Vocabulary

One of the greatest means of expressing oneself is through words. Just sit and listen for a few minutes in a public place and you'll notice just how much communication is expressed through the English language. That's why it's important to have a good vocabulary, and more importantly, to know that you know the words. You can know a million words but if you don't know when to use them, they are useless.

A greater vocabulary often leads to better communication, however it also has the problem of having to restrain your vocabulary among those who cannot understand it. An example is:

Example 1: I am currently in the possession of a lexicon of gargantuan girth, and frequently put it to exalted employment recreationally.

Now, I don't know if you understood that or not, and it's obviously a caricature of real speech, but nevertheless, it can be far simpler to just say it like this:

Example 2: I know a lot of words, and use them frequently for fun.

It sounds much more understandable. The key however, is to find a compromise between the two. The average reader of my blog, I assume, is a cut above the average blog reader, but not abnormally intelligent. So a good compromise for this crowd would be my last example:

Example 3: I possess a large vocabulary, and enjoy frequently putting it to good employment.

This may not be the best example, but it features the basics, and that's what counts.


If you don't have such a large vocabulary (or gargantuan lexicon) then there are ways to improve it.

1: Read. A lot. A LOT.

I read for at least an hour a day, and am a very fast reader. I will read 2-3 full sized books a week: every week, on average. This is not to improve my vocabulary, but rather because I love reading. However, it is also a great way to learn new words, you can only learn by experience, and reading gives experience learning the meaning and contexts of a word. Many words are words people know but do not fully understand.

2: Buy a 'Word of the Day' calendar.

Or, if you have little money like me, subscribe to an online service. A good one is http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/, which I subscribe to. For example, today I learned I am very dilatory, that is prone to procrastination. Many of these words will be ones you are completely new to.

3: Speak to people.

Just like reading, speaking to people opens you to new ideas, cultures, and words. All three are quite helpful, and everyone has a nice stock of words they know, not to mention the different opinions and viewpoints one can obtain from talking to people from all walks of life.

4: Play word games.

Board games like Scrabble and UpWords, or simple mind games such as 'Last Letter, First Letter' (where you select a topic, and then someone says a word, for example with animals, someone might say 'Zebra.' The next person must say an animal with it's first letter being the same as the last letter of the previous one. E.g 'ZebrA leads to AlbatrosS, leading to Salmon, and so on, and so forth)

All four of these can definitely go far on the path to increasing your vocabulary. Now that your minds are filled with literary goodness, I'll leave you with the dailies.

Daily Quote: 'A journey of a thousand miles begins with the very first step' -Confucius.

Daily Website: http://www.freerice.com/index.php. I found this while researching this article, and it's really neat. Not only does it improve your vocabulary, but you can help feed the hungry too! How awesome is that? Kill two birds with one stone!

Until next time, may you take the time to peruse your lexicon for unexplored fonts of literacy.

-Callanthae