Wednesday, May 29, 2013

How to Improve Your Vocabulary

So after a series of articles on the on-going upheaval and happenings across the length and breadth of the country, this article comes as the first of my instructive articles, to say the least. I have tried to keep it
as simple and self-explanatory as possible. By the end of this article, you would have guidelines to improve your vocabulary and learn some utterly simple daily life habits that would help you decipher a whole new gamut of words.
This article is different, from the plethora of others available over the net giving tips to people on improving their vocabulary. And it is different in the sense that it does not suggest you the same age old
way of going through the arduous and, practically impossible, task of learning Latin and Greek roots randomly.
That methodology, having never worked for me, is not  advisable.
First things first, read some Vocab-building books. Now the next question that comes to the minds of every sane soul reading this article is - That's what everyone says. Yes, but with Vocab-Building books,  I mean some genuine books dedicated to increasing your word power and your ability to play with words. I don't intend to make you start reading a reputed daily right away. That would take time, but we would come to that eventually, for sure.
Let me list a few books that are a must-go-through to increase one's range of words:
Courtesy:http://www.goyalpublisher.com/

1) Word Power made easy: Remember the book with red-cover that almost everyone has but fails to go through it. This is probably the mother of all books on Vocabulary-Building available in the market. Follow it,read it, chew it and digest it - and do all this religiously. Even if you are a slow reader and take time to go through things,  a month and a half would be more than enough to complete it thoroughly.
Take your time; don't run through it just for the sake of it.

Book: Word Power Made Easy
Author: Norman Lewis
Publication: Goyal Saab
Price: Rs. 149 (books4u.in)

2) 30 Days for a more powerful Vocabulary:
Courtesy: http://cp75.com/dealtz/bkimg
Once you have finished that, hop on to the next book that would raise you to a higher level. You won't take much time to adjust to the tone and theme of this one immediately. Its very much the same because both these paper jacketed stuffs are two great pieces of work by the same author. You would find some commonality between the chapters in the books as well. Please don't get deterred or bored by it. Go through it with full vigor and passion. Vocabulary building is a slow and
an on-going-never-ending process, you need to keep up the spirits all the way. This book, as the name suggests, has to be completed in 30 days. Read one chapter a day, follow the time-plan as given in this useful handbook.
Book: 30 Days for a more powerful Vocabulary
Author: Wilfred Funk & Norman Lewis
Publication: Goyal Saab
Price: Rs. 90 (books4u.in)

3)Six weeks to words of Power:
Courtesy:http://books4u.in/uploads/
This is perhaps the toughest in the lists of books I have mentioned so far. With tough, I don't want you people to misconstrue me as saying: it is difficult to read. What I mean is the words in this book are high-level words and will take you to an all new world of English, where only a few intellectuals are able to reach. But the book makes it so very easy for you to know and learn everything that's written.A must for anyone wanting to revamp their English and eventually domain of words. English is a very rich language, a good vocabulary helps you to explore it well, if not completely. This book again, as the name suggests,has to be finished completely in six weeks. Try sticking as much to the timeline as possible, but just in case you need to extend it, do it. Don't sacrifice understanding for saving time. At the most, you would need an extra week. 7 weeks time is more than enough for this one.

Book: Six weeks to words of Power 
Author: Wilfred Funk
Publication: Goyal Saab
Price: Rs. 90 (books4u.in)

Now that you know a lot and lot of words, it's time to get started with reading as much stuff as you can. Read whatever you like, and also what you don't. English dailies like "The Hindu", "The Indian Express", "The Economic Times" etc. are perhaps the best available in the market at affordable prices. Look out for new words when you read them, look up their meanings in the dictionary. Try recalling them when in leisure.
Now that you already know a wide range of words, you won't come across many alien words in a single article - since your understanding of the articles will improve, you would naturally develop interest. This would allure you to reading even more  and apparently know even more. Vocabulary building is very easy once you tend to develop an interest. The more you read, the better it is. There is no limit to learning Vocabulary, you can always keep on adding new weapons in your arsenal. Learning Vocabulary, or on that part learning anything, is a slow and a never-ending process. You can keep on learning all your life.
In the end, just three more suggestions:
- Be Patient - don't expect wonders overnight
- Be Inquisitive - prepared to learn everywhere and anywhere
- Be Yourself - never try to flaunt more than you know

Find more articles by the author on B-School and CAT here

Pseudonym : h!v

1 comment:

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