How to expand your English vocabulary? How to increase your vocabulary in English How to develop your vocabulary in English
There are over 355,000 active words in the Oxford English Dictionary, but you don't need to know them all. By the age of twenty to twenty-two, a native speaker uses approximately twenty thousand words, and this is only twelve percent of the total vocabulary.
For everyday communication in a foreign language, it is enough to know about two thousand of the most frequently used English words in speech. To read simple books, a vocabulary of four to five thousand words is enough. And, for example, in the fairy tale “The Three Little Pigs” only one hundred and twenty-four different words are used.
How to increase your vocabularyRemembering some twenty words a day is not so difficult (one phrase will still not be enough), but not forgetting them the next day is more difficult. How to increase your active English vocabulary? There are several effective ways that will help you feel much more confident over time in standard language situations.
When choosing a learning method, you need to take into account that words are better remembered in context. The same word can have multiple meanings, so you simply won't recognize it when surrounded by a different context. Almost the only way to significantly increase your vocabulary is to read books. This way, not only the meaning will be remembered, but also the spelling. The main thing is not to forget about pronunciation.
How to increase your English vocabulary? If you don’t have time, you can memorize words using flashcards or using an application on your smartphone. Another new method is mind maps. And recently, it has become increasingly popular to watch TV series in English in order to both relax and immerse yourself in the language environment.
Reading books in the original languageHow to increase your vocabulary of English words? The answer is obvious: read books. Two facts are known about this method: everyone can master a series of books about the young wizard Harry Potter, who ended up at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and there is no need to strive to understand every word, because the story will be clear from the context, at least in general terms .
For teenagers, The Giver (L. Lowry) is suitable. This is recommended reading for anyone starting to learn English. The volume is small (about 180 pages), and the text contains practically no adjectives or complex constructions. Children can read The House at World's End (M. Dickens). This is a book about how five children left without parents cope well on their own. Written by Dickens' great-granddaughter.
How to quickly increase your vocabulary in English? To save time on writing expressions into the dictionary, you can photocopy sheets of words and phrases that you want to remember one by one. The necessary phrases can be highlighted with a colored marker, which will reduce the time of searching for words in the dictionary. Words and expressions will immediately catch your eye. This simple trick will allow you to very quickly increase the number of words in your active inventory.
Use paper cardsHow to increase your English vocabulary? The old way is regular paper cards. On one side of the card you need to write a word in English, and on the other - a translation into your native language. You can take such training materials with you to work or review them on the go. You need to look randomly at the cards, remembering the translation. If you can’t remember, turn the card over.
This way you can easily remember all unfamiliar words from the text. It is necessary to divide them into groups according to their meaning. For example, if at the beginning of the chapter you are reading a description of the interior, then you can choose house as the main word, and give the following names to the groups: bedroom, living room, dining room. Then try to retell the text based on the map. The whole secret here is that combined concepts are remembered more easily than several isolated ones.
Download multiple appsHow to increase your English vocabulary? There are several apps for iOS and Android. Voxy adapts to the user's needs. There are several modes: words to prepare for an exam, go on a trip or prepare for an interview.
Easy Ten will help you memorize ten new words every day. It is enough to devote twenty minutes to classes. The program contains more than 20 thousand English words, and you can improve your pronunciation using a special simulator. You can break down words into thematic lists and track your progress.
Memrise is an app that takes a gamified approach to learning. The curator of the intelligence group will take the user on an exciting journey through the Universe of the English language, which is full of mysterious mysteries, enemy agents and assistants.
How to increase your English vocabulary? For beginners, the cartoons “Aladdin”, the animated series about the good ghost “Casper”, “The Man They Call Flintstone” are suitable. For basic and intermediate levels, the cartoon “Finding Nemo” is suitable, and for the basic level - “Shrek” or “The Lion King”. But “Snow White” is for those who know the language well enough.
How to increase your English vocabulary? Of course, watch TV series in the original language. For beginners, “Extra” is suitable, while “Desperate Housewives” is suitable for the basic intermediate. “Doctor Who” or “Doctor House” are for experts, but “Friends” can be mastered by those who speak the language at a basic intermediate level. The dialogue in “Friends” is filled with everyday vocabulary, slang, idioms and proverbs. Monologues and dialogues are diluted with off-screen laughter, which gives time for mental translation of phrases.
This service will make learning the language much easier and more effective. You need to download English subtitles for a movie or TV series, open the service in your browser, register, and click “Add text.” After downloading the subtitles, the resulting text will appear. Then you need to go to “Learn words”, mark all familiar positions with a tick next to “Known”. The only problem with the service is that sometimes the service incorrectly identifies the part of speech, so the translation is incorrect.
Communicate with native speakersThis is the best way to increase your English vocabulary. How to find a pen pal? You can chat with a foreigner on Facebook, but there are special resources where people who want to learn a foreign language look for pen pals or to communicate on Skype.
On the Scrabbin website you can find a friend from almost any country. To start communicating, you need to register and fill out your personal page. The system allows you to specify several languages for communication. So, if you speak Russian, you can indicate what you want to practice, for example, English and French.
You can learn twenty-five foreign languages on the Gospeaky resource. You can choose a partner to learn a foreign language based on age, presence of photo, level of language proficiency, and so on. That is, you can communicate with a native speaker or not. There is a mobile version and built-in video chat, as well as a translator, which makes communication much easier.
A lot of people learning a foreign language often wonder: How can you increase your vocabulary, other than by memorizing words? Well, it’s really boring to just cram words and expressions. Personally, this method also bores me.
Today in this post, I will talk about various ways on how you can increase your vocabulary without cramming. But first, let each of you first check how many words you know.
I saw an interesting site on the Internet, which helps determine what kind of vocabulary you have. I don’t know how he does it, but it’s worth a try.
The main thing is to mark only those words for which you can immediately give a translation, and not just those that you once saw but cannot remember. Don't be fooled!
So you've passed the test. Now, you can take a look below and find out what level your vocabulary level is approximately.
Starter 500−600
Elementary 1000 - 1300
Pre-Intermediate 1400 - 1800
Intermediate 2000 - 2500
Upper-Intermediate 3000 - 4000
Advanced 4000 - 7000
Proficiency 7000− 12000
Did the result make you happy or sad? In any case, I recommend reading the article, perhaps you will find useful information for yourself.
5 Ways to Expand Your Vocabulary(from personal experience)
1. Flash cardsThis is one of the most popular ways to learn new words. All you need to do is cut small pieces of paper (cards) or buy a ready-made block of pieces of paper for notes. On one side you write the word, on the other - the translation and an example illustrating the use of the word.
Colored pieces of paper are better than regular ones: you can write down different parts of speech on cards of different colors. You put the cards in a pile, take them with you somewhere and turn them over with the word side up, trying to remember what each of them means. If you can’t remember, turn the card over and re-read the translation and example again.
If you don’t want to sit and draw cards, you can use ready-made products. For example, I have one wonderful set - My first English words. The set contains 333 cards on 12 topics. Ideal for children!
The next set of cards is more suitable for beginners learning English, as it contains the basic basic words. It's called English on flashcards. 1100 most necessary words. Translation, transcription, examples, set expressions, synonyms and antonyms.
Personally, I like the set of cards from the 500 most commonly used series...
2. Flip through visual dictionaries or dictionaries with picturesI have a visual English dictionary with pictures. It is very entertaining and even just by flipping through it and looking at photographs and pictures, a sufficient number of words can settle in your head, even if only in a passive reserve.
If it is not possible to purchase a visual dictionary, although it is very pleasant to hold and leisurely look at the pictures, then you can look at the Visual Dictionary website for free.
Visual Dictionary is a visual dictionary of the English language, which you also want to look at and learn new words. It contains about 20 thousand terms, which are divided into 15 main topics: astronomy, animals, people, art, sports, society, etc. This online dictionary contains more than 6 thousand beautiful visual illustrations.
Visual dictionary online
The best way to memorize words in the game! Play with words: crosswords, bullshit, Scrabble and even a banal word search will help you enrich your vocabulary. Crosswords, riddles, and rhymes not only pleasantly diversify your leisure time, but also leave a lot of new words and expressions in your memory.
- You can find wonderful word games. 9 games will help you revise forgotten words and learn new ones!
A very interesting word game!
- I recently purchased the game "English Verbs"" It’s true that it’s not interesting to play it alone, it’s better with two or more.
Let's remember verbs!
- Another site with six great games you can find
- It's a game of Tetris, but it's not just that you stack cubes on top of each other, but reinforce irregular verbs. The toy is great! Sometimes I display it on my interactive whiteboard in the classroom and that’s it! You can’t drag the children out of there! You can play.
I read about this method on the Internet, but I think that it can also take its rightful place as one of the ways to remember words, especially those that you see all the time. Here you are sitting in a room and looking at different things, put stickers on the objects. I assure you, you will remember all these words so quickly!
This is roughly what it looks like!
Another well-known method of memorizing words. Take ten new words, write them down on a piece of paper, and make up a related story in English with them. It helps not only to remember new words, but also to transfer old ones from the passive vocabulary to the active one.
One of my students likes to choose several different cards from the sets I mentioned above and come up with fantastic stories, and it doesn’t have to be real.
Fantasy rules! And the student is in 3rd grade! Sometimes we laugh together at the stories that come out.
Learn a word not alone, but with “accompanying” words: learn a verb or adjective together with the prepositions used with them. When memorizing a noun, pay attention to its grammatical features: countability, etc.
Do not immediately learn all the meanings of a word listed in the dictionary - this will confuse you; choose the meaning in the context in which you encountered this word.
Before using a dictionary, try to guess for yourself what an unfamiliar word means. The word you “guessed” will be remembered much better.
My small collection of books on working with words
Do not avoid visual illustrations, tables and diagrams; divide words into thematic groups; use different colored pencils or pens - anything that can evoke memories of these words without their direct translation.
Study your “favorite” words that are interesting to you, and not those that, despite their usefulness, cause you boredom. If such boring words need to be studied, try to develop an interest in them.
Do various interactive exercises with words, for example, I really like the CD from the famous Vocabulary in Use series
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Take any short text and try to replace as many words in it as possible with synonyms so that the meaning does not suffer. Write as many options as you can. Don't forget that regularity is important when learning words; it is better to learn a few words every day than to swallow a large number of words at one time. P.S. Perhaps you have your own effective method that helps you remember English words. Please share! I will be glad to see your comments! I wish you to remember words easily and increase your vocabulary! |
Morozov's technique.
Here is an excerpt from Nikolai Alexandrovich's notes " When I read Robertson's German textbook, I really liked his system for learning. It only introduces you to the basic concepts of grammar. And immediately provides you with fascinating, light stories that do not burden you with a useless waste of time looking for the meanings of words in the dictionary. I simplified this method even more, did not look for the meaning of individual words, but was satisfied with UNDERSTANDING them from the context. I began studying the next lesson in the textbook as soon as I could read the text and understand its content as a whole, thus studying 12 hours a day. A week later Robertson's textbook was finished, and I immediately began reading the novels in the original German. I hardly used a dictionary. I read aloud, trying to understand only the main essence, guessing the meaning of the words from the phrases. When I began to re-read the same novel for the second time, I was already able to understand half of the PHRASES, and the third time - even more. After which I began reading the new novel, and rereading it for the second time, I understood all the main details. Then I read a dozen more novels, each twice. I already easily recognized famous words and could translate their meaning. In just 1 month of hard work, reading all day long and completely eliminating the study of grammar, I learned the German language and, at the same time, enjoyed reading German literary masterpieces in my native language. "
So, we draw short conclusions: as with any technique, it has its pros and cons. Naturally, we do not suggest that you give up everything and just read to learn English. Before you start reading, you should already have a good understanding of HOW letters and individual words are read, which are exceptions to the rules. Otherwise, you can mess up so much that it will take even more time to correct your pronunciation. To do this, we recommend, no matter what your level of language knowledge, to watch and listen to English in the original; our resource provides you with a good selection of the best films in original English. But we want to note that for most people, reading books is much more effective in increasing their vocabulary. By reading books and translating not by words, but by sentences, after just a few days of hard work you yourself will be surprised by the results and how you find more and more familiar words or less and less encounter unfamiliar ones (depending on what language you are using). level of knowledge you started reading).
So, for your attention, we provide collections of the most popular bestsellers in different genres in English. Read, relax and learn English with pleasure!
Howard, Robert E.
Genre: Fantasy
English language
Format: PDF, DOC
Number of books: 22
Number of pages: 1722
To download the book collection The Chronicle Of Conan The Cimmerian (free from Turbobit) click on the button below:
Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Detective
Format: DOC
Number of books: 60 pcs.
To download a collection of books by Arthur Conan Doyle, click on the button below:
Would you like to know how to quickly increase your English vocabulary without cramming and living with a dictionary? We want to offer you some simple and fun exercises that will help you expand your vocabulary. What's remarkable about them? You can do them while reading your favorite book in English, that is, combine a hobby and learning, and what could be better?!
How to quickly expand your English vocabulary while reading books1. Put the dictionary asideHow to increase your English vocabulary? Read good books! If you choose the right book to read, then you may not need a dictionary at all, or you will need to use it very, very rarely. We never tire of repeating: try to find out the meaning of new words from the context, use linguistic intuition, this in turn will allow you to develop a sense of the English language over time. We talked in detail about these skills in the articles “” and “”. Learning words in context, rather than from a dictionary, allows you to quickly remember not only the meaning of the word, but also the rules for its use.
2. Study from photocopiesAs you understood from the previous paragraph, it is better to memorize words in context - entirely with the phrase in which they are used. If you want to save time on writing down the necessary sentences in a dictionary, try the following. Make a photocopy of the text you are interested in and use a marker to highlight phrases with words that you want to study. Now, to review the vocabulary, you will need to take a photocopy, and the necessary sentences will immediately catch your eye. This technique is good not only because it will reduce the time spent working with the dictionary. Our memory remembers best something bright that stands out from the general gray mass, so be sure to use a colored marker - this simple trick will help you increase your English vocabulary.
3. Draw a mind map of new wordsChoose a text to read that contains words you are unfamiliar with. Write them down and try to break them down into semantic groups. For example, you opened a book and at the beginning of the chapter you read a description of the interior of a house. You can make yourself a map like this:
After this, try to retell the text based on your mind map. Concepts that are interrelated with each other are easier to remember than a disparate set of words. And while drawing maps, you will also write them - include mechanical memory in the memorization process.
4. Pay attention to prefixes and suffixesAs you read, focus on how prefixes and suffixes are used to form new words from those you already know. This will help you "feel" the language. With this simple technique, while reading, you will study word formation and understand the principles of constructing new words. This will come in handy later: when you encounter an unfamiliar word, you can guess its meaning without a dictionary, based on the context and your experience.
5. Find phrasal verbsStudying phrasal verbs in isolation from context is useless: these words do not translate as ordinary verbs. Find them in the text, write yourself a sentence with a phrasal verb, see what role it plays in the text. Try to make a few more similar sentences, but on your own behalf. This way you will learn new vocabulary in context and not get confused with its use.
6. Use a synonym dictionaryYou can supplement your mind map or regular dictionary as follows. Find synonyms for new words and write them side by side, and among them there should be at least 1-2 words familiar to you, then it will be easier to remember new vocabulary. You can also write out antonyms; some people find it convenient to learn such groups of words at once. The Merriam-Webster dictionary will help you find synonyms and antonyms for words. For owners of Android smartphones, we recommend installing the English-English dictionary ColorDict Dictionary. For owners of Apple equipment, Merriam-Webster for iPhone is suitable.
7. Describe the pictureRemember what Alice said in the book “Alice in Wonderland”: “Who needs books without pictures?” Books are good with or without illustrations, but if you are lucky enough to have pictures in the book, try retelling the text by looking at the illustration and using new words. It is not necessary to strictly adhere to the storyline; the main thing is to use as much new vocabulary as possible. In this simple way you can easily expand your English vocabulary.
8. Write a new storyAfter learning unfamiliar words, try to write your own story using all the new vocabulary. If you don't like making up stories, you can simply retell what you read, but with some changes. Let the positive hero become negative and vice versa. Introduce some novelty into the original text. In this simple way you will practice new vocabulary and increase your English vocabulary.
Reading is the best technique for expanding your vocabulary, and the more diverse your vocabulary, the better your speech. We recommend that you read the article “”, from it you will learn how you can work with text and develop spoken language.
We hope you not only read, but also decided to put into practice the tips on how to increase your English vocabulary while reading the book. Choose interesting books and work on expanding your English vocabulary.
After a course in English phonetics and after mastering English reading rules and basic grammar, you reach a new level in learning English, where you need to expand your vocabulary. Increasing the number of English vocabulary items is based on two pillars: consistency and patience.
When mastering any profession and acquiring new skills, we must be prepared for a relatively long period of training, during which we have to learn a lot of new things. New English vocabulary is no exception. Let's be patient!
When studying new matter, we must feed our brain with new portions of fresh material. During long breaks (days, weeks, months), we will have to return to what we have already covered and repeat what we have forgotten. In order not to waste time on such repetition, it is better to keep yourself in constant good shape. Hence the consistency.
To increase your English vocabulary, be patient and be consistent in your efforts.
Now let's ask ourselves, why do we need to know more English words and expressions?
Knowing many English words will allow you to express your thoughts clearly and colorfully. The ability to use synonyms, juggle the nuances of words, and use words in the right situations is the basis for progress in the study and practical use of the English language.
By the way, knowing a large number of English words allows you to be able to succinctly structure oral and written speech. When you are writing an essay, an email, or preparing to present a project in English, know that your interlocutors and listeners do not want to listen to long arguments, but want to know the essence of what you are talking about. This conciseness comes from knowing how to use the precise words that will get your point across to your audience. And to be able to choose such precise words, you must have a serious vocabulary that will enable you to convey thoughts in the most precise and elegant way.
Let's remember an important postulate: We are expanding and expanding our English vocabulary to write and speak more concisely.
Let's move on to several successful ways that will help you enrich your English vocabulary.
Constantly work on new vocabulary and use it in the right situations
We have already talked about the consistency of effort in learning new vocabulary. But consistency also has power when it comes to practice. I am a big opponent of the accumulation of passive vocabulary. Yes, we need to passively know a few thousand English words to read classical literature. But it is more important to know and use modern vocabulary to be able to conduct a conversation in English. The ability to use vocabulary from your field of activity is also important. For example, if you are designing new cars, you should be able to use technical vocabulary when talking with your colleagues on the shop floor.
On the other hand, when learning new vocabulary, you must be aware of when this vocabulary can be used in practice. When designing cars, you shouldn't be pushing new technical words from your English class into conversations with people who are far from the blueprints and structure of an internal combustion engine.
Read and write
Reading remains the most important way to learn new words and expressions. To get good results from this method, you need to read a lot, using two types of dictionaries: English-Russian and English explanatory dictionaries. I find it very useful to read English using the Internet. There are a lot of dictionaries on the Internet, both multilingual and explanatory.
When I come across a new word in a book or article, I look up the word's meaning in dictionaries, copy it, and save it in a document with the new words. I also make sure to add a whole expression in which this word is used in the book/article. This method is faster than searching for words in regular book dictionaries.
However, I’ll make a reservation: when using this interactive method of searching for new words, choose 2-3 online dictionaries with a good reputation: Yandex online dictionaries, Oxford and Merriam dictionaries are suitable for this purpose.
In mastering new vocabulary, it is important to try new words “to taste.” To do this, use words in writing: in essays, in letters to English-speaking friends, in a blog.
Make friends with synonyms
Think about how you speak your native language. If during a presentation you find it difficult to find the right word, you skillfully and quickly find a new one. Fortunately, this is not so difficult when we use our native language. It's a completely different matter when you speak English. Therefore, knowledge of synonyms is another important aspect in mastering new English vocabulary.
Start with a reputable synonym dictionary. The Internet will help you: read reviews before purchasing or find a good site for English synonyms (search thesaurus).
Turn new words inside out
Yes Yes. Turn new words inside out. In this video lesson, the author describes a way to learn new words through word forms (starting at 2 minutes 25 seconds). When you come across a new word, look up all its forms (other parts of speech) and memorize their meaning.
Starting at minute 7, the author also explains how to work with words through cards. Again, a very useful method!
Roots, prefixes, suffixes
Boring! Learning prefixes and suffixes, as well as the ability to identify root systems in words, is the most boring way to master vocabulary. I won’t insist... I’ll just say that your arsenal should include the most common prefixes and suffixes that you can successfully “sculpt” into English words. But such “modeling” must be accompanied by a check in the dictionary. Don't create monsters!
Here's a way to learn vocabulary for lazy students. If you’re too lazy to read a lot, but want to learn new words, then subscribe to newsletters like “A new English word every day.” Here, for example, is such a newsletter from the Merriam-Webster dictionary website.
I will end my story with a single warning. Never use new words to show off and show off your intelligence. Frequent use of long and complex words will have the opposite effect. It will give your speech and your writing a pompous and artificial tone. As the classic said: “ Laconism is the sister of talent“. This truth extends to the use of a foreign language.