Students often get lazy when it comes to learning new vocab, be it in their second language, or their mother tongue.
Photo by d3b…*
Why should you learn even more words when you still don’t feel confident saying your name? What’s the point in knowing all the names of shades of grey, how to spell ‘vicissitude,’ or the etymology of ‘ketchup’?
In general
Sharpen your communication
Learning new words is not about confusing people with obscure vocabulary—it’s about expressing yourself more clearly, and with more precision.
The more words you know, the higher chance you’ll have the right one at hand when the opportunity arises.
“The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.”
— PHILIP K. DICK
Moreover, having a vast vocabulary will allow you to better understand the world around you—to read between the lines, and question what others have to say.
Get tangible results
Johnson O’Connor, a famous American researcher and educator, has found that a person’s vocabulary level is the best single predictor of occupational success in every area.
He further found that that vocabulary usually comes before achievement, not as a consequence of it, and that the ability to acquire vocabulary is largely learned, rather than depending on natural abilities.
Second languages
By now most of you should be fairly convinced that vocabulary learning is indeed very good for you, from every perspective.
But why should you, a foreign language learner, keep learning more and more vocab while you could spend all that time understanding new grammar points and useful idioms?
Getting the most for your money
If you’re taking a class at school or with a tutor, don’t waste the time you’re paying your hard-earned money for learning something you can do as efficiently in your own free time.
Learn that vocab at home, and benefit from your teacher’s knowledge of tricky grammar and cultural context which you may have a hard time learning by yourself.
Get to use the language
One thing we strongly believe here at LinguaLift is that practise is everything. When you’re learning a new language, you should try to start using it as soon as possible—otherwise, you’ll fail!
The more vocabulary you know, them more you’ll understand, no matter how good or bad your grammar & pronunciation is. And the more you’ll understand, the more you’ll be motivated to actually use the language, in turn improving on everything else. Simply knowing that the Italian word for ‘stamp’ is timbro means that if nothing else, you can send a postcard home to your family—regardless of how many grammar books you have failed to read.
Never stop
We have established that vocabulary is key. Make vocabulary acquisition a part of your everyday life. If you hear an unusual word, use Evernote or a similar service to make a note of it, and its definition. If you come across an object, the name of which you’re not sure in your second language—find out as soon as you can!
If nothing else, keep a notebook or scrap of paper on you at all times, so you can at least note down times when you’ve struggled to find the right word for a given situation, or have heard a word that you were not entirely sure of.
Let us know in the comments what methods you employ to enjoy a lucid, replete and multifarious vocabulary!
