Tips On Increasing Your Vocabulary
One of the best ways to expand your vocabulary is simply to get reading. Try reading books across a range of genres so that you are exposed to the language that is unique to each genre. If you read some classic books, then the chances are high that you will encounter several new words along the way. When you find a new word, look it up and learn the meaning.
It is also very interesting how, when you encounter a word for the first time, you will then tend to hear it in conversation or see it in newsprint over the next few days. This is probably just because your brain is aware of it now and you hadn't really noticed it before, but it is interesting nonetheless how often this appears to happen.
In addition to reading books, then be sure to carry on tackling puzzles, like those here at Wordy Puzzle! With a huge number of word puzzles on offer here, you're sure to learn new words from time to time, particularly in the crossword puzzles and it's variants. If you want to expand your general knowledge and not just your vocabulary, then tackling the general knowledge crosswords we have for you is a good place to start.
Another fun way of building your vocabulary is to buy a dictionary, and peruse it at leisure. Literally let it fall open on a page, and pick a word you are unfamiliar with and learn the definition. It's amazing how many interesting words you can find this way.
To bring the words to life, why not set yourself a little task of introducing those words into your sentences, or use them in your business emails? This way you can share your love of words with those around you and help to build their vocabulary too. There are a huge number of weird and wonderful words out there, many sadly only really ever kept alive by their presence in the dictionary, so why not expand your mind by expanding your vocabulary, and give a sprinkling of those words a new lease of life.
Here are a few words you may not be familiar with for you to look up to get you started:
- Erinaceous
- Lugubrious
- Calligram (a word in the Oxford Junior Dictionary your author was unfamiliar with!)
We'd love for you to share your thoughts on building your vocabulary with us below, or any interesting words you've discovered whilst building yours!
Date written: 15 Mar 2015
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