Words comprise our existence- the abundance and absence of it! No matter who you are, what you do, to be heard, one must know how to speak- appropriately and impactfully, which can be quite a task. With so many new words added to the English language each day, it can very tough for even the smartest of us to memorize all that we read. But it’s not as difficult as you think!
How, you ask? Good question! We all are children of this English language graduating every day, word by word. So that would mean there is always scope for learning more and more. The late Robin Williams’ wise words from the film, Dead Poet’s Society perfectly sum up our need for learning new words, and more importantly, memorizing them.
“So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired; he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose”.
Therefore, in the wake of this revelation (of sorts), we bring to you 5 interesting and fun ways you can memorize new words. Read on:
Playing Hard to Get? Nevermore.
Playing is one of the best ways to learn and enjoy. Cool games such as Scrabble or Boggle come handy with your phones, tablets, and most other devices that you carry around. Try solving Anagrams and crossword puzzles. But why limit ourselves to just games when we can get a lot more? When you are playing your favorite songs (English, of course!), hear the lyrics. New words often pop up in the rhythm. “inhibition” in Shawn Mendes’ latest song Nothing holdin’ me back, “syncopate” in Selena Gomez’ Good for You to name a few.
The latest buzz of Netflix and chill can also be of help. Just play your favorite movie or sitcom, put the subtitles on and you’re good to go- learning will be nothing but fun if you resort to one of these ways of doing it.
Word-Sphere
Heard of the Twittersphere where people put up tweets and read them? Of course, you have. Make your very own Word-sphere. After watching any movie or reading any tweet or hearing any song, if you find any difficult word you didn’t know before, write it down. Make a Word-sphere board and stick at least 5 new words you didn’t know on the board. Place the board in a place you can easily view. Soon the number of unknown words would reduce to 1 or 2 because your vocabulary would expand.
Back to your roots
Did you know that Greek language is the ancestor of the the modern English language as we know it? English language derives a lot from ancient Greek and Latin and modified it into what we know today. So, if you find a word hard to remember, check for its derivatives. For example, Autograph comes from the Greek word “autos” meaning self. So, next time you see a word like autocratic you have the hint that it might relate to a self-governing body. Latin word “terra” means land and earth, so if you see words like terrestrial or terrain, it would mean something related to land and its topography. Smart, huh?
Engage in conversation
Conversations are the best way to learn and relearn. Conversations include both talking and listening. Listen to what words others are using and in what context. Come home and check the dictionary and include them in your word-sphere. Next time you learn a new word by following the previous steps, try using them while you speak. Be confident, add them to your conversation and be impressed at yourself.
Read. Write. Revise. Repeat.
These four words are the ultimate mantra to expand the horizons of your vocabulary. Read voraciously almost anything. Books, newspaper, song lyrics, tweets, Facebook posts, literally everything and anything. Write down the words you didn’t know on your word-sphere or a vocabulary diary. Revise all the words from the first word you wrote to the last word you wrote today every night. Repeat.
Bonus tip. Why should your smartphone only be the smart one? Download vocabulary apps on your phone and scroll through new words and get texting like a person of many words. BuildMyVocab is one such app that you can download on google play that helps you learn new words by reading the summary of your favorite films! (Yes, we love us!) 🙂
Happy learning!
