Vocabulary Builder Tips

Once I read a Joke on internet.  The joke read something like the following :- Two trucks loaded with thousands of copies of Roget’s Thesaurus collided as they left a New York publishing house.    Witnesses were aghast, amazed, astonished, astounded, bemused, benumbed, bewildered, confounded, confused, dazed, dazzled, disconcerted, disoriented, dumbstruck, electrified, flabbergasted, horrified, immobilized, incredulous, nonplussed, overwhelmed, paralyzed, perplexed, scared, shocked, startled, stunned, stupified, surprised, taken aback, traumatized, upset. . . .

After reading the above joke, I felt that I need to improve my vocabulary further, as quite a few of the above words appeared to be of routine nature, but I have hardly used them on day to day writing.

Thus, each one of us, specially the students appearing in competition exams are always worried and looking out for ways to improve their vocabulary.  They are all the more worried as there is no limit on the number of new words one can find out.   Dictionary is huge and no one in the world can even think of knowing the meaning of even 1% of dictionary words.

We give below some Tips for Building a good vocabulary :

1. Read as much as possible :   This is the most important tip for building a strong vocabulary.  If you read more – especially novels and literary works by good authors. you will come across more and more new words.  Similarly, reading  magazines and newspapers containing articles on various topics will confront you with unseen / unheard words.     As and when you come across a new word,  first try to derive meaning from the context of the sentence and then looking up the dictionary.    The meaning will become clear to you and word will remain with you for a longer period.

2.  Purchase a good dictionary and a thesaurus :   This tip was given to me too when I was young.  Today, it may sound a bit old tip as now dictionary and thesaurus are available online and youngsters are using the same.   Thus, if you are comfortable with online dictionary, there is absolutely no problem.  Only suggestion is that do not feel shy from looking for the meaning of a new word.

3. Note Down New Words in a Notebook (sorry …youngsters please read Excel worksheet instead of Notebook) :   Try to note down the new words and their meanings in any form which you will to be comfortable.     Scan through your records whenever you get time to fresh the words and their meaning so that you can recall these whenever you are writing an article or reading some material.

4. Make A Habit to Learn at lease one  New word everyday : . This Tip appears to be very easy on paper, but is difficult to follow.   For few days you may be able to stick to this schedule, but my experience tells, with the passage of time you tend to forget your promise and you do not learn even a single word for weeks together.   Some websites flash few words everything so that visitors can build the vocabulary.

5. Check the origin of the word or how the word was formed :   There are few books available which give the origin of the words or how they have been derived.   A large number of words in English have been derived from Latin and Greek roots.   Latin and Greek elements (prefixes, roots, and suffixes) are important part of the English language and if you can master or understand some of these, you will notice that you have been able to master a number of words easily.

6. Vocabulary Builder Games :  Most of us have played games relating to vocabulary building.   Most popular of these are Scrabble, Boogle, Crossword Puzzles, Anagrams, Word Jumble etc.   Try to play these games regularly.  This will help in building a strong vocabulary.