Improve Your Vocabulary in 3 Easy Steps: Step One
The Shortcut to Improving Your Speech and Writing
The larger story here is not really about butting in to other people's conversations, or about being snotty when people use words you don't know. The point is that 'epiphany', which actually has a more precise definition than 'a religious experience'-it's more like 'a sudden realization that hits you as though it were a religious experience'-is a good word to know, considering how specific (and wordy!) its definition is, and how commonly the feeling it expresses strikes us. Unlike the kibitzing coworker, some people appreciate learning new words. To this end, I will present you with three easy steps to achieving a larger vocabulary, and we shall start with Step One:
1. Reading. The best way to learn new vocabulary words is the most enjoyable! Read like crazy. Both fiction and nonfiction can reveal new words to you, although nonfiction, especially if it's about a subject with which you have little familiarity, can really be a treasure trove. I'd caution you about diving into something that you know is going to be hard to get through, though-there's no point in suffering! It might make the words harder to learn if you have to fight off boredom and frustration to get to them. Reading is a natural way to learn new vocabulary.
As those of you who have studied a foreign language will know, it's easy for spoken words to just "bounce off" without leaving much of an impression. But when you see the words written out, you can associate the sounds with the spelling, you can spot similarities with other words, and you have a chance to go over it until you just plain puzzle it out. You can figure out lots of stuff through context, which is to say how the one word you don't know is used in a sentence with words you do know - for example, what if you didn't know the word 'mandible', but saw this sentence:
Dave's mandible, broken in the car accident, had to be wired in place to heal, so he had to sip liquids through a straw for several weeks.
I'm pretty confident that you could work out that a mandible was a jawbone. But what if Dave broke his 'sternum' and had to be in a body cast? A body cast covers lots of stuff. You might not be able to figure out that a sternum is a breastbone just from context. How to address this problem? Find out next time in Step Two!
Published by Ali Canary
Trying to inform, but not trying to be too formal. View profile
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15 Comments
Post a CommentTerrific, :)
Spot-on, Bat! Reading is such a pleasurable way of encountering (and remembering) new lexical friends. Keeping a dictionary close at hand doesn't hurt either, as the pronunciation of new words may not be obvious or self-explanatory. You are also right about the multiple connotations of "epiphany". Yes, the word has religious aspects, as, to the Eastern Christians at least, it refers to the revelation of Jesus as god during his baptism, but there is more to it. There is that little Greek root -phan- that means "to shine upon". So an epiphany is like that little light bulb over your head going on; it is, literally, "seeing the light". It also has connotations of suddenness and immediacy, like a bright new idea walloping you over the head with inventiveness. It is a creative, shiny ouch, so to speak... :D OK, I'll shut up now and go devour part two of your brilliant article. :D
Great writing! I am looking forward to the next steps.
I forgot to say...my brother never, ever, pronounces anything correctly! I cringe when he starts to tell me a story knowing the word "supposibly" is going to come up! UGH!
I thought Dave's mandible was something that broke in the engine! I cannot imagine life without learning new words and the whole process of expression! This is a really neat article and I enjoyed it a lot!
I look forward to reading Step 2! I'm always telling my husband that if he read, he may be able to expand his vocabulary. Yet, he's still happy with using the word "redundant" incorrectly day after day after day. ;-0
nice work. great article
You make an excellent point about learning new words from their context. I wrote a few financial articles for a client a while back, and she criticized me for using words that were too complicated for her target audience of high-school grads. I pointed out that when I used words like "frangible" (breakable) or "mortgagee" (the party who lends, not borrows, the money), I did so in a way that the reader would know what they meant.
What? We have to READ more just to learn the next step? (hehehe) ; ) This really is an excellent article, Bat, but what else is new? The intelligent, knowledgeable, articulate Ms. Canary never writes otherwise. You & Lindy Lou, our funny lady w/ affluent vocabulary, make an excellent complementary team! (Really enjoyed Pattie Byrd's comment.)
Such an interesting and helpful article about building a vocabulary!