Recently, I relieased the great importance of having a large pool of words and phrases at my own disposal - for different social settings, understanding others, describing a thought, an idea, a process, almost anything involving verbal communication.
However, i find myself using the words and phrases I have been accustomed to use since I was a child. Recently, I started to read alot...
Do you know a good method to increase your vocabulary? And how do you master these words - like consciouly incorporate them into your conversation, writing so on? Are there any good books or sites on this subject?
I really want to improve my word choice and in turn the style of my speech!!Good advice on how to increase your pool of vocabulary - and become able to use these words?
Be careful of what you wish for and which tools you pick up in order to express your desires. Let your words be in concert with your mind and your mind in harmony with your words. Reading is, indeed, the first link in that chain. Read with a dictionary close at hand. Do not think that reading just anything will make you wise. Nor will putting a large vocabulary into your mouth make you any more understandable.
Read Ralph Waldo Emerson for thoughts loftier and more succinctly put. Read Baltasar Gracian for true wisdom regarding the condition of human interaction. If you say that their vocabularies are not what you wish, and Gracian certainly did not write in English so the translations will be stilted anyway, try reading Kim Stanley Robinson. He is sold in Science Fiction. Pick up _40 Signs of Rain_ and then the sequal _50 Degrees Below_ for a cultural education.
Try putting a vocabulary word up on your bathroom mirror. Use it at least three times in one day. Find a use for it. There are daily desk calendars like that.
One of my favorites, and I have had a few, was frangible. Means ';crumbly';: I used it to describe the cladding on nuclear fuel, my mood after teaching all day on my tortured right leg, the situation in Iraq among the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. Frangible.
Read poetry. There you have wordsmiths paring vocabularly. Ah, the best and brightest today are pushing those words hard. I do not mean the dreck we see posted here. Read modern stuff from the Beats on forward.
That is enough to get you started. Oh, one other thing. Remember that communication is only possible between equals. You start using words and phrases no one understands, you might as well be reciting Jabberwocky. Might amuse you, but annoys the h3ll out of others. Example is a joke I wrote for an answer to a question. Read my joke and the answer right below. *sigh*
BTW, I teach nuclear science, radiation chemistry, and tech writing at a nuclear power plant. I am also a published poet and have been an editor of poetry magazines.Good advice on how to increase your pool of vocabulary - and become able to use these words?
Reading is the best way to increase your vocabulary. Normally context will give you a good means of understanding words you are unsure of, however a dictionary near by is never a bad idea. If you can get through the reading w/o the dictionary jot the words down on a sticky and look them up later.
Using the words is great. Just remember that the real big words may need definition to others so be prepared to explain and make sure that you use them right.
I am a big proponent of having a sizable vocubulary but some words are just escoteric and will make you look snobby choose your words wisely.
i look up words daily and try to use them, if i hear a word i dont know that someone uses, i ask what it means, or i look it up. its a great way to gain a larger vocab.
Read the New York Times, do the Sunday crossword puzzle in the magazine section and turn off your television. Instead concentrate on quality fiction, biography and books on politics and history
Read, write, and use a dictionary. It is discipline, while reading write down every word you don't know and look it up. Use it at some point too. Use it obnoxiously the first days until you are searching the recesses of your mind for its synonym. Then you will know it. There are no shortcuts for expansive vocabularies aside from diligence and memory.
Yes, reading is the best way to expand your vocabulary. Keep a dictionary within reach of a couple places where you like to sit and read most often (I often won't get up to look up a word, but if the dictionary is right there...). Stop to look up words you're unfamiliar with, even if you can guess their meaning; this will help fix their definition in your mind. You could also try setting something like Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day as your home page (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/mwwod.pl) and then make an effort to use that word sometime during the day. It might sound a little awkward, but practice is really the best way to get used to how to use words. Finally, I find that simple rote memorization of vocabulary lists doesn't work that well because you can't assimilate that many new words all at once and instead you end up learning none at all. Good luck and have fun!
Read books
get the books WordSmart and WordSmart II by the Pronceton Review. VERY helpful.
When you have a question about vocabulary perhaps you should use spell check. Master that first. Walk then run grasshopper.
neutrogena
