-Soumya Sahu
English is a globally recognised language that is most commonly employed in conversations within and across borders. Keeping aside the professional usage of English, it can be said that the language provides a sense of confidence and poise to deal with circumstances on a personal front.
A majority of us are literate in English but we are still not comfortable and connected with the language because we are not exposed enough. Reading and learning course books will never get the job done as one would always think of the language in a professional format.
Vocabulary can be singled out as one of the major segments of English because it tends to improve your spoken English assures you to converse in the language without any hesitation. So, here are some tried and tested tips and tricks to improve your English vocabulary:-
READ
Before you let out that impatient grumble, hear me out. It is not very realistic or feasible for a beginner to read classics like 'Pride and Prejudice' but you can start with your favourite pieces, may it be magazine articles, short stories, poems or novels in your preferred genre.
The central idea here is to read in the English and get comfortable with its casual use. An added advantage of reading in English is learning from context. Before you even realise, your brain would have subconsciously soaked in new words and who knows, you would actually end up loving 'Pride and Prejudice'.
WATCH
If you are ironclad in your will that reading is just not your cup of tea, well I would rather not debate and give up an alternative. You can start watching English movies, songs, interviews, web-series, among others. Two honourable mentions are watching documentaries and listening to podcasts.
The process of watching subconsciously affects you in a way similar to reading, but it is more slow as you do not have to work your brain much to understand. But keeping that aside, watching does help you gather new words and build your vocabulary.
P.S. - Please keep the subtitles off!
LIST AND JOURNAL
This is a practice in which you will have to invest your time and patience, but the returns are generous as you will have bunches of words floating in your mind, ready to be used. All you need is a notepad and a pen… whenever you come across a new word, list it down along with its meaning. Keep making such lists and try to use these words while writing daily journals.
A fun activity to accompany this is to decorate your pad with leaves, flowers, coffee stains and make it aesthetic. Keep things interesting so that you will want to keep coming back!
EMPLOY ETYMOLOGY, WORDS CLUSTERS AND MNEMONICS
Etymology refers to the origin of a particular word, and word clusters include the synonyms and antonyms of a word. Language becomes a lot easier when you understand the importance of etymology and word clusters and play around with them.
Mnemonics is a way to improve memory by discovering unique systems. For instance, counting the knuckles to know the number of days in a month. When you use such techniques, your vocabulary gets upgraded without putting much effort.
CONVERSE
Finally, the best way to actually improve your English is to converse in it. Your vocabulary is refined when you talk to people who already are a pro at the language. Another way to improve is to teach people who feel diffident about the language. Remember, you want to have a camaraderie with the language, so treat it like a friend.
BOOK RECOMMENDATION - I cannot recommend this book enough because it will change your vocabulary game by the time your flip the last page. The book is WORD POWER, MADE EASY by Norman Lewis. The book will keep you engaged with its activities and fun memory games and honestly, it's a treasure.
English is a flexible language which ropes in words actively. So, it is not possible for us to know every other word but getting familiar with a good chunk does the job. Like I have said before, treat the language as your friend and the returns are very rewarding.
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