How to increase vocabulary. How to replenish vocabulary? Replenish vocabulary

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The ability to speak beautifully and correctly has always been held in high esteem. After all, it's wonderful - when words flow like water (whether in written or oral form), attracting attention and causing genuine interest and even admiration in the reader or listener. But quite often this river rather resembles a small river or a small stream - this happens when a person’s vocabulary does not allow him to clearly and adequately express his thoughts, opinion or attitude to something, explain a point of view, convey the meaning of what what he wants to convey. But the good thing is that a person can quickly correct this state of affairs by regularly replenishing his “repository” of words. Our resource even has one dedicated to this topic.

But, as you know, topics related to self-development are always relevant, and learning in more detail about ways to expand vocabulary will certainly be of interest to every developing person, and even more so to those whose activities are closely related to writing or oratory. Here are 10 effective methods to increase your vocabulary.

Read more books

This method is perhaps the most important and most effective. Books are not only a source of new knowledge and interesting information, but also a collection of all kinds of words that were previously unfamiliar. When you read a book, you will always come across new words. This is especially true for specialized and thematic literature. But simply reading may not be enough - new words are also needed. If a new word is used several times in the text, memorization can occur automatically. But if it occurs once, however, you are interested, do not apply to write it down in a notebook or on a separate piece of paper. In general, having a notebook of new words is very useful, because it can be regularly replenished and re-read from time to time. When reading books, try to always have this notebook with you. As for the books themselves, get in the good habit of buying a new book at least once every two weeks and reading for at least an hour a day. Well, if you, for example, often travel or travel actively, then an electronic “reader” will be an excellent alternative for you, into which you can download an incredible amount of all kinds of literature from the Internet.

Various video materials have a huge potential in terms of vocabulary. This includes all kinds of educational TV shows, quizzes, useful talk shows, intellectual games, video seminars, training courses, documentaries and, of course, feature films, etc. In addition to the fact that while watching you will learn a lot of new words, you will also have a wonderful leisure time. And what could be better than a combination of pleasant and useful in one action? But remember that it is important to be able to distinguish between worthwhile and unworthy materials, especially on TV, because the air is full of "garbage". Those. if, for example, you see on the program that there will soon be a program “Clever and clever” or “Own game”, then you can allocate time to watch TV, but if an epic “Dom-2” or another “soap opera” with Jose is planned Ignacio in the title role, it is better to do something else. and meaningless TV shows not only does not increase vocabulary, but also pretty dulls a person. And one more thing: do not forget about the notebook that you use while reading books. Watch a TV show and hear new words - write them down.

Listen to audio

Audio materials are no less valuable than video, although they are an order of magnitude smaller. The greatest demand is for audio trainings, audio seminars, audio lessons and audio books. You just need to find what interests you and download it to your player, tablet or phone. Some electronic "readers" also support the function of playing audio files. The benefit of such a source of information is obvious: you listen to what you like, and at the same time learn new words. It is very convenient to use audiobooks or educational materials while traveling, on the way to work, etc. It turns out that any free minute is spent with benefit. Here again, your notepad will come in handy. But, of course, it is worth using it according to the situation.

Use encyclopedias and dictionaries

Encyclopedias and dictionaries are a real storehouse of new words. But studying them just like that, reading like a book, can be quite boring. So it's best to just have some of it available all the time, like on your desktop or on a bookshelf. Heard a new word but don't know what it exactly means? Open a dictionary and look up the meaning. Learned about some interesting fact or phenomenon? The encyclopedia will answer your questions. Encyclopedias, by the way, today there are a great many. There are even special series of encyclopedias, each of which is devoted to a separate topic: space, wildlife, plants, people, physics, travel, etc. Wikipedia is an excellent online encyclopedia - there you can find an interpretation of almost any word, an explanation of many phenomena and phenomena, biographies of all famous people in the world and other interesting information.

Connect with people

An excellent source of new information is communication. By talking with different people, you can, firstly, learn what you did not know before, and secondly, hear new words and terms. In particular, this applies to communication with people-intellectuals. It has been noted more than once that a person's communication with those who are on a level higher than him in some way (financial, intellectual, spiritual) also raises the level of the person himself. Therefore, it is necessary to strive for interaction with those who are superior to you: they know more, know how to do what you do not know how, have a more flexible mind and developed intellect. Over time, you will begin to notice that your communication and the level of your knowledge, including vocabulary, have improved markedly.

Use new words

This method is not focused on increasing vocabulary as such, but on its active use. Many words that you did not know before often fly out of your head and in order to remember them, you need to pretty much "dig" in your "warehouse" of words. The regular use of new terms (they are written in your notebook?!) contributes to the fact that they are included, so to speak, in your "" - you begin to operate with new words and terms in the same way as you operate with those that you have long been accustomed to. In daily communication, try to use less common words for you, replace them with synonyms and those words that you have recently learned. Such communication, among other things, will significantly increase the level of your communication in general, and your interlocutors will be a real pleasure: those who are one level lower than you will strive to communicate with you, and those who are higher will see you as a worthy "rival". in verbal battles.

Write more

It is to a large extent that it contributes to the competent construction of speech and the effective use of new words. Plus, you don't have to be a writer. You can simply indulge yourself in a small but very interesting hobby: set aside a little time every day (at least 20-30 minutes) to write small texts. It can be just a statement of one's thoughts, an explanation of one's point of view, or a justification of one's position on a particular issue. You can write a short one or two page article on a topic that interests you. While writing any text, you will have enough time to think about your thoughts, you will learn not only to use new words, but also to correctly and concisely insert them into the text - as they say, “into the topic”. In addition, writing is a creative activity, which means that your creativity is activated and mental resources are used to the maximum. And this, in turn, allows you to remember even those words that you, quite possibly, did not even know about.

Use notes

The presented method is more like entertainment than work on self-development. Take a pack of stickers and write on each one from 1 to 3 words that you like, but that you are not yet “used to” and that you often have to. Paste these stickers around your apartment - stick them on mirrors, household appliances, computer desks, walls, windows. There can be as many stickers as you like - everything depends on your needs and imagination. In addition to words, you can also write down their meaning or some interesting data about something in a short form. For example, you know about Mount Everest and that it has other names, but don't remember them. Write on the sticker "Everest - Chomolungma (Tibet.) - Sagarmatha (Nepal.) - 8848 m" and paste the note on the computer monitor. At any time, you can refresh in memory what you forgot. And regular glancing at the leaf for a long time will fix in your memory what you want to know and remember.

Solve crosswords, scanwords, etc.

Another way to have fun for the benefit of the mind is to solve crosswords, crossword puzzles and similar puzzles. Newsstands sell entire collections of similar problems. Try to solve one, for example, a crossword puzzle a day. It will take you no more than 30-40 minutes. But you are unlikely to be able to guess all the words, because. it's impossible to know everything. But what you didn’t know can reveal itself (such is the specificity of scanwords), and it can also be found on the Internet by typing the appropriate query in a search engine. In addition, such a pastime will allow you to pass your leisure time or a long journey on the train, even if it is a “classic of the genre”.

Get interested!

And the last advice - be interested in everything always and everywhere. Strive to gain new knowledge, learn new information about everything you can about. Interesting facts, phenomena and phenomena, historical events and personalities, incredible discoveries and achievements of science - all this should certainly arouse your interest. The more you are interested, the more you will know. And in direct proportion to the increase in the volume of your knowledge, your vocabulary will also increase, and you will also be a versatile developed person and will be able to support any conversation. Remember that you can be a specialist and a professional in any field, but it is always useful to know a little about everything.

Start applying the tips above right now and your vocabulary will start growing today! Good luck and good luck to you! Develop and know a lot, a lot of things!

You will certainly be interested in testing your vocabulary - read the few words below and vote for one of the options below.

Do you want to become more educated, witty and eloquent? Then replenish your vocabulary! But how to do it quickly and without problems?

How to replenish the vocabulary of the native language?

1. Communicate more with smart and educated people, their vocabulary is probably much more diverse and wider than yours. You can find those on the Internet, in clubs of interest, among your colleagues or classmates, friends, after all. And try to keep conversations on complex topics in order to learn as many new terms as possible.
2. For each word, try to select synonyms and actively use them, this will make your speech richer and more diverse. If you cannot remember a single word with an identical meaning, then connect dictionaries (by the way, there are special dictionaries of synonyms, their use in this situation will be optimal).
3. Read books, and not only modern authors, but also well-known classics. And while reading, focus on each phrase, and not just on the essence of the story and plot. If you do not understand something, consult a dictionary and find out the meaning of an unknown expression, word or phrase.
4. After reading the book or at least its chapter or even a few pages, try to retell the text, but not in your own simple words, but using the phrases and expressions used by the author. This will help you memorize new words faster.
5. Reading aloud is best. After all, if you practice reading "to yourself", then often you just quickly run your eyes over the line, catch the meaning, but do not notice individual words, and some of them can expand your vocabulary. And as you say each word, you will certainly hear something unfamiliar and want to find out the meaning.
6. Get a dictionary of the Russian language, and the most modern one is better, since it will have the largest number of words. You should not try to read it completely in one day, in which case you simply won’t remember anything. It is better to learn a few words every day, and to learn fully, that is, to delve into the meaning and fix it in memory.
7. Learn poetry. This will not only expand vocabulary, but also significantly improve memory and, therefore, memorize new words faster.
8. You can learn not only poetry, but also prose, for example, quotes from famous people, aphorisms, excerpts from works, and so on.
9. Watch educational programs and documentaries, it is useful and very interesting.
10. To increase your child's vocabulary, simply talk to him as much as possible. Tell about the processes and phenomena occurring both in human life and in nature. Talk about character traits, qualities. In general, pass on everything you know to your child, it is very useful and necessary in modern life.
11. Be sure to write down any new word you hear, and learn its meaning as soon as possible.

How to learn more foreign words?

If you need to increase the vocabulary of English or another foreign language, then you should proceed a little differently, since the process is more complicated.

1. Read books in the language you are learning, and preferably fictional ones, since when writing them, the authors usually do not skimp on a variety of words and complex phrases, and studying them will definitely be useful for you. All unknown concepts immediately write out along with the translation.
2. Watch films in a foreign language, it is interesting, exciting and useful, and also a pleasure. But it is desirable to watch well-known films, that is, those that you have already seen with translation, this will allow you to quickly and more correctly understand the meaning of unfamiliar words and phrases.
3. Find an interlocutor who speaks the language fluently and preferably lives in a country in which the language you are learning is the official or one of the main ones. Communicate with him as often as possible and do not hesitate to ask for clarification of unfamiliar words. By the way, communication can be carried out both in person (it is more pleasant and interesting), and online, that is, via the Internet, or through correspondence.
4. You can use modern mobile applications or computer programs, some of them are simple, but at the same time allow you to significantly expand the stock of foreign words.

Tips for those who decide to develop and increase their vocabulary:

Now start expanding your vocabulary!

Modern society has lost the ability to speak beautifully and correctly. Therefore, when words flow from a person like a full-flowing river, you involuntarily listen, experiencing a genuine interest in his personality.

The art of speaking beautifully can be mastered. To do this, you need to replenish your vocabulary so that you can express your thoughts correctly and convey the meaning of what was said to the listener. We are offering to you 10 Ways to Quickly Improve Your Vocabulary.

1. Reading books.

Reading is the surest and most effective way to replenish vocabulary. By reading a book, you will not only gain new knowledge and plunge into an interesting artistic world, but also learn a lot of new words that you will encounter while reading. If the meaning of a word is not clear to you, then you should write it out in a notebook and look up the meaning in the explanatory dictionary. In order for your vocabulary to be constantly replenished, you should set aside at least one hour a day for reading. Thus, you will be able to read a sufficient number of books in a year so that your worldview changes and you turn out to be an interesting conversationalist.

2. View video.

Improve your vocabulary quickly not only books will help, but also various video materials (TV quizzes, intellectual shows, training courses and feature films). Of course, watching television series or the Dom-2 program cannot be attributed to a developing video. Therefore, be able to distinguish useful material from "garbage" that only clogs your mind. While watching smart video, do not forget to write down new words in a notebook.

3. Listen to audio content.

Audio materials will also help to replenish vocabulary, which include various audio seminars, audio lessons and audio books. Having found the necessary information, just download it to your player or phone and listen to it at any time convenient for you. Also, do not forget to use a notepad to write down new words, the meaning of which you can find in the explanatory dictionary.

4. Encyclopedias and dictionaries.

Nothing expands vocabulary like the use of encyclopedias and dictionaries. It is best if you have such books in direct access: on the table or on the bookshelf. At any time convenient for you, we can use the knowledge that is in these sources. Dictionaries will help you find out the meanings of words (explanatory, phraseological, synonyms, and others), encyclopedias will open up a world of interesting information about almost everything in the world. There is also an online encyclopedia - Wikipedia, where you can interpret almost any word or phenomenon, read the biography of great people or immerse yourself in history.

5. Communication with people.

This method is also a tool. Only now the quality of vocabulary will directly depend on the people with whom you communicate. If there are only intellectuals in your environment, then you will reach for this level. Therefore, in communication, it is necessary to strive for interaction with those who can or know more than you, so that such communication can raise your level of knowledge and replenish your vocabulary.

6. Use new words.

This method is aimed at the active use of vocabulary. Often, many words just "fly out of my head" and in order to remember them, you need to make some effort. The more often you use new words in your conversation, the faster they will enter your "comfort zone" and you will be able to operate with them. To increase the level of your speech, you can replace ordinary words with synonyms for new words, and then your interlocutors will be delighted to communicate with you.

7. Writing develops speech.

Practice building literate phrases in a letter. This will also allow you replenish vocabulary and express your thoughts correctly. It is not necessary to write large texts, just a few simple phrases that will relate to a specific issue are enough. A great hobby can be writing one or two articles a day on any topic you see fit. While writing, you not only work on your vocabulary, but also learn how to correctly and concisely insert them into a sentence, which greatly activates your creativity. Thus, you train not only speech, but also your brain.

8. Notes to remember.

There are always words that are difficult enough to remember. In order to facilitate this process, you can write from 1 to 3 words on stickers and hang them throughout the apartment. Thus, you will also connect visual memory, which will allow you to remember new words. Excessive reminders of words on your household appliances or on your computer will refresh your knowledge, and soon you will be able to use them in your speech.

9. Keep yourself occupied with crosswords, crossword puzzles and other intellectual activities.

No less useful exercise for the mind is solving crosswords or scanwords. Today, such material is sold in every newsstand. Daily solving one crossword puzzle will allow you to learn something new and pass your leisure time. It is rare when you manage to solve the entire crossword puzzle on your own, sometimes you will have to turn to encyclopedias or the Internet for help, but this does not make such an activity lose its usefulness.

10. Show interest.

A person who is always interested in new things will keep his mind alive for a long time. Try to strive for new knowledge and get all the information you need from books or the Internet. Expand the horizons of your knowledge and communication. The world is so wide and varied that a lifetime is not enough to unravel its mysteries and mysteries. As long as you have an interest in everything new, you are alive and full of strength. Develop and strive for the best!

A lot of articles have been written about how to increase your vocabulary. However, most of them have a noticeable drawback: they talk about enriching the vocabulary as a whole, without dividing it into active and passive vocabulary. Meanwhile, if we want to make our speech expressive and convincing, it is worth focusing on expanding only the active vocabulary and on transferring a certain layer of vocabulary from passive reserve to active use. T&P talk about how to get the job done.

A sign of education

The problem of expanding the active vocabulary arises more often when learning a foreign language than in the process of using the native one. While talking in English, Italian or Chinese, we periodically find ourselves in a situation where we don’t know a specific word, we can’t find a synonym for it, and even in a roundabout way, through descriptions, comparisons and associations, we are not able to express a thought - which means we need to grab for a dictionary. It is easier with our native language: if the desired lexical unit does not come to mind, we will always find a way to get out by choosing a more or less exact equivalent for it.

We think about increasing the vocabulary within the native language if we need to impress the audience or want to impress the interlocutor with eloquence - that is, when emotions are connected to the case. An extensive vocabulary is an indicator of education and helps to raise self-esteem, and for journalists, copywriters and translators, it is also a source of income. Strategically, mastery of the word helps us express our thoughts, emotions and attitudes to life situations as accurately as possible and build effective communication.

The traditional list of recommendations for expanding vocabulary is two or three clicks away from us and wanders from blog to blog, from year to year with minimal changes. This list has its own truth, but some of the tips are already poorly correlated with the realities of today's life and with the modern way of thinking, communicating and gaining knowledge. And others seemed suspicious from the very beginning, but nevertheless continue to be presented as effective recipes. We will criticize typical tips later, but right now we’ll talk about something relevant.

Clear the area

Remember synonyms

Make it a rule to write posts on social networks, spending 10 minutes on it three times a day. In the morning, afternoon and evening, give out a miniature study on any interesting topic, carefully thinking through each phrase and trying to screw in as many strange words as possible. The goal is for friends to suspect that your account has been hacked and that you are not writing this, because the style and style are completely unrecognizable. Reread your previous posts regularly and try to avoid repetition of both lexical units and grammatical constructions. If you're pissed off by moral exhibitionists who publicly post their breakfasts and mood swings, change your privacy settings and make these posts visible only to you. As an alternative, of course, you can get a paper notebook or a Word file and write sketches there - but we sit in social networks anyway, and you still need to find the file in the folder and open it, which will never be enough time.

Keeping a synonym notebook or writing words on flashcards is one of the most popular classic vocabulary building tips. The big disadvantage of this method is that it is most effective to learn words not separately, but in context and in relation to a specific topic - it is not for nothing that in foreign language textbooks each lesson is built around a specific topic. If you like using notepads and cards (whether paper or electronic), it will be more useful not just to memorize words one by one, but to invent phrases with them and visualize different dialogue situations.

A bit dubious is the common advice to always keep a dictionary close at hand and look into it often. In itself, this is a wonderful idea, only now it is aimed at expanding the passive, not the active vocabulary. Having opened an arbitrary page of the explanatory dictionary, we will make sure that we have long known most of the words given there, and those whose meanings are not familiar to us, we probably simply do not need. So we keep the dictionary nearby, but we do not place special hopes on it.

How to read books

It is quite obvious that to enrich the lexicon it is useful to read a lot - just what and how exactly should one read? For our generation, the reference, most likely, will be the speech of the mid-twentieth century, which, on the one hand, is close to modern in many ways, and on the other hand, has not yet had time to absorb the barbarisms and jargon that came in the perestroika era. Having picked up a work of art, we, as a rule, quickly get carried away by the plot, stop paying attention to vocabulary, and the linguistic richness of the novel safely passes all our radars. To avoid this, you can use a psychological trick and read memoirs, autobiographies or any other books written in the first person. If you read them slowly and thoughtfully, and ideally also aloud, ready-made phrases will settle in your memory that we can use when talking about ourselves. True, it is necessary to retrieve these phrases from memory as soon as possible so that they do not go into the mire of a passive dictionary.

Reading and memorizing verses is doubly useful - not only vocabulary is assimilated, but also syntax. Despite the fact that in Russian the word order in a sentence is quite free, we do not like to use this freedom to the full (which is quite rational from the point of view of saving mental effort). Each of us has chosen syntactic constructions that limit our lexical range - accordingly, if we want to expand this range, we must be creative in constructing phrases. For example, if we are used to using impersonal sentences like “I want”, the synonymous series will be predictably narrow: “I dream / I want / I need / I need”. But one has only to express the same thought with the subject and verb, "I want," as the room for maneuver expands: "I demand / I desire / I insist / I need," and so on. When you write sketches, boldly juggle the word order, reshape the syntax, insert participial and participle phrases more often - this is a good incentive to activate the passive vocabulary.

Finally, the most important thing. Do not treat vocabulary replenishment as a responsible multi-step task for which you should set aside time and gather your courage. This is not rhythmic gymnastics or neurosurgery, where you have to spend many years and efforts to achieve a result. The inclusion of new words in speech is an extremely natural process, starting at a very early age, continuing until the end of life and, frankly, not at all complicated.

Icons: 1) Berkay Sargın, 2) Thomas Le Bas, 3) Kelig Le Luron, 4) Iris Vidal.

Are you familiar with the situation when you speak English and cannot fully express an idea because you do not know the right word?

Small vocabulary is a common problem. Its size determines how freely you can express your thoughts in English.

In this article you will learn:

• How to learn English words to expand vocabulary;
• The best ways to expand vocabulary;
• 3 tips on how to quickly replenish your stock of English words.

How to learn words correctly in order to increase the vocabulary of English words?

The main reason for the lack of vocabulary growth is the wrong method of learning new words. This is when you learn words, and after 3-5 days you remember only a small part.

If you learn English words correctly, then the vocabulary will gradually expand, and you will not forget the words. Follow these tips so you don't waste your time.

1. Learn fewer words, but do it well.

It makes no sense to learn a lot of words if in the end you remember only a few. Do not take 50 words at once. Better take 10-15 words, but work with them properly.

2. Use an English-English dictionary.

Of course, it is easier to look at the translation of a word in an electronic translator or a Russian-English dictionary. But using an English-English dictionary gives certain "pluses":

• You can easily understand the meaning of the word. Indeed, in such dictionaries, not the translation of the word is given, but its meaning (in English).
• Learn similar (synonyms) and opposite words (antonyms) that are given to each word.
• In the English-English dictionary, set expressions are given where this word is used.

At the initial levels, a bilingual dictionary (English-Russian) should be used.

3. See not one, but all the meanings of the word.

Most often, one word has several meanings, and they are completely different. For example, the word break can mean both a hole in something (a crack, a hole) and free time from work (a break).

The more meanings of one word you know, the more correctly you will be able to use it.

4. Constantly use the words you know.

No matter how well you remember a word, if you don't use it, you will forget it. Constantly use the words you have learned.

If you do not have the opportunity to communicate in English every day, then you can mentally describe what you see and learn to think in English.

Attention: Do you want to overcome the language barrier and speak English? Find out in Moscow how our students start speaking in 1 month!

The Best Ways to Expand Your English Vocabulary

These are the most popular ways to help you learn a lot of new words and expressions.

1. Watch movies and series in English.

Who doesn't love watching an interesting movie or series? By doing this in English, you will expand your vocabulary.

Be sure to select a movie / series according to your level of English proficiency. After all, if there are too many unknown words in it, you will simply get tired of watching it.

You can also focus on what vocabulary you need more. For example, when watching the series "Friends" you can replenish your vocabulary with everyday expressions, while watching the series "Office" - with working vocabulary.

2. Listen to English songs and podcasts.

You can always find many interesting and useful expressions in songs. But from passive listening, you will never increase your vocabulary. You need to do it right.

Listening to podcasts is also very helpful. You can choose a podcast according to your level and choose any topic that interests you.

3. Read English books and articles.

Reading is another popular way to build up your vocabulary. However, do not forget that if you want to remember the words, you need to work through them, and not just sign the translation with a pencil over an unknown word.

4. Solve crosswords and play games.

Now there are many games that are aimed at training and memorizing new words. Solve crossword puzzles, add words from letters, look for the right words, etc. All this will help you to replenish your vocabulary and repeat the words you already know.

Movies, series, songs, podcasts, and games will help you gradually increase your vocabulary. But what if you need to top it up within a short period of time? We will open 3 ways that will allow you to do this.

3 Tips to Improve Your English Vocabulary Quickly

1. Learn lists of words on one topic.

Learning words that are united by one topic is much easier than learning everything mixed up.

To do this, you need to take 10-20 words related to one topic. For example, animals, interior items, work, travel, etc. Be sure to choose a topic that is interesting and necessary for you. Why do you need to learn car parts if you don't face it in life?

Have you learned words about work? Make up a short story about what duties you perform and how your work day goes. If you don't have a job yet, dream and talk about your dream job.

If you are learning a language in a group, you can act out skits. It's very fun and helpful. Imagine that one person is an employer, and the other has come for an interview.

2. Learn the most used words.

There are words that people use very often, and there are those that are rarely used.

It is much more useful to learn words that you can use in any situation. For example, in the list of words "work" it is much more useful to include the words: employer, employee, hire, fire, work schedule, etc. These are the words you really need.

If you learn specific words that are not related to your work, you are unlikely to use them. And, as I wrote above, if you do not use words, then you will forget them.

3. Learn the words that are around you.

This exercise will allow you to test and improve your English vocabulary. Look around the room / office / park / restaurant where you spend time. What do you see?

Name each item you see. If you don't know a word, write it down. As a result, you will make your own list of words that you can learn. Thanks to him, you will know the names of the objects around you.

So, if you follow all the methods described in the article, you can significantly replenish your vocabulary. And you definitely won’t have a situation where you want to say or ask something, but you don’t know the right English word.

Friends, how do you learn English words?