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Effective Vocabulary Learning Strategies

Learning vocabulary is essential to becoming a skilled communicator, though the average English speaker only uses about 5,000 words daily despite there being over 500,000 total words. To truly know a word requires understanding its pronunciation, common usages, prepositions, grammatical characteristics, and formality. It is important to learn words in phrases and how they collocate rather than in isolation. Memorization techniques include learning words in groups, using visual aids, studying systematically with exposure to English through various media, organizing vocabulary notes by topic, and building networks of meaning while revising and using new words.

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111 views3 pages

Effective Vocabulary Learning Strategies

Learning vocabulary is essential to becoming a skilled communicator, though the average English speaker only uses about 5,000 words daily despite there being over 500,000 total words. To truly know a word requires understanding its pronunciation, common usages, prepositions, grammatical characteristics, and formality. It is important to learn words in phrases and how they collocate rather than in isolation. Memorization techniques include learning words in groups, using visual aids, studying systematically with exposure to English through various media, organizing vocabulary notes by topic, and building networks of meaning while revising and using new words.

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Ella Dreamer
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LEARNING VOCABULARY

Learning vocabulary is essential in the process of becoming a skillful


communicator. It is known that there are over half a million words in
English language. But it is a fact that an average native speaker only uses
about 5,000 words in everyday communication.

Knowing the meaning of a word seems not to be enough to say one


masters vocabulary. There are important aspects to be taken into account:

 The pronunciation of the word


 The words it is usually used with
 Prepositions that join the word
 Its grammatical characteristic
 Whether the respective word is formal, informal or neutral.

It is of paramount importance to learn new words in phrases not in isolation


in order to observe how words go together, how they collocate:

Verb + noun: to do a favour/to take the risk/to make a request/to place an


order

Adjective + noun: developed countries/ folk music/ special delivery

Nouns in phrases: a sense of belonging/ in touch with

Words + prepositions: in case of/ in particular

Special grammatical characteristics of new words are the following:

Irregular verbs: take, swim, wear, pay, shake, break, fly

Uncountable nouns: luggage, baggage, information, money, advice, furniture


Nouns used only in the plural: overall, trousers, sunglasses, tights, scissors

Nouns with irregular plural: woman-women, child-children, ox-oxen,


mouse-mice

Adjectives with irregular forms of comparative degrees: good-better-the


best,

Ill-worse-he worst, little-less-the least

How to memorise words

1. Learn words in groups


2. Make use of pictures/posters/flashcards/realia
3. Learn in a systematic way by planning a study time, reading and
listening to as much English as possible.
Useful ideas: songs, films, fiction, youtube, podcasts. Vlogs, blogs,
website, audiobooks, magazines, television, radio, dictionaries,
encyclopedias, recipes, conversation with keypals, sports reports,
gaming, traveling
Exposure to English is highly recommended in becoming fluent and
accurate, in learning vocabulary and practicing it.
4. Divide your vocabulary notes into different sections:
Words to describe places
Words for relationships
Words for actions
5. Build a network of meaning because a network diagram can expand in
whatever direction one wants it to
6. Revise and use the new vocabulary
7. Stay focus on learning the words in collocations and fixed phrases,
synonyms and antonyms, word classes.

Obviously, one can think about his or her own style of learning and the most
efficient ways of organizing vocabulary.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

English Vocabulary in Use, Upper- Intermediate, Michael McCarthy,


Felicity O’Dell, Fourth Edition, Cambridge 2017

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