Ten Tips for Improving Your Vocabulary
1Vocabulary is one of the keys to speaking fluent English. Even if your grammar is perfect, if you don’t know the correct words to express yourself in English, you will find it difficult to speak fluently. Luckily, improving your vocabulary is one of the most fun aspects of learning English. Follow these ten top tips to improve your English vocabulary and see how fun and productive your study time can be.
2Connect It is easier to memorize words based on a common theme. Make your own connections between words and possibly organize them in a spider diagram or on the same pages of your notebook. The theme might be a topic or situation (e.g. words for talking about food), phrasal verbs using a common word (e.g. phrasal verbs containing the word ‘get’) or words that have a grammar point in common (e.g. verbs that take a gerund).
3Write Using vocabulary can help it stick in your mind. Write sentences with new vocabulary words or compose a story using a group of words or expressions. If you are out and about, you can make the example sentences in your mind if you don’t have a pen and paper handy.
4Draw Become an artist by drawing pictures related to the words you study. Your drawings can help trigger your memory in the future. If you are not a great artist, a drawing can often help fix a word or idiom in your memory.
5Act Get your moves on by acting out words and expressions you learn. Or, imagine and act out a situation where you would need to use them. If you have a study partner, act out a word or expression from your notebook and see if he or she can guess what it is, then swap over and try to guess what your partner is acting out. If you are alone, use a mirror and pretend you are having a conversation with someone using your new vocabulary.
6Create Design flash cards or index cards in English and study them in your spare time. Each week make new ones, but continue to review all of them. The act of making them yourself will help you remember the words.