![]() There is a wealth of free literature on sites such as Project Gutenberg. There are many vocabulary-related books you can explore. There are plenty of vocabulary applications you can try. Here are a few to get you started, though many more exist: The internet is a gold mine of resources for vocabulary building. By knowing exactly how and how often to process your inbox, you stay on top of your vocabulary improvement process, even when there are other pressing matters crying out for your attention. Your process can be as simple as you wish-the key is to specify it beforehand and then follow it. In that regard, one particularly useful concept is the one of maintaining a “Word Inbox.” By having a predefined place you use to capture the words you come across, you can process them much more efficiently. To make vocabulary improvement a permanent habit in your everyday life, you should make it as habitual, automatic, and tightly integrated into your daily workflow as possible–otherwise you won’t do it when your days get too busy. One option is a computer spreadsheet for its handy features such as searching, sorting, and filtering. You may prefer to keep it as a simple text file in the computer, or in a regular paper notebook, or maybe as flash cards in a shoe box. There are many ways you can keep your personal word list each has its own advantages and disadvantages, so make sure to pick the format that works best for you. You can also add many other details as you see fit, such as the date you first came across the word or maybe a sequential number to help you reach some word quota you define. Another excellent learning aid is to write an original sentence containing the word - and using your lexicon to do that is a great way of enforcing this habit. It’s very likely you’ll want to go back and refresh your memory on recent words, so keeping them in your own list is much more efficient than going back to the dictionary every time.Įven if you never refer back to your lexicon again, writing words down at least once will greatly enhance your ability to commit them to your permanent memory. Maintain a Personal Lexiconīy keeping a personalized list of learned words, you’ll have a handy reference you can use to review these words later. ![]() Consider these examples: “breakfast” means “interrupt the night’s fast,” and “rainbow” means “bow or arc caused by rain.” While these meanings may be trivial to native English speakers, having such insights about words, foreign or otherwise, never fails to deepen your connection to them. Understanding the logic behind words always pays off in terms of learning and recalling. Just to pick an example, when you understand that the prefix “ortho” means straight or right, you start to find connections between seemingly unrelated words, such as orthodontist (a specialist who straightens teeth) and orthography (the correct, or straight, way of writing).
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