How to Expand Your Vocabulary Like a PRO with Books, YouTube, Quizzes
Logorrhea, to foozle, sibylline…do I still need to explain why it is essential to expand your vocabulary permanently?
Why would it matter how extensive my vocabulary is? You ask.
Well, much of your academic success depends on it when you’re a student. Later in life, a rich vocabulary can be seen as a sign of intelligence. One of the best benefits of learning new words is that your communication skills improve drastically. It means you’ll keep up with the language development and won’t have to struggle looking for the right words. In this post, you’ll find fun and effective ways to expand your vocabulary quickly.
Log on!
1. Reading
I know you’ve probably heard this tip before. Everyone says, “Just read more books,” but the secret is making this activity effective. Choose the genre you genuinely enjoy and would read regularly. Whenever you see an unfamiliar word, guess its meaning through the context. Write it down and check it in the dictionary later.
2. Listening to Songs
Songs are great because they have catchy phrases and slang that get stuck in your head, especially if they’re by your favorite artists. The tricky part is listening closely for the correct pronunciation, which sometimes gets lost in the beats. Find the lyrics and print them out to have on hand whenever you want to sing along.
3. Listening to Podcasts
A great bonus of podcasts is the incredible variety of topics and levels of proficiency. Use any podcast app or YouTube to find the channel you like. You can listen with or without a transcript and adjust the speed. The crucial part here is that you hear all the new words in a context. If you feel confident, try practicing shadowing (repeating the text with the speaker).
4. Watching Movies
Studying by watching Harry Potter — it doesn’t get better than this! Watch your favorite movies in your preferred language the first time and with subtitles the second time. You’ll be able to catch the phrases you missed at first. Pause the scenes whenever you need extra time to understand them.
5. Watching YouTube Videos
Watching some fun YouTubers can be educational, too. You’ll learn natural, unscripted speech with genuine reactions and a trendy lexicon. YouTube is an entertainment medium, so the language is beginner-friendly, but you can find videos on whatever level and topic you want.
6. Solving Riddles/Puzzles/Vocabulary Quizzes
Expanding your vocabulary is excellent and doing it while solving word puzzles is double excellent! Riddles and quizzes are created for curious learners and are usually divided by topics (science, nature, fashion, etc.). Along with new language development, you boost creativity and logical thinking. The only downside is that puzzles may be too challenging for beginners, so choose cautiously.
7. Playing Word Games
Remember Scrabble? It’s a fun little game that helps you learn new words while beating your opponents. Old-fashioned board games will work, but you can also find good apps with word games on your phone. The primary benefit of this type of learning is that it’s easily accessible and barely takes any time.
8. Talking to Native Speakers
No game or podcast encourages your brain to work faster than talking to native speakers does. Talking to other people in the natural environment will stimulate you to acquire new words without ripping them out of context. Babies learn to speak the same way, so it’s a very organic method. Try online forums, chats, or in-person speaking clubs.
9. Talking to Yourself
Unusual? Yes. Weird? Maybe. Effective? Also, yes! It’s the most straightforward method that doesn’t require any effort. Start talking whenever and wherever you feel comfortable on whatever topic you’d like. You can describe something in detail or start a heated debate to try and prove your point to an invisible opponent.
How to Expand Your Vocabulary — TOP 3 Resources
You can find modern and interactive ways of expanding your vocabulary (especially useful for introverts like myself because all the resources are online!):
Articles, games, pop culture topics, word of the day, and more are available on the Thesaurus website. The design is minimalistic, so it’s easy and pleasant to use. The best feature is that all categories are updated regularly. This means that you can find out about the most recent neologisms.
You probably know what accommodate means. Guess which one from the words below is its synonym?
Merriam-Webster Games & Quizzes
Merriam-Webster online is not just a dictionary; it’s a place to relax and play fun educational games. Their website has games and quizzes that will help you practice new words. My favorite is “Blossom,” where you need to make words out of available letters. The quizzes there are fantastic because they’re on different topics and test your skills.
What is the longest word you can make from the letters A, R, S, V, B, I, and E?
WordHippo is a user-friendly website that lets you find synonyms, antonyms, definitions, and translations. This platform is unique because it has some features that others are lacking. For example, if you’re playing “Scrabble,” you can look up the words containing any letter you have. You can also request to show sentences, rhymes, and crossword answers with a specific word.
How many words containing ‘ipho’ can you generate?
Visual Thesaurus is an amazing way to expand your vocabulary. It creates interactive infographics with synonyms, definitions, and related words. It’s easy to use — just type in the word or choose the “random” option, and the engine will generate a tree of connected dots. Each dot presents the meaning of the words and the color points to the part of speech.
Have a look at how one could visualize the synonyms for the word salvo.
This platform is heaven for visual learners. The website shows word maps similar to the previous resource, but the design is more intuitive. The best feature is that you can always see all the explanations on the screen. Clicking on the word bubble creates more suggestions that are somehow connected to it. This way, you learn more context rather than separately standing words.
This visualization might be more informative and efficient than a book written a century ago.
This is an incredible resource for those who love books and want ready-to-use flashcards based on them. Choose a book, practice with vocabulary lists divided by chapters, and add extra exercises with the “Spelling Bee” and “Vocabulary Jam.” You can look up nonfiction and textbooks by grade or simply use the search bar. Remember to check out the “Just for fun” section, too!
What words would you use to describe a person in a positive way? Is affable among these words?
Hopefully, this article behooves you to start learning new words right away!
Not sure what “behoove” means?
Go ahead and use the suggested resources to figure it out! Let me spice it up by turning it into a challenge — find as many synonyms to this word as you can in 30 seconds and share your results in the comments!
