Tips for Building Your Vocabulary
Learn the words by using flash cards
- Study each word and its definition until you know the word well. Keep studying after you know the word in order to build fluency (or automaticity)–that is, the ability to define the word instantly.
- Next, study the flash cards backwards. That is, look at the definition and name the word defined. Once again, continue to study until you reach fluency.
Use the Leitner method for learning flash cards. The Leitner method uses several stacks (or you can use boxes) to keep the cards. Four stacks is about right, but you can vary it from two or three to seven or eight. All the cards are put into the first stack or box. Whenever you can say the definition of the word, and later, give an example sentence using it, the card is promoted to the next box. As the cards rise to the next box, the frequency of testing diminishes. H ere’s a sample table showing the possible relationships to studying:
| Stack 1 Review | Stack 2 Review | Stack 3 Reiew | Stack 4 Review |
| four times a day | three times a day | two times a day | once a day |
| three times a day | two times a day | once a day | every other day |
| two times a day | once a day | every other day | twice a week |
| once a day | every other day | twice a week | once a week |
Your goal is to get all the cards retired out of the system–having learned all the definitions. Whenever you can’t remember the meaning of a word, the card goes back to the first stack or box, regardless of how many times it got you to move the card to the top box.
Find the words in context
To find words used in context, download some good writing from the Web. One way to start is to Google “free full text books” or name a book, as in “Great Expectations full text” and see what you can locate.
- Choose books that have the entire book in one text file.
- Then open the book in your word processor and perform a search on one of the words you have learned.
- Copy the sentence for later study.
- Continue the search (“Find Next”) until you have several examples of the same word, so that you can see the variety and nuances of usage (by that author at least).
- Change authors and get additional examples.
Write the words in sentences
Find the words as you read
If you aren’t extremely worried about what others will think of you, try writing poetry using some of your new words.
If you follow this learning path, you’ll soon know many new words and–even better–be able to use them appropriately in your writing. You’ll also have a lot of fun.
Other Strategies
Here are some additional fun ways to build your vocabulary, learning words beyond the list here. Find something that appeals to you or find several things.
1. Word Games. Play Scrabble or my own word game, DO DOT HOT. Work crossword puzzles and look up the strange words puzzles use (adit, ort, olio).
2. Dictionary attack. Pick a page in a college dictionary and see how many of the words you know and how many of the others you can learn in 20 minutes. Work with a partner and quiz each other. Pick the page at random. You’ll find this activity is actually fun because you’ll be laughing together over some of the words on the page.
3. Vocabulary Software. A package like Ultimate Vocabulary offers many ways to learn words and the fun is in the variety.
4. Use the search function with etexts. Remember that the best way to learn words is to see them in context. See how they are actually used. So find a word you want to learn and search for it in some books you own or have access to. There are thousands of free public domain works you can download and use to search with.
Learn creatively! For even more ways to learn vocabulary words, see Creative Ways to Learn Vocabulary Words. It’s really fun. I’m not kidding. This is the last time I’m going to tell you. Or maybe not.