance your vocabulary is by consciously learning new words daily. This would mean that we would need to become more observant when listening to conversations. It is also important to surround yourself with people who have rich word banks.
Apart from learning from others, having a thesaurus is never a bad idea. With a thesaurus, you can look up antonyms and synonyms of words daily. You may also develop a list of words that you would like to learn.
Keep a Journal for New Words
To effectively enhance your vocabulary, it requires some level of commitment. Deciding to keep a journal for the new words you learn would need consistency. This would help you to refer to them as often as you can so that they stick to your memory.
Expanding your vocabulary is like exercising muscles. The strength of the overall process is in repetition- one day might not make so much a difference without the input of other days. To this effect, it is necessary to recheck words that have been written down to keep them fresh in your minds and spur you to use them frequently.
Conclusion
Enhancing your English vocabulary is an important decision especially for students. An enhanced vocabulary leaves you feeling confident about engaging in conversations and tasks that concern your academics. With a good doze of consistency, reading, writing, playing word games and keeping a journal for new words become effective ways to enhance your vocabulary.
If you would like to enhance your understanding