Read as much English as you can. Choose a level that is slightly harder than your language level. Airport novels contain a limited vocabulary but at the same time have all you need to get by in English. For students studying at a higher level, select more literary works in a genre that you enjoy. As you read, underline the words that you do not understand. Go back to these passages after finishing each chapter and look up their meaning in a dictionary. This way you will both get through the book and benefit from the learning process.
Construct a Venn Diagram. This is a drawing of three interconnecting circles. Each circle will have its own area of space, a space where it connects with one of the other circles and in the center there will be a space where all three circles connect. Choose the vocabulary topic you wish to explore, for example: Animal names. Label each circle with a general attribute. Circle one might be: "Africa," circle two: "Meat eaters," circle three: "Sandy colored."
Look up the names of animals and place them in the circles. A lion will go in the center of the diagram because it is from Africa, it is a meat eater and it is sandy colored. A giraffe will only go in circle one, a polar bear in circle two, and an animal such as an Indian cobra will go in the intersecting space on circles two and three only. In this way you will build your English vocabulary of animals, continents or countries and colors.
Make a flow diagram. Imagine you are going on a picnic. Write "Picnic" in a box in the center of the page. Draw lines from it to other boxes such as: "Weather," "Location," "Food," "Activities." From each of these boxes expand the topic to other boxes. From the box marked "Weather," list types of weather. From the box marked "Food" list all possible foods you might take on a picnic. Then draw lines from each of these boxes to more boxes. One food might be "Sandwiches." Draw boxes around that and list different types.
Describe pictures. Select any picture from a magazine, newspaper or calendar, for example. Now describe that picture. Describe the background and the foreground, the colors, the items or people in it. Look up the vocabulary in a bilingual dictionary. Take a second picture and do the same. Finally, compare the two pictures to build up your vocabulary of comparative adjectives. One picture may be "sunnier," "lighter" or "more crowded" than the other picture. Do this for many different pictures.