The average American has a vocabulary in the thousands. Try these tricks to make sure yours stacks up.
1, The words in many children’s books are often outside the realm of adults’ day-to-day discourse, so parents can learn more words just by reading to their children.
2, Watching the movie version of your favorite book isn’t just a guilty pleasure, it’s also a vocabulary booster.
3, Make good use of your tablet. Try highlighting unfamiliar words with your finger and look it up.
4, Don’t just flip through your favorite magazine, really read it. Magazines are filled with words you probably don’t think to use in your daily conversations.
5, Listen to how words sound.
6, Get out of the house. When you open your eyes to new experiences and people, you also get new words.
7, Join a book club. It’s a good way to discover books you might not normally be drawn to, which in turn exposes you to new words and helps you improve vocabulary.
8, Spend your commute listening to talk radio or podcasts instead of zoning out.
9, Try to describe what you’re seeing in your surroundings as descriptively as possible inside your head.
10, Read, read, read. Chances are you can improve vocabulary simply by figuring out their meaning based on the context they’re used in or by coming across them again down the line.
11, Become an expert on a topic you enjoy. You’ll deepen both your knowledge and vocabulary.
I – Word Understanding
Stacks up – adds up
Discourse – conversation
Zone out – to become oblivious to one’s surroundings esp. in order to relax
II – Have Your Say
1, Do you love reading? What are your favorite reading materials and what are your challenges when it comes to reading?
2, Have you ever joined a book club? What do you think about book clubs?
3, What is your main source of vocabulary? How do you learn to pronounce new words?
4, If you want to become an expert of a certain topic, what topic would it be and why?
5, Describe your favorite and least favorite spots outside and inside your house.
