Words are everywhere; we’re surrounded by them, and we cannot do without them. In fact, using the best words has become a matter of pride now, and we all have to up our game everyday. Vocabulary building is the ‘in’ thing now, and people with a strong vocabulary are turning some heads around. This practice of building your vocabulary can take one a long way, professionally and personally. Whether you love the English language or your profession demands for you to be good with words, you could use these 10 tips to enhance your vocabulary.
1. Replace watching videos with reading
There’s nothing better than reading a minimum of two to three articles every day. Make it a point to do this, because you are sure to come across either a new word or a new method to use a particular word from your existing vocabulary. Some of the best reads are in selected classic books and the daily newspaper.
2. Pick up a game of Scrabble
Scrabble is just one of them; you can pick up any word game you like. Play with people of similar interest, and the exchange of knowledge will be impeccable! It will turn out to be an amazing session of exchange of words, and you can always look those words up later.
3. Make friends with the Thesaurus
Trust us, you cannot find a better friend than the Thesaurus if you are looking forward to enhancing your vocab skills. You can also get into the habit of keeping a dictionary by your bedside and learning one new word before getting out of bed. Surprisingly, you will be able to use the word somewhere on that very day.
4. Use your free time to take some online quizzes
There are a number of vocabulary building quizzes and puzzles available across the internet. If you are not savvy with that, you can buy some books off the counter on the same lines. Design a schedule to solve at least one of them each day.
5. Solve the daily crossword in the newspaper
Many people find these crosswords hard and do not attempt them under the assumption that they wouldn’t know most of the words. We live in the times of the internet; type the clue online, and have a look at the glossary that appears. One of them will undoubtedly fit in the crossword. Maybe you don’t win anything, but, you learn some new words and their meanings!
6. Look for synonyms
Every time you write something, find the most common words and underline them. Now look for some synonyms of that word and read the examples to fathom how to use that word. Replace your underlined word with a synonym. Writing is a great way to memorize new words; if you have underlined five words, there is a chance that you will be able to register and use at least two of them again without the help of a dictionary.
7. Watch the news
News channels usually come up with quite many new words almost every day. You could watch them for fifteen minutes a day during the prime time, or debate hour when the channel involves a lot of other people. Usually, these people come with background knowledge of the topic in discussion and end up using a lot of words that we wouldn’t have heard of before.
8. Write as you learn
Write as you learn is another practice that you can inculcate in your daily routine. As soon as you hear a new word from a random source, learn the meaning, and frame a sentence. You could use a tiny notepad, or your phone for this, and when you go back to it at the end of the day, you will realize that a new word has been added to your personal dictionary.
9. Switch on subtitles when you watch shows online
Some online shows could be of help to learn new words, and could there be a more fun way to learn new words? Detour your focus from the story every now and often to catch a glimpse of the subtitles. It is quite probable that you could learn a minimum of one new word per episode.
10. Put your skill to test
All you need is twenty minutes from your weekend to put your skill to test. Be your own judge, and be your own critic while you take up this self-test. Go back to all the words you learned in the past seven days, and write them down with their meanings. If you remember even half of them, then you have aced your week!
Share this article with the people around you who could also use these tips to enhance their language. We’ll consider our job done if you apply at least fifty percent of these tips to your regimen. In any case, the benefit of doing so will be entirely yours!
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