Vocabulary……..A Dilemma!

If you are reading this now, you are undoubtedly interested in reading. Reading is indeed a very fascinating experience but that fascination is reserved only for those who possess this habit. A reader gets to learn a number of skills unknowingly, in a natural way. He/she acquires a variety of sentence structures, new words, and proper usage of punctuation, how to write, organize and present ideas and much more….A person in a company of a book is very much similar to the experience of hanging out with a friend who is very knowledgeable and he shares that knowledge with him. He never is a victim of loneliness.

So, my very first advice on how to improve vocabulary is to read. Read as much as you can. In this article, I have planned to provide the students with extremely valuable tips which will, not only enhance their vocabulary and how to remember new words. Are you ready?

Spare 20 minutes for reading every day. Allow yourself to read anything in English that interests you. Make sure it is NOT a grammar book or any book related to learning English. Remember, ‘interest’ is the key word here. Read for pleasure and enjoy it. I would recommend short stories available on web since it is hard to find a variety of books in the market. Just Google it and you will get it.

Now you have a story in front of you in book form or on the computer screen. Notice the new words as they occur in the story. You will find many words which are new to you but do not worry. Keep reading at your phase and you will notice that you understand the meaning of the phrases to some extent, if not the exact meaning of those new words.

Pick two new words in the context. Remember, never learn words with only meanings but learn a new word in the context i.e. how it functions in a sentence. Write the whole context in your notebook but do not write the meanings. Use the dictionary to look up for meanings. You can use online dictionary www.dictionary.com for further reference. It tells us the meanings and the usage. Share the words with a friend later in order to save them in your long term memory. You will never forget them.

Let’s calculate. Learning two new words every day will give you 60 new words in a month time. You master more than 700 words in a year time. And---how many words in 5 years? You do the math.

So, learn slowly and steadily, add vocabulary to your register/notebook each day, every day. Again, consistency is the name of the game. Keep your register handy as you can look at the words and their context time and again to make them your OWN. Own them and they will never leave you.

Students are welcome to contact me at rizteacher@yahoo.com for further guidance. I will be pleased to answer their questions.

About the author:

Riz Qamar is an English teacher in China. He was born and raised in India, grew up in a tiny wee village. He graduated in English Literature and Education as major subjects and became a teacher.