Getting into the habit of building your vocabulary is very important. Knowing the meaning and correct use of words is one way to show how intelligent you are. A person who has an extensive vocabulary is usually considered to be very bright. Most intelligence tests have a heavy dose of vocabulary knowledge in them. Most college entrance tests also emphasize verbal knowledge. So, an important part of your intelligence is showing when you can use a wide range of words appropriately.
You Can Develop and Build Your Vocabulary
On the positive side, if your present vocabulary isn't as extensive as you would like it to be, you aren't stuck with it. You can change it. You can increase your word knowledge. You can systematically begin to build your vocabulary. And, as your understanding and correct usage of new words increases, you will find yourself sounding and actually becoming more intelligent. Part of intelligence involves using words as tools to work with ideas. By developing your vocabulary, you will have a better set of tools to help you to understand complex ideas and concepts. In this way, you can gradually increase your verbal intelligence throughout your entire life.
You Have Several Vocabularies to Build Up
Every student has a number of vocabularies. You have a relatively simple spoken vocabulary which you use at home and with close friends. You have a much more complex class discussion spoken vocabulary which may contain many technical terms used in that class. When you are reading your textbooks you encounter an even more complex vocabulary. Finally, when you write a term paper or an essay quiz, you may be using a slightly different vocabulary which is a combination of your class discussion and textbook vocabularies. Because you are exposed to all of these sources of new words, you have an excellent opportunity to build a new general vocabulary which can be much more extensive than the one you used in high school.
Specialty and Technical Words
Specialty or technical words are words commonly used in books and lectures in specific courses such as biology or psychology. To avoid being thrown by technical words, try to skim ahead in your homework reading and look them up in advance. That way, if your instructor uses them in a lecture, you will be able to follow what he is talking about. Many textbooks will put technical words in italics the first time they appear in the book. If your instructor uses a new technical word and does not explain its meaning, jot it down in the margin of your notebook and look it up after class. Don't make the mistake of hearing a new word and trying to figure out its meaning, and missing the rest of the lecture. Always check it after the lecture. The better you are able to recognize and correctly use the words in that class specialty, the greater the information you will have about the subject. The greater your information, the greater your knowledge is likely to be.
You can Be Listening and Looking for New Words
One of the best ways to begin to increase your vocabulary is to always be mentally on the lookout for new words. If you are alert to looking for new words it’s amazing how many you can find. One way to do this is to listen and read carefully for new words. If your lecturer uses a new word, try to jot it down right away. Try to write down the approximate pronunciation and the short phrase where your instructor used it. Later you can make a flash card for it and look it up in the dictionary for more detailed meaning.
When you're reading, be on the lookout. When you see a new word, put it down on one side of a flash card and put the sentence in which you found it on the other side of the card. Later, check the dictionary for its exact meaning and pronunciation and add this information to your card.
You can Use a Good Dictionary to Build Your Vocabulary
The most useful book you can buy to help build your vocabulary is a dictionary. You may have brought one from home but if you didn't, go ahead and invest your money in a good one. You can get one in the college bookstore where they stock dictionaries of various types. Get a standard one, not the paperback variety, then take a few minutes to review how to use it.
You Can Improve your Pronunciation If you’re careful
Check the dictionary carefully for the correct pronunciation of the word, then use the dictionary’s pronunciation code. Never simply guess at the pronunciation of a difficult word – you may be learning the wrong pronunciation. For example, the word “credulous” looks like it might be pronounced (cree-dulI-lus). It's not. Its correct pronunciation is (kred-you-lus). Similarly, the word "propitious" looks like it could be pronounced (pro-pity-us). It's not. Tile correct way to say it is (pro-pish-shus). In some cases, there is more than one correct way to pronounce a word. The dictionary will let you know if that’s the case. The general rule of thumb is: when in doubt, check the dictionary.
You Can Relate New Words to Things That are Going on Around You
A good way to remember new words is to put them into sentences that are personally meaningful to you. Here are some examples other students have used.
"Having a fastidious roommate who dusts and washes the floor every week is a real blessing to a sloppy one like me'
"A wise girl never maligns or disparages her boyfriend's effectiveness as a lover."
"You're nothing more than a duplicitous sycophant" (two-faced brownnoser).
"Most football players have insatiable appetites consuming prodigious amounts of food at each meal"
"After consulting her astrology charts, Sharon decided that Thursday was a propitious day to cut classes."
The Synonym Book Can increase Your Vocabulary
Another way you can increase your working vocabulary is by learning to use a very useful book called Roget’s Thesaurus (Th(he)-sore-rus). This is a book of synonyms (sin-no-nims). Synonyms are words that have the same or very similar meaning. For example, the word steal means to take away something that belongs to someone else. The words rob and pilfer mean the same thing as steal does and are synonyms for it. When you look up "steal" in Roget's you find "rob" and "pilfer" given as equivalent words. The format of the original Roget's is very complicated and difficult to follow and generally should not be used by beginning college students. However, a Roget's in simple alphabetical order dictionary form is very helpful for college students and is easy to use. You can find an alphabetized copy in any college bookstore or library. A very useful and inexpensive paperback version is The New Pocket Roget's Thesaurus in Dictionary Form edited by Norman Lewis and published by Pocket Books.
You will find a Thesaurus very useful when you are writing papers and find yourself using the same words over and over again. The Thesaurus will give you several alternate words to use. For example, suppose you are writing a theme for English about a forest fire you witnessed. You notice the word "burn" occurs over and over again in your theme. You can greatly improve the theme by including the synonyms for burn found in the Thesaurus such as "consume", "sear", "char", "scorch”, “flame", or “blaze".
If you find that you have used the word "problem" Many times in a sociology or psychology paper, you will find the Thesaurus lists useful synonyms for "problem" such as "questions, “issue", and "query".
The Thesaurus can also help to broaden your everyday speaking vocabulary. Instead of calling someone stupid, you can expand your vocabulary by calling him a dullard or an obtuse individual or an inane person. If he hasn't read the Thesaurus he may not even realize that he has been insulted.
