Improving Vocabulary Blog.ORG

Since learning English is very popular in non-English speaking countries, developing modern assisted-learning tools that support effective English learning is a major issue for non-native learners. Because learning English involves memorization and practicing a bevy of vocabulary words and numerous grammatical structures, ESL students often look to the use of technology for education, enrichment, and reinforcement. As Chen and Li (2009) acknowledge, “Vocabulary learning is a principal issue for English learning because vocabulary comprises the basic building blocks of English sentences. Therefore, many studies have attempted to improve the efficiency and performance when learning English vocabulary. With the accelerated growth in wireless and mobile technologies, mobile learning using mobile devices such mobile devices has gradually become considered effective because it inherits all the advantages of e-learning and overcomes demographic and physical limitations (Chen & Li)

There are several issues when it comes to learning vocabulary as an ESL Student. Vocabulary learning becomes a process of related sub-tasks, it just doesn’t come naturally. When ESL learners first learn a new word, they may guess at its meaning and attempt to apply its usage. Some learners might proceed to look it up in the dictionary. Others might take down notes along the margins, between the lines, or on separate vocabulary notebooks. Gu (2003) indicated that “Some learners will repeat the new word a number of times until they are comfortable with it. Others will go beyond simple rote repetition to commit the word to memory. Some would even try to use the word actively. Each of these task stages demands metacognitive judgment, choice, and deployment of cognitive strategies for vocabulary learning.” (p. 2)  Yet, the process to learn is iterative in nature as the learner must practice and use the word in a context, which often takes a while for the learner to do especially when they are not used to the native learning setting.

The uses of educational technologies do have some advantages and disadvantages though. preference. Felix (2004) showed that “students were on the whole positively inclined to working with the Web and found it useful, with the majority preferring to use the Web as an addon to face-to-face teaching. Reported advantages fell into the broad categories of time flexibility, reinforced learning, privacy and wealth of information; disadvantages into distraction, absence of teacher and personal interaction and lack of speaking practice.”(p. 1). By incorporating Web technologies, including tools such as vocabulary software and voice recognition software may help with speaking practice, and there is no reason why students cannot speak to each other as part of the learning process especially in collaborative, native setting settings

Chen, C.M. & Li, Y.I. (2009). Personalised context-aware ubiquitous learning system for supporting effective English vocabulary learning. Interactive Learning Environments, 9(1), 1-24. Retrieved May 7, 2009, from http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/10494820802602329

Gu, P.Y. (2003). Vocabulary learning in a second language: Person, talk, context, and strategy. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, 7(2), 1-5.

Felix, U. (2004) A multivariate analysis of secondary students’ experience of web-based language acquisition. ReCALL, 16(1), 237-249.

English language can be mastered by practising and implementing the said rules. Vocabulary can be learnt by continued practice and implementation of the words in real life scenario. Many people often complain of not being able to retain or commit words into memory. This generally happens due to huge collection of words which are to be committed into memory. Learnt vocabulary should be implemented in real life sentence formation either during general conversation or writing. Vocabulary when implemented in real life situations gives good understanding of the word in appropriate context.
When learning vocabulary words one needs to understand the context in which the word would be used. Learning the meaning, context, phonetics, spelling, pronunciation, etc gives you a perfect understanding of the word. Grammar is the basis of English language. Understanding grammar will give you a perfect knowledge about English and the way you need to use it in general life.
There are four main pillars of English language they are Listening, Speaking, Reading and writing. Listening sessions can be practiced by listening to English radio channels, T.V news, documentaries, wild life shows, etc. There are reputable English channels such as CNN, BBC, CNBC, IBN, BLOOMBERG; etc listening to those channels gives you a greater depth of understanding of English. There are various types of English such as American, U.K., Australia, Indian, etc.
Speaking can be practiced by standing in front of the mirror. When speaking in front of the mirror be sure that you are not distracted. Students learning English tend to speak in their natural mother tongue with their colleagues and family members which should be avoided. Doing this removes the very essence of speaking session, try speaking in English with everyone so that you can understand and comprehend.
Reading can be practiced by reading journals, news papers, magazines, etc. While in reading session make sure that you read out the passages loudly initially. While reading loudly you will know the various obstacles you are facing and also appropriate pronunciation of the word. There are various competitive reading exam materials such as GMAT, GRE, TOFFEL, etc. Practising them gives a student leading edge from other students.
Writing is another important part of English Language. Conveying messages either through sophisticated spread sheets or through paper requires writing. Writing can be practiced in various different ways such as writing short stories, blogging, expressing ideas, emotions, etc. Try writing short stories and present it to your lecturer or to the blogging community for evaluation. Use the words which you have learnt in real time application which can improve your word retention capability.

IELTS is also known as International English language testing system. This is the world`s leading test for higher education, immigration and employment. IELTS is accepted by most universities all over the world as an entry level test.

There are two version of IELTS academic and general training version. Academic version is for people who would like to undertake enrolment in universities and institutions of higher education. General training version is for persons who want to undertake non academic training, or to gain work experience and for immigration purposes. Reading and writing versions of academic training is much more difficult than general training version. IELTS primarily tests the candidate in listening, speaking, reading and writing in short LSRW.

IELTS is very easy to crack if you can understand the basic patterns of the test and can implement it during your study routine. IELTS has four different section`s out of which speaking is administered externally in front of an evaluator. Listening section is the best scoring module available in IELTS. After listening it is writing section in which one can score higher marks than others. Writing is evaluated by more than one evaluator for scoring. Writing has two different sections and primarily one need to concentrate on vocabulary, parts of speech, active and passive voice, spelling of the words, etc. Also important is the words length. One should concentrate on the length of words. Maintain a healthy word count and do not overwrite or underwrite the essay.

For writing section one can practice by writing short essays, stories, blogs, etc. Reading editorial content in magazines, journals, news papers, etc give good information regarding the quality of English which needs to be used for writing. If you are fond of writing blogs there are various internet websites which accept articles and also at times give you credit for what you have written. This is the way to get most out of your writing skill. Writing also offers you various opportunities and also makes you stay ahead of the pack in competitive exams.

Reading is another important part of IELTS competitive exam which is tough to crack. Reading part of the exam can fetch student good marks and place him above his peer competitors. There are various books on IELTS preparation and they offer good considerable advantage to the student in preparation for IELTS. Make sure that you get registered for IELTs way before. IELTS offers free material when you get registered which is extremely helpful in understanding the pattern and exam. There are commercial compact disks which assist you in listening tests.

Vocabulary is a tough and difficult subject. Even learned persons have difficulty in using vocabulary in right context. Vocabulary not only deals with meaning of the sentence and word in right place but also usage. It is important to learn the meaning of the word and its context in right place. There are certain words which used in appropriate place create a paradox which is irrelevant to the sentence or relevant to the sentence.

Podcast a famous word in recent times has become popular after apples IPod. This word will be included in the next edition of New Oxford American Dictionary. This word is taken from the word broadcast and apples IPod, both of these words combined to form the famous word Podcast.
The word pococurante was the last word spelled by Sai Gunturi (13 year old) of Dallas. Sai Gunturi won the 76th Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee on Thursday. Pococurante means indifferent or nonchalant.
Words such as medireview are not included in dictionary but it is used pre dominantly by technical people. It is a by product of filtering software which changes eval to review to stop cross site scripting. This is used by Google and Yahoo. Google and Yahoo security filters use this word pre dominantly.

Exoplanet is another word which is predominantly used in space related research bibliography. Exoplanet is not recognised by dictionaries but it is used. Scientists say that there might be hundreds of exoplanets in the earth.

There are other various different terms which have different meaning in different dictionaries such as Jihad, Jangaweed, etc. One of the most difficult things is describing the miscreants with the word jihad. Jihad has religious significance and terrorists described as persons with religious background will increase their identity rather than portraying them as people with insane beliefs. Jangaweed is another terms which is described as a “man with a gun on horse” which does not apply in reality. These jangaweed`s are immoral people who loot, grab and steal property from legitimate legal users.

There are various words which obtain different meanings in different contexts. Meaning of the word changes according to the context in which it is applied. Presence of different types of English such as British, American, Pacific, etc changes the usage and written form of certain words. Slangs also affect the sentence structure and its applied meaning.

There are various other terms which are not even present in dictionary but are widely used by technical and general public. These and many more words are present in electrical, technical and electronic industry.

Vocabulary can be learnt in many ways. One of the most important ways is by using vocabulary words in everyday life. Humans remember words or images by their repetitive nature. Most of the occurrences in daily life are remembered for shorter period of time because they don’t matter much to the person and are worthy of shorter memory. Anything repeated for longer time duration with frequent intervals is easily stored in permanent memory.
Learning vocabulary with flash cards is easier and effective. Flash cards have different words and also its meaning side by side. Words meaning is also present side by side to the actual word which give people much more understanding and also the context in which it can be used. Words bear information about the word and also its meaning.

Here are some of the tips which can help you use flash cards. First you need to review the set of cards from the front and back for several times until you are confident about playing flash card drill game. Flash card drill game will be successful if you can start out with less number of cards. As you gain confidence you can increase the count of number of cards. Read the front of your card, later try to say what`s written on the back of the card. If you are correct then put the card aside if not try put it back in the pile. Later read the wrong pile several times and then repeat the exercise unless and until you can come out with all correct answers. If you are thorough with the front side then try predicting the right answer from the back. If you are thorough from front and back then you are done. Start out with another pile of cards until you attain greater command on words. At the end of exercise you will notice improved confidence which is very essential in developing your vocabulary.

There are different sets of flash cards available in the market. Try getting different sets of flash cards which differ in information. Some of the cards have sentences formation, meaning, context presentation, etc. For example some cards have different context such as information on colonies, culture, tourism, etc. Vocabulary can be improved by increasing knowledge. Knowledge on various issues and implementing flash card words in the context gives you greater command on language and vocab. Patience and attitude are the right attributes which a person should have while learning vocabulary.

Learning English isn’t hard. Many people say they knew English very well and then they face huge problems while speaking. They knew English but they cannot speak properly because of varied reasons. English is a very beautiful language which needs to be mastered after learning. Learning English words does not guarantee speaking or writing proper English. Even native speakers have problems while speaking or co relating words during a conversation. Slang naturally replaces appropriate words during a conversation for native speakers. Some of these slang words have became a part of the English vocabulary.
Students aspiring to learn English or who have English as second language often complain about joining and correlating words during a conversation. Students need to learn vocabulary and also understand its relevant context in a sentence. Learning meaning and the context in which it is applied is very important. Another important fact which needs to be understood is the right usage of words in the sentence.

Words have the potential to change the entire structure, context and meaning of the sentence. During business conversations usage of vocabulary should be appropriate. Knowing words and using them in conversation is a different art altogether.

These are some of the tips which if implemented in your daily study can improve your English. These tips are primarily useful for students learning English as second language. While learning different kinds of words make sure that you create appropriate sentences. For example if you learn the word loathe, and then create a sentence with that word, something like “I loathe him for being rude”. Purchase a book and then write down words with their meanings and connect those words with appropriate sentences. Purchase a daily newspaper and read out your favourite section. After reading the section write down the whole paragraph in your own language. Take care that you don’t change the meaning of the original text, later compare the two sections. Either you can ask a person who is fluent in English or you can submit the work to your lecturer who can grade you accordingly.

Secondly listen to English songs and write down the lyrics. Initially you will not be successful in writing down the lyrics of the song. Don`t be disappointed initially you can still do a good work by writing down the meaning of the song. Later you can listen again to the song thereby gaining the ability to write the lyrics of the song.

Listening to English channels in a radio can also improve your English. English radio channels use neutral English with occasional slangs at times. These slangs and polished English will boost your English speaking ability. There are many other different ways to improve your English. Keep reading for further tips.

Writing is a medium through which you convey your emotions, feelings, ideas, thoughts, etc. It can also be defined as representation of language in a textual medium through a set of signs and symbols. Writing is used for various purposes one such purpose is to pass on the knowledge through generations. Such is the importance of writing. Spelling mistakes destroy the essence of English and its innate meaning or idea which needs to be conveyed. Such is the importance of spellings. No one likes to place emphasis or importance on work/speech which is ridden with spelling mistakes.

There are certain rules which if followed can improve one`s ability to spell words accurately and correctly. Some of these rules are as follows. Before understanding the rules of spelling one needs to be thorough the basics of English which are vowels, consonants, grammar, etc. Whenever a person spells a short vowel sound he/she needs to spell only one letter. To spell a long sound a second vowel must be added. The second vowel may be separated from the first one by a consonant. In some instances first vowel may remain short. There are various other rules such as doubling a consonant which protects a short vowel. Single letters such as letter c is the most common spelling used in the world and its use is not hindered by geographical location. In certain situations the letter K is substituted for the letter C if the letter C is followed by an e, i or y. In the same way spelling CK is replaced by CC if the preceding letter is an e, i or y. The letter J is spelled in three ways j, ge and dge. The letter j is usually used if the sound is followed by letters such as a, o or u. Letter K can take any sound and its use is not guided by any rules. There are certain exceptions to these rules.

Consonants such as v, j, k, w and x are never doubled. There are certain rules such which we follow in daily english usage but we never understand the importance of those one such example is, no normal English words end with the letter v they generally end as ve. Preceding vowel is not taken into consideration.

There are two suffixes in general they are those that begin with a vowel and the other one which begins with a consonant. Spelling problems always occur with vowels and less with consonants. Do continue reading as we explain more number of spelling rules in subsequent articles.

Listening skills form an important part of effective communication skills. Often people do not recognize the importance of listening skills while taking about vocabulary. Vocabulary plays an important role in a person`s ability to converse, but many people lack listening skills because of which their effective communication skill set doesn`t get completed. For effective communication a person needs to have listening, reading, writing and speaking ability. Any compromise in these LSRW skills could seriously hamper his vocabulary and effective communication development ability. Many competitive exams such as GRE, IELTS, TOFFEL, etc tend to test a candidate based on his LSRW skills. These skills are inherent in nature for every human being the only effort he/she needs to place is in nurturing and developing them.

Old people tend to listen to others much more thoroughly than generation x. Listening skills cannot be nurtured overnight and they cannot be gained overnight. Listening skills are to be learnt in a phased manner. Some of the steps outlined here may sound funny but in reality they are much more powerful than any other conventional method.
Switch on the radio and listen to a news channel or songs from your favourite play station (radio). Try to listen to the radio for at least an hour without doing any other work. Many people tend to put on radio and then go back to work, this habit will not improve listening skills.

Listening to debates/parliamentary news/new channels on television will improve your listening skills. Make sure that you don’t perform any work during these listening practises. Concentrate about the topic or debate which is going and then at the end of the discussion put down or speak out your thoughts and feelings. Many at times people tend to ignore the fact that speaking in the midst of a debate is an acceptable fact which is not the case. Documentaries are interesting and make you think about the subject.
Many competitive exams such as IELTS, TOFFEL, GRE, etc have listening tests. Listening materials for these exams are available commercially. Try to practise materials for those tests. It gives you good insight into the requirements of listening skills. Most of these tests demand you to answer the questions based on what you have listened to. Listening materials are available on compact disks, online, etc.
Try to practise listening skills with your group of friends. When you are practising with a group there are fair chances of you getting distracted which is the situation in a real time. Make a slow and steady transition to real life scenarios which will give you the courage to stand up and demonstrate your effective communication skills.

Vocabulary defines the speaker’s knowledge and mastery in using his language. There are various aspects for vocabulary such as grammar, vocabulary, usage of words relevant to the context, etc.

Vocabulary can only be built in stages it cannot be built overnight or within a week or so. Learning five words a day gives you a huge database of vocabulary within one year. There is a term which defines this huge database of English words million dollar vocabulary. Databases of words created over a prolonged time form a rich repository of data and words. A separate notebook for this purpose should be created with three columns. First column details about the words which you are going to learn, second column details about the meaning, relevancy, context and the appropriateness of the word and the third column should detail you with an example concerned with the word which you have learnt. This material should serve you for future references and also as a book which saves you time.
Vocabulary building is an art which needs to be mastered over time. Patience and perseverance are the two most important aspects which need to be mastered while learning to build vocabulary.

Often many people complain about retention problems of the words which they have learnt. They face difficulty in committing the words to their memory. Learning five words a day is not an ardent task (not similar to learning nuclear physics). But when these five words are multiplied by the number of days in a year (365) it then becomes an ardent task of huge proportions. One should learn words based upon the context in which they are applied and should grasp their inner meaning. Words create sentences and these sentences make a paragraph. A single word when used in a wrong context can change the meaning of the entire paragraph.

Newspapers, journals, speeches, documentaries, magazines, novels, etc have rich form of vocabulary. Professional writers tend to use polished form of English language in various styles, they use different forms of vocabulary by which they stand apart from the crowd. Emotions, business English, expressions, feelings, etc can be expressed by efficient use of vocabulary.

Take up a dictionary and write down words which you do not know in an alphabetical order. There are free and commercial talking software`s such as talk it which helps people pronounce the word appropriately. There are leading software`s which can be downloaded onto your phone or personal computer which have a huge collection of words in them. There are also commercial and free websites which provide word list. Books or publications which teach English for second language learners will also help people trying to develop vocabulary.

Everyone from beginners to novice understands the frustration of not getting that right word immediately either to complete a sentence or to use it in a speech. At times not being able to recall the right word becomes much more frustration. Vocabulary plays an important role in redefining one’s English. Most of the words in English language can be understood by the context in which it is applied. Sometimes people find it frustrating of not being able to recall the word which they knew before. When performing assignments or reading journals, textbooks, newspapers one comes across various words and not understanding their meaning could be frustrating. In English language a specific word can change the context of sentence entirely.

Grammar plays an important role in English. It is the basis through which English language has structure. Vocabulary and grammar should be built in accordance with the users goals.It should suffix ones reading and self expression and this has to be the primary goal for readers and writers worldwide. Write down the words which you have learnt in a separate notebook. In the notebook put up three columns one for the learnt word, next column for the meaning of the word and in the last column write down the sentence in relevant context. There might be words which you might know but do not know the context or frequency of using them. In regular usage people will discover new words and apply them in new context and sentences.

Grammar forms the basics of English. Parts of speech play an important role in English. There are different types of parts of speech. Verbs, Adjectives, nouns, adverbs, etc need to be understood before learning about English. These define the context and the relevancy of the word in the sentence.

A noun defines name, place, thing and idea. Examples of thing are game, television and desk. Verb will either be an action word or it forms the state of being word. State of being verb is when existence is shown and there will not be any action present in the word. State of being verbs can be linking verbs, just state of being verbs or helping verbs. Adjective defines or modifies a noun. An adverb can be described or known when it modifies a verb, an adverb or an adjective. An adverb answers the questions such as when, how, where and to what extent or degree. An adverb can be present anywhere in sentence.