How to Study English Vocabulary

The reason the English language has so many words -- an estimated 171,471 -- is because it readily "borrows" words from other languages and then claims them as its own. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, for instance, the English court spoke French for 300 years and incorporated 33,000 words from that language. Even common words, such as "kayak," "chipmunk," and "bayou" are taken from American Indian languages. Although there are a lot of English words, there are also a variety of ways to expand your vocabulary.

Instructions

    • 1

      Assemble your resources, such as a good dictionary and a thesaurus. You can sign them out from your local library, buy copies at the bookstore or bookmark them online.

    • 2

      Start a vocabulary book. When you run across a new English word that you don't understand, look it up in the dictionary and record the meaning it in your vocabulary book. Write a sentence with your new word to reinforce the definition. Review your notes from time to time.

    • 3

      Separate English vocabulary words into parts of speech, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions, and make flash cards for each word. Spread them around on the floor and see how many different sentences you can construct with the English vocabulary words you have collected.

    • 4

      Take online self-study English vocabulary quizzes (see Resources). Interactive quizzes are a great way to expand the number of words you know and you get immediate results when you take online tests.

    • 5

      Explore the English vocabulary words that are taken from other languages. Make clusters of French, German, Japanese, Spanish and Arabic words.

    • 6

      Practice your English vocabulary words. There is no point in developing your English vocabulary if you don't use the words in your written work and oral speech. Speak up and impress the people you know with your English vocabulary.

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