Getting Better at Learning Vocabulary: A2, B1, B2, C1, C2
Choose the words and phrases you want to remember:
- It is easier to remember new words if you discover them in a specific context. So, after reading,
listening to, or watching a document in English, look for the words and phrases you think you should
remember (use the transcript if it is an audiovisual recording). Don’t forget to pick out verbs! They are
essential elements in a sentence.
- It is generally easier to memorise new words if you classify them in the most logical way.
Look at the ideas below to record and organise a vocabulary notebook.
What does knowing a new word mean?
Besides understanding its meaning, you also need to know (and record):
* its grammatical nature (noun, adjective, verb, adverb, conjunction)
* how it is spelled
* how it is pronounced (underline the stressed syllable, make sure you know how to pronounce the
vowel sound. Check www.howjsay.com)
Even if you understand a word when you read it, if you don’t know how it is pronounced, you
will not recognize it when you hear it, and you’ll fail to understand the oral message!
* how to use it in a sentence
* what words it is usually associated with: write down adjectives together with nouns (e.g. “royal
family”, “rich vocabulary”), verbs with the structure and nouns associated with them (e.g.: “to add to
our knowledge”, “to express an opinion”)
Recording Vocabulary
1. It is important to record new English words so you can review them later. How do you
usually record new vocabulary? Have you got a vocabulary notebook? Do you store new
words alphabetically or by topic heading?
M Organizations
Minorities (n.) bureaucracy (n.)
Majority (n.) hierarchy (n.)
Multinational (adj.) multinational (n.)
2. There are several different ways of recording meanings or definitions:
• You can write the word in your own language
A range (n.): une gamme
commonplace (adj.) alltäglich
• You can draw a diagram or picture:
Hierarchy (n.) ∆
declining (adj.)
• You can write an English explanation
Glass ceiling (n.) = an invisible barrier
Minorities (n.)= small social groups
• You can explain with an opposite:
declining (adj.) ≠ rising (adj.)
scarce (adj.) ≠ plentiful (adj.)
• You can explain with a synonym:
Stop (vb) = cease (more formal)
• You can write an example sentence
He only works 18 hours a week. He’s a part-time worker.
3. Words are easier to remember if they are recorded in groups. You could record common word
partnerships and word families in tables or networks
Word forks: Word-class table:
original shoot concept (n.) adj. vb. person (n.)
brilliant edit creation creative create creator
great idea direct a film production productive produce producer
excellent star in
unusual review
Diagrams:
play box
(n.) (n.)
performance circle (n.)
(n.)
comedy stalls
(n.) (n.)
tragedy
(n.)
Theatre book cancel (vb.)
(n.) (vb)
actor producer ticket
(n.) (n.)
company director programme
(n.) (n.) (n.)
Make sure you use these new words when you write and when you speak.
- Enroll in conversation workshops at the CRL
- Ask a teacher/ a friend to read a text you wrote.
You can also find new useful words in the following books:
English Vocabulary in Use Cambridge University Press
A2/B1: Elementary Michael McCarthy and Felicity O’Dell
B1/B2: Pre-intermediate and Intermediate Stuart Redman
B2: Upper-intermediate and Advanced, Michael McCarthy and Felicity O’Dell
C1/C2: Advanced, Michael McCarthy and Felicity O’Dell
English Idioms in Use Advanced Michael McCarthy and Felicity O’Dell
English Collocations in Use Intermediate Michael McCarthy and Felicity O’Dell
Les Mots entre eux, Words and their Collocations Christian Bouscaren et Frédérique Lab,
Ophrys.
Software: Vocabster
