How to Expand Your Vocabulary, Being a Writer

Proficient writers know that not to let readers get bored, they have to vary words, expressions, and literary means. This is, firstly, allows an author to express the idea accurately, and secondly, makes the text easier for perception.

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Blogging for a long time, Lucy Adams, an outsourcer from BestEssay UKwriting service, collected ten basic tips that I believe will help you to expand your vocabulary. Although they were designed primarily for people studying foreign languages, they can also be effectively used by native speakers.

Passive Vocabulary

#1 Read as Much as Possible

Reading is one of the main sources of new information and, therefore, new words. Try to read only the best literature, no matter it belongs to fiction, historical literature or journalism. The higher the level of authors, the greater the chance that they use a broad vocabulary saturated with interesting expressions and forms of speech. This way, you’ll learn not only new words but also the correct methods of their use.

#2 Don't be Afraid to Seem Illiterate

Many people feel extremely embarrassed when their interlocutor seems too educated and uses a lot of unfamiliar words. In such a situation, you may be afraid of being branded as an ignorant person, and, therefore, hesitate to ask the meaning of these new words.

But please never act in this way – it is always better to ask about an unknown word than to stay in the dark for the rest of your life! And please don’t expect to find those new words in a dictionary – until you get home, you’ll likely forget it.

By the way, if your companion is really smart, he will never let you feel ridiculous.

#3 Use a Dictionary

Be sure to provide oneself with a set of academic dictionaries and encyclopedias to which you can refer whenever you need. Of course, good dictionaries are not cheap, are often published in small numbers and occupy a lot of space on the shelves. Fortunately, with the development of the Internet, the problem of access to the dictionaries finally was solved. Now you can find dictionaries and encyclopedias for virtually any subject.

The above tips help to expand primarily passive vocabulary. However, to write effectively, the goal is not only to learn new words but also learn to use them relevantly so that they accurately fit the context.

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Active Vocabulary

Here are a few exercises aimed at the translation of words from the passive vocabulary to the active:

#1 Notes

Take cards, a few sheets of paper, and colored stickers. On one side, write the word you want to remember, on the other side – its meaning, synonyms, and usage examples. Sort out these cards at home, in transport, at work – whenever you have free time!

#2 Notebook of Synonyms

Take a simple notebook or create an electronic document in which record words and synonyms. For example, take the word “result" and write some synonyms: consequence, effect, issue, outcome, reaction, etc.

By the way, you can attach here not only synonymous words but also phrases and the nature of the word, fo example, obsolete, sophisticated, colloquial, pejorative, and so on. Group the words on the same subject into blocks and supplement them with antonyms.

#3 Thematic Cards

If you want to remember and translate several words related to the overall theme to your active vocabulary, thematic cards are one of the best solutions. Write the words down on a card and attach in a prominent place. In the end, if you can recall at least one word from the card, you will inevitably recall the rest.

#4 Associations

Try to accompany the memorizing with shape, color, olfactory, tactile, gustatory, and motor associations. The presence of the association will help you recall the needed word much faster. Moreover, you can rhyme an important word in a short poem or paste it in a stupid and meaningless but memorable statement.

#5 Essays

We’re accustomed to the fast the writing essays is a school exercise, and, after finishing school, we never return to it. Meanwhile, writing an essay may help you to significantly improve writing skills and expand your active vocabulary.

Essays are the best suit situations when you read a text and find a lot of unfamiliar but useful words in it. In this case, make a short written retelling of the text using those keywords, and they will remain in your memory.

As for the essays, you do not need to write long tracts; a short 5-7 sentence essay will be enough to insert new words.

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#6 Memory Calendar

This is a graph of repetition of words you want to translate into the active dictionary. It is based on studies of human memory. Scientists have found that after a week, one forgets 80% of all the new information. However, this percentage can be significantly reduced if you repeat the material after a certain period of time as it then gets into a long-term active memory.

For convenience, here is a table:

No. of repetition	Time
1st	Immediately after reading
2nd	In half an hour
3rd	Through the day
4th	Two days later
5th	Three days later
6th	In a week
7th	In two weeks
8th	In a month
9th	In two months

For the best effect, don’t deviate from the schedule and try to remember a large array of words simultaneously. Better break the words into small thematic groups and create a calendar of repetitions for each group.

#10 Puzzles and Language Games

A great way to combine business with pleasure! Here are some of the most common language games:

• Duolingo, Fluentu, Babbel, Bravolol, and Mind snacks.
• 7 Great Games to Learn Spanish,French & Other Languages.

Bio:

Lucy Adams is a blogger that never misses covering intriguing topics. She’s always in touch so that you can freely ask her to contribute to your blog. As Lucy says, "I’m happy to research for both my website and any third-party one until the topic is burning and interesting." By the way, all the articles are free!