How to Build Your Vocabulary

A person should build his or her vocabulary not to try to impress people by using big words, but to understand what they mean when others use them. A large vocabulary allows a person to discern whether the speaker is knowledgeable or simply using big words to obscure what's being said and mislead listeners.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Highlighter
• Paper clips
• Adhesive flags

1. Subscribe to a daily email with a new word of the day, its definition, pronunciation and a sample sentence. Go online and look for websites that offer subscriptions such as Dictionary.reference.com (see Resources below).
2. Buy vocabulary building software for your computer. You can find vocabulary builders specifically for business, for high school students studying for the SAT and for kids. You can also find free downloads of software that will help you build your vocabulary.
3. Work crossword puzzles online. You can find puzzles that have themes or work crossword puzzles from the United Kingdom, which are considerably different. Most crossword puzzle websites require that you have Java installed. You can even try building your own crossword puzzles.
4. Find vocabulary building games online. Conduct an Internet search for "vocabulary building games" to find websites geared toward both adults and kids.
5. Read. There's no better way to find new words to add to your vocabulary than to read quality fiction and nonfiction. Many times you can guess the meaning of the word without resorting to a dictionary

Tips & Warnings

• Keep a small supply of paperclips and highlighters or small adhesive flags with the book or magazine you're reading to mark any new words you come across. You can look the words up in the dictionary when you have time.
• Go to Freerice.com and have rice donated to hungry families overseas for every vocabulary word you know.

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