I’m from Mexico and for me studying a new language here in Edinburgh wasn’t easy at the beginning! Every time I wanted to learn a new word I was trying to memorize it but that wasn’t helpful at all!! So here are 10 tips that I used to improve my English vocabulary, hoping it will be useful for you:
- Try to read every day in the new language (books, newspaper, magazines, etc)
- When you identify an unfamiliar word, try to understand the context and then verify the definition in the dictionary
- Every time you want to know the meaning of a word, try to use the new language dictionary so you can learn more synonyms
- Make a vocabulary diary where you can write the new words and try to read it at least once a day
- Create sentences with the new words, write them in post-its and paste them in your room, so you can look at them constantly
- When you learn a new word, try to identify if the word can be used as a noun, adjective, verb or adverb, to learn more than one way of using the word
- Be curious!!! Every time you don’t know the meaning of a word ask or search for the meaning
- Play games that make you use new words
- Try to write your favourite songs, this is helpful because every time you sing the song you will remember the meaning!
- Dividing words also can help to understand the meaning, for example: Bagpipes=Bag-Pipes
Post by: Mariana Candas
Venture English Student Blog 