1 Learning vocabulary – general advice
What does knowing a new word mean?
– It’s not enough just to know the meaning of a word. You also need to know:
a) what words it is usually associated with;
b) whether it has any particular grammatical characteristics;
c) how it is pronounced.
– Try to learn new words not in isolation but in phrases.
– Write down adjectives together with nouns they are often associated with and vice versa, e. g. royal family; rich vocabulary.
– Write down verbs with the structure and nouns associated with them, e.g. to express an opinion.
– Write down nouns in phrases, e.g. in contact with; shades of opinion.
– Write down words with their prepositions, e.g. at a high level; thanks to your help.
– Note any grammatical characteristics of the words you are studying. For example, note when a verb is irregular and when a noun is uncountable or is only used in the plural.
– Make a note of any pronunciation problems with the words you are learning [1].
Expanding your vocabulary
There are many ways that you can use a dictionary to expand your vocabulary [2]:
What should you do when you come across new words?
When you are reading something in English, don’t look up every new word or expression or you will soon get fed up. Only look up something that is really important for understanding the text. When you have finished reading, look back at what you have read and then perhaps look up some extra words and write down new expressions that interest you.
Similarly when you listen to English don’t panic when you hear some words or expressions that you don’t know. Keep listening and the overall meaning will often become clear.
When you read or listen to English it is sometimes possible to guess the meaning of a word you don’t know before you look up or ask its meaning. Decide first what part of speech the word is and then look for clues in its context or form.
Learning vocabulary – aids to learning
Help yourself to learn by learning associated words together
Learn words with associated meaning together
Learning words together that are associated in meaning is a popular and useful way of organizing your vocabulary study
1 Complete this network for the word CAT. Add as many other bubbles as you like
Learn words with a grammatical association together
2 Here are some groups of words, each of which has a grammatical connection. Can you see what the connection is? What other words could you add to these groups?
a) child tooth ox; b) cut split burst; c) information furniture food.
Learn together words based on the same root
3 Can you add any words or expressions to these two groups?
a) price priceless overpriced
b) handy single-handed give me a hand
Pictures and diagrams can help you learn
Can you draw any picture that would help you remember the following vocabulary?
Word forks are good ways of learning adjectives and verbs
Look at the complete word forks below. Finish the others
Organizing by word-class
When you meet a synonym or an antonym of a word you already have in your book, enter it next to that word with a few notes [1]:
Urban ≠ rural stop=cease (more formal)
Making tables for word-classes is a good idea, since you can fill in the gaps over time. What do you think you may put in the remaining gaps in the table?
