How To Learn New Words Effectively Using A Tried And Trusted Technique
The benefits of having a rich vocabulary cannot be overemphasized. Having a rich vocabulary makes it easier for one to express themself. Not only that, it also aids thinking. I can go on and on, discussing the benefits of having a rich vocabulary but this content wasn't written for that purpose.
For people who have tried enriching their vocabulary, it is known that enriching one's vocabulary consciously isn't simple and easy. Furthermore, when one looks at techniques available online, all I have seen are bullshit. Some do not work, and those that work are not effective.
What do I mean by effective? By effective, I mean learning new words and having those words come up naturally when you need them to express yourself.
In this article, I'll like to share with you, a tried and trusted technique of learning new words. This technique is the one I personally use to improve my vocabulary.
Improving Your Vocabulary
Step 1: The first step to improving your vocabulary is choosing a word you want to learn. Let us choose the word 'nostalgic', and use it as an example.
Step 2: Find the phonetic transcription of the word, and pronounce it, based on the phonetic transcription. For instance, the phonetic transcription of the word 'nostalgic' is "nɒˈstældʒɪkli", meaning I'll pronounce it as "no'stal-jik". The purpose of pronouncing this word is to register the sound of that word in your brain.
Step 3: After pronouncing the word based on its phonetic transcription, you should go ahead and check the meaning of the word. In the dictionary I have here with me, 'nostalgic', means 'unhappy about being away and longing familiar things or persons'.
Step 4: Figure out how the word is related to your life, or someone else's life. For example, I was in my room this morning when I started hearing a song faintly. The song is “I'm at Way” by Sean Kingston and Lil Wayne.
On hearing the song, I recalled a time when my brothers and I used to play video games. While playing video games, we always had our sound system playing music, and 'I'm at war' was one of favourite musics then. The song made me quite sober, my brothers are now far away, each one of them pursing their career. I don't have them around me again. I longed for those moments.
Let's assume I wanted to tell a friend about what happened, and I didn't know the word 'nostalgic', I wouldn't be able to express myself in a short sentence. However, now that I know the world nostalgic, I can simply tell them that I was nostalgic this morning.
Note, when learning new words, using this technique, there may be times you'll wish to remember the words consciously. When you try to consciously recall a word you learnt using this technique, you may be unable to recall. This doesn't mean that the technique does not work. When you find yourself in situations where you need the word, that is when the words come up, and they do so without making concious effort.
Sharing of this technique does not mark the end of everything. At least, every three days, I will publish contents geared towards the learning of new words. In those upcoming contents, I would find very useful and rare words. The spelling, phonetic transcription, pronunciation, and meaning of the word will be provided. Afterwards, I will share how the word relates to my life.
If you find 'nostalgic' to be a new word to you, you can reply this article, telling us how you can relate the word to your life. If 'nostalgic' isn't new to you, I'll still be glad seeing you share how it relates to your life. Thank you for reading, and don't forget to watch out for upcoming contents.