How to improve your English vocabulary?

Learning lots of new words doesn’t have to be boring. Find a book you are interested in, then read and understand every word you see. The tendency in a story is to pass over new words to make quick progress with the plot, but try not to do this. Instead, find out the meaning of every single word you don’t know, and write them down on a separate sheet of paper with the meanings and a translation into your mother tongue. This will initially slow your reading, but after a while you will actually be able to read faster than before.

Other ways to spice up your vocabulary can include watching movies, listening to songs, reading stories and newspapers, singing songs, writing essays or a diary, and talking to native speakers. There is a lot of material and resources available to you in many different forms, each of which can play a very positive role in helping you to improve your word knowledge. A game which is always fun is called ‘dictionary pick.’ The rules are that you and a partner both have to choose three random words from the dictionary (only those you don’t know), in the morning before school or work. You must incorporate those words into conversations you will have in the day, in a natural way without explaining that it is a game. The purpose is to use the word, no matter how unusual, in the correct context and without anyone noticing.

Use a dictionary and a thesaurus. So many of my students in India know the value of a dictionary, but few have heard of a thesaurus. In the way that a dictionary tells you the meaning of a word, a thesaurus will suggest others words which have a similar meaning to the one you suggested. For example, if you looked up the word ‘happy’ in a thesaurus, you are given the words ‘content, contented, pleased, glad, joyful, cheerful, in high spirits, and blissful.’ All of these words are suitable substitutes for ‘happy,’ and so make this an essential for the English writer trying to liven up their articles by not repeating words too much.

Follow these techniques in your mind and dedication in your heart, you can be sure that your vocabulary will increase dramatically.

Courtesy : CBSEpapers.info