6 Tips to Improve Your Vocabulary

One of the most vital attributes of a successful writer is having a high vocabulary. But with such a seemingly endless amount of words, it seems almost impossible to remember every single word that we hear. 

Here's a list of tips that will ensure that you are able to learn and memorize new words without difficulty. I even included a Glossary of Words at the end to help you on your educational journey. 

1. The most important and simple way to improve one's vocabulary is to look things up! How many times do we come across an unfamiliar word? Whether we are at school, reading, watching the news, browsing the web, or chatting, we are bound to come across a word that is foreign to our eyes. Many of us, especially when we are reading, tend to ignore words that we don't know and will focus rather on the context in order to guess the meaning. Even though guessing the word based on surrounding words is not a bad technique, the best and most effective approach for your memory would be to look up the word. I guarantee you that grabbing a dictionary and figuring out what the word means will save you a lot of turmoil in the future if you ever come across the word again.
   
   
2. Speaking of reading, another way that will without a doubt improve your vocabulary is to simply read a lot! That includes novels, newspapers, magazines, etc. I can assure you that no matter how rich one's vocabulary may be, they will almost always come across a new word when reading. Alternatively, it is also important to not only keep your eyes open for new words, but also your ears. When you are talking to somebody, watching your favourite TV show/movie, or even watching the news, you will most likely hear a word that you don't know. Make sure to write it down so that you can look it up later. 
   
   
3. You might be asking yourself, "what if I look up the word but forget the meaning in the future?" Well, a very easy way to avoid this problem is to write down the words that you've learned, along with the meaning. Take some time every day to study the words that you've learned. Incorporate them into your everyday life by trying to use them when you are talking or writing. This way, it will be less of a struggle to remember the new words you've learned. 
   
   
4. A dictionary is an amazing tool for looking up and learning new words. But many of us tend to forget about the Thesaurus, another spectacular tool that can expand one's vocabulary. The thesaurus gives you synonyms of words that you already know. For example, you can look up the word "mad" in a thesaurus, and it will give you several other words that mean the same thing as "mad", such as "angry", or "furious". Writing a paper for an assignment can sound quite dull if you are repetitive with your words. For example, 
   
   This morning, I took a walk through a beautiful forest and spotted many animals. I really loved the fox and the beautiful parrot that I saw. The moon was out, which was very beautiful, and I loved the glow that it emitted on the beautiful river. 
   
   These few sentences sound extremely repetitive with the use of the word "beautiful" and "loved". In times like these, it is very useful to use a thesaurus in order to change the words. 
   
   This morning, I took a walk through a beautiful forest and spotted many animals. I really loved the fox and the gorgeous parrot that I saw. The moon was out, which was very stunning, and I adored the glow
   that it emitted on the pretty lake. 
   
   With a Thesaurus in hand, you can easily change your words around to one with the same meaning, and you will be learning something new in the process. "Gorgeous", "stunning" and "pretty" all mean the same thing as "beautiful", and "adored" means the same thing as "loved". However, look at how much  better the sentence sounds when you use a variety of different words. Just make sure to look up the word that you learn from the Thesaurus to make sure that you know how to use it correctly. 
   
   
5. Play lots of word games! This is a very fun and productive method of improving your vocabulary. Popular games such as Scrabble can provide you with hours of educational yet entertaining game play that will surely boost your skills. 
   
   
6. Associating words with mental pictures in your mind may prove to be surprisingly helpful when it come to remembering words. By creating an image of that word in your head, you'll have no problem recalling the word. For example, 
   
   The word boisterous means noisy and mischievous. You can associate this word with an image of a bunch of noisy little kids, running around and being naughty. Now, whenever you see or hear this word, the image of the noisy kids will pop into your head. 
   

Make sure and follow these tips as you go about your day-to-day routine, and you’ll definitely notice changes in how quickly and efficiently you’ll remember new words. But above all, know that the most important tip is to make the effort to look for, learn and memorize new words. Your passion for learning vocabulary is the key that will automatically allow you to remember what you've learned.

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Glossary of Words 

Attribute 

1.  A feature or characteristic of a person. For example, Sensitivity is one of his attributes. 
   

Foreign 

1. Something unfamiliar or different. For example, Politics is a foreign subject to me.
   
2. From another country. For example, I think his car is foreign.

Turmoil 

1. A state of great commotion or chaos. For example, My house was in great turmoil when my dog ran away from home. 

Incorporate

1. To include or combine. For example, I like how you incorporated the song I wrote into your skit

Synonym

1. A word that means the same (or nearly the same) thing as another word in the same language. For example, synonyms of happy would be: Joyful, cheerful, content, elated

Emit 

1. To give forth or release sound, heat, light, etc. For example, The sun emitted an orange light on the water as it was setting / He emitted one cry and then was silent.

Boisterous   

1. Noisy and mischievous. For example, My triplets were extremely boisterous today