A key focus of my blog is General Education. No matter which sector you’re in, your vocabulary is absolutely critical. It will open and close doors for you, and it will shape people’s view of you. The following contributed post is entitled, What Can You do to Improve Your Vocabulary?
* * *
Image from Pexels – CC0 License
Having a strong vocabulary can put you at an advantage in several ways. It’s not all about sounding clever and confusing people with words that they don’t know. When you have a large vocabulary, you also have the knowledge behind the words. You can talk to people about different topics and understand a range of contexts. A larger vocabulary can also make you a good speaker and a good writer, not just by giving you big words to use but by helping you understand when it’s appropriate to use which words. If you want to expand your vocabulary, take a look at these ideas to do so.
Use a Dictionary and Thesaurus
Having a dictionary and thesaurus on hand can be really handy when you want to improve your vocabulary. You can look up words whenever you want, to find out what they mean or to find synonyms. Of course, it’s now much easier to carry a dictionary and thesaurus everywhere you go. You can have an app on your phone or find a website to use whenever you want to look up a word. And if you’re particularly dedicated to expanding your vocabulary, you can even read a dictionary or thesaurus for fun.
Challenge Yourself
Setting yourself word-related challenges can help you to learn more words. There are lots of different games you can play and ways you can challenge yourself. When you have a phone or tablet, you can take word games with you wherever you go. And if you want to cheat a little, you can also get Wordscapes answers and answers for a range of other mobile games. When you challenge yourself, you can find that you’ll push yourself more to learn new things. Compete with your friends or other people, and you will want to improve so that you can beat them.
Image from Pexels – CC0 License
Expand Your Horizons
You don’t necessarily have to focus on learning words to pick up new vocabulary. You can learn new words by reading, watching and listening to new things. You’re especially likely to learn new words if you explore topics that you’re not familiar with or enjoy things from different eras or countries. When you expand your horizons and open your mind to new things, you’re sure to come across new words to add to your vocabulary. Speak to new people too, and you could pick up new words from them.
Put New Words Into Use
Having a wide vocabulary isn’t much use if you never use it. Putting the words that you learn into use will help to cement them in your vocabulary. Whether you use them when you’re writing or employ them when you’re talking, it will give you the chance to show off what you’ve learned. However, it’s also important to know when to use new words. If it’s something obscure that most people won’t know, you could end up just having to reword what you’re saying so that people understand.
If you want to improve your vocabulary, you can work on it in a number of ways. Your improved vocabulary could even help you to find new opportunities in life.
