How to improve your vocabulary

THE IMPORTANCE OF VOCABULARY

Vocabulary is a key area of knowledge of a language, as some authors have

expressed. However, although it is important to accumulate words, the good news
is that in the 1980s, a computerized statistical analysis of a corpus of people
whose native language was English speaking people showed that the 700 most
common words in English represented 70% of the words on this
language, the 1500 most frequent words made up 76% and the 2500 most
common words, 80%. That is, a rather limited number of words account for a high
proportion of that which is translated Consequently, knowledge of these words will
facilitate the understanding of the language, at least. Here is link to the 1000 most
common words http://www.k12reader.com/worksheet/fry-words-complete-list/

TECHNIQUES FOR RECORDING VOCABULARY

Once vocabulary has been presented (and often before it is practised), you will
need to start learning it. Practising and using the vocabulary is part of the learning
process but you usually need time to process a vocabulary word, too. The first
step is to record the various aspects of the word. Here are some ideas:

Ways of recording

The simplest way is probably to use a kind of chart, which could include the
following:

Vocab item Grammar Pronunciation Meaning (Definition/picture)

Machine Noun məˈʃiːn

Making connections

in order to activate vocabulary, you need to be able to access it and remember the
meaning and how it’s used in a sentence. To do this we often make connections,
these connections help us recall the word, its meaning, and how it is used. Here are
a few ways we can do this:

Key words and pictures

This is a technique that some people have claimed helps to fix the word and its
meaning in the memory. The technique is based on making a mental image that
connects the new word in the L2 with a word in the student’s L1 that has some
association (often sound) with the L2 word.

Synonyms and antonyms

Using synonyms and antonyms is another way of grouping words. It can also be
very useful to record synonyms together so that when you are writing or speaking
you are able to use a variety of language and not just the same word again and
again. There is a tendency for some words to be overused in English. A good
example of this is the word ‘nice,’ which is used to describe so many things that it
has become almost bland and non-committal.

Collocations and grammar words

An important aspect of learning how to use vocabulary items is knowing what other
words they collocate with. In many ways, collocations are the building blocks of
language and recent studies have found that native speakers often rely on pre-
formulated chunks rather than putting words together one by one. Tasks in which
we learn to match words to form collocations are always useful. You can find out
that we can have a packet of biscuits, a tin of biscuits, but we would not have a
tube or a can of biscuits

Sometimes the collocations are almost grammatical in nature. After all, collocations
are patterns of language, which is exactly what grammar is. An example of this
type of collocation would be with words such as make and do. We can make the
bed, make breakfast, make a mistake, but we do stuff, do the housework, and do
language exercises!
So, learning collocations is a fundamental step in enabling them to use the
language effectively.

STRATEGIES TO VOCABULARY LEARNING

Researchers distinguish between short-term store, working memory, and long-

term memory. Focusing on words long enough to perform operations on them is
the function of working memory. Long-term memory has an enormous capacity
and its contents are durable overtime.
Research shows that to ensure that material moves into permanent memory, a
number of principles need to be observed.

Repetition

Words are remembered if they have been seen a few times over spaced intervals.
Research shows that repeating certain kinds of activity, such as summarising the
text orally, may be a good way to improve the learner’s language. Many
researchers have concluded that we acquire an individual word by meeting it a
number of times; typically, you will remember the word after seen it seven times.

Spacing

Review words at fixed intervals.

Apparently, when we learn new information, most of us forget it at the end of the
learning session. After that, we forget less quickly. It is therefore essential to
review what they learned right after the lesson and then at longer intervals. Some
authors suggest that we should review the words 5-10 minutes after the lesson,
24 hours later, a week later, a month later, and finally six months later. Thus, they
argue, we improve our chances of remembering it in the long term.

Use

Words are remembered if they are used. It seems obvious, we need to use to
realize the doubts and difficulties that we face in a specific phrase, if people
understand us, if the register is adequate, if we remember how to spell and how to
pronounce the words, etc. So, when you learn new words, you must include them
in your writing and use them in your conversations at every chance you have.
Imaging

Associating a word with an image can be helpful especially if you are a

predominantly a visual learner.

Mnemonics

Use connecting ideas to remember things.

For example, if you find it difficult to remember adjective order.

Some examples of adjective order

Opinion Size Age Shape Colour Origin Material Purpose

a silly young English man

a huge round metal bowl

sleeping
a small red
bag

Use a sentence that will help you remember it.

For example:

In my nice, big flat, there’s an old round box for my Swiss green hat and
my woolly walking socks.

Motivation and fun

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. Learn vocabulary about topics you like, with films you enjoy,
doing activities you like and experience it as a pleasure, not as an obligation.

All of these techniques are for your self-learning process because, ultimately,
you have to take responsibility for vocabulary expansion.
SOME WEBSITES TO PRACTICE SOME VOCABULARY

1. http://www.englishpage.com/vocabulary/vocabulary.html

2. http://a4esl.org/q/f/#v

3. http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/200/vocab/index.htm

4. http://www.manythings.org/e/vocabulary.html

5. http://esl.about.com/od/advancedvocabulary/

6. http://www.esltower.com/vocabularyquiz.html