English Vocabulary: Strategies to Master the Words that Matter

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc.  once said: “Stay hungry, stay foolish.” He said that in the context of his commencement address to young learners at Stanford University to have an unending quest for knowledge should and never to be complacent about the knowledge that one has gained. Powerful quotes like this and many others have been shaping, influencing and organising our lives for generations. When we listen to a beautiful oration, read a paragraph with graphical descriptions we are lost in that world of words. Words are magical and the authors know how to weave that magic. In today’s highly competitive world one need to master the English vocabulary in an enviable way to make she or he stand apart from the crowd. English as a second language has always posed challenges to young learners in India. Its rich vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and usage have been difficult to follow and apply. The following techniques can be of great help to students struggling with word power.

Read More: Studying B.A English (Hons) Major At Usha Martin

1. Focus on a word categories like science, technology, music, sports or cinema and try to inculcate as much words you can in a given time. You can also explore the Academic Word List if you want to pursue research.
2. Expose yourself to variety of materials like listening to speeches, news programmes, interviews or Reading – fictions, magazines, newspapers, textbooks brochures, flyers or advertisement.
3. Don’t be lazy in noting down new words in the context you learned them and use the newly acquired words in your spoken and written sentences.
4. Explore the websites like com, quizlet.com, .englishvocabularyexercises.com and especially lingro.com for those who love read from computer screen.
5. Don’t compare your vocabulary with others as we have divergent language learning styles and last but not the least is to be patient but keep working.

Happy Learning.

Dr. Prakash Chandra Panda

Head, Department of English

Usha Martin University, Ranchi