# Increasing your vocabulary



## Setwale_Charm

Have many of you encountered the problem of having to boost your vocabulary in a language in which you are fluent already or maybe even in your native language? Once you are at a very high level it seems quie difficult to find the path along which to proceed further. What could be recommended for this purpose? aside from the eternal reading, of course.  Does anybody know of any programmes or courses, for the most popular languages at least: English. French, Italian, Spanish - which help native speakers or very advanced learners to make their vocabulary more sophisticated or learn the less common words?


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## Grekh

I think there's no other way but reading and/or travelling to the countries where those languages are spoken in order to learn the most vocabulary you can..


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## Setwale_Charm

Well, I am talking about mostly rather sophisticated and not very commonly used words. which you don`t simply pick up on the streets or in everyday conversations.


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## karuna

There are special books for this. I recently borrowed from library a book which was called "Enlarging your vocabulary" or something like that. It was meant for teenage native speakers so the level actually might not be too high but for me it was good. I learned many new words like "camaradarie". Although the next day I noticed this word used in news article, so it may not be so rare word at all. But there should be other books for more advanced speakers as well.

Another way would be browsing through encyclopedias and dictionaries. Normally it is useless to learn new words directly from the dictionary but if one is already a native speaker or almost at such level it may be fun to find words one doesn't know. 

But I think that ultimately there is no shortcut and one has to read a lot. Even native speakers, if they seldom read, their vocabulary will be limited. Worse than that; they will often blame a writer for using strange words although in actuality the words in question are widely used. Among English speakers it is considered normal to consult the dictionary at times but somehow Latvian speakers are very lazy in this aspect and often demand that if they don't know the word then it must be incorrect, instead of checking the dictionary and acknowledging that they simply didn't know the word.


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## TRG

If you can construct a single sentence using the word "postmodern" which will be understood by nearly everyone who is a native English speaker then I promise to tell you the secret of how to increase your vocabulary.


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## Shishu

Hi, I receive a word every day by AWordADay, Wordsmith, by Anu Garg in my inbox and they are wonderful.


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## Athaulf

Setwale_Charm said:


> Have many of you encountered the problem of having to boost your vocabulary in a language in which you are fluent already or maybe even in your native language? Once you are at a very high level it seems quie difficult to find the path along which to proceed further. What could be recommended for this purpose? aside from the eternal reading, of course.  Does anybody know of any programmes or courses, for the most popular languages at least: English. French, Italian, Spanish - which help native speakers or very advanced learners to make their vocabulary more sophisticated or learn the less common words?



In my experience, when it comes to foreign languages, the part of the vocabulary which is by far the most difficult one -- and in which the majority of highly proficient non-native speakers will still find much room for improvement -- are the words for various trivial everyday household items, despite the fact that native speakers normally pick them already as kids. The exceptions are of course those learners who have actually lived in a household where the target language was spoken, but these are generally a small minority. 

An advantage of learning that part of the vocabulary is that unlike esoteric words unknown even to many native speakers, one might actually find it necessary in practice. 



> Well, I am talking about mostly rather sophisticated and not very commonly used words. which you don`t simply pick up on the streets or in everyday conversations.


The words I mentioned above are certainly not in that category, but I still think they are worth pointing out because many advanced learners aren't aware of this gap in their knowledge. It was certainly so in my experience at one point, and I've heard similar stories from other people too.


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## lizzeymac

Do you have regular access to a newspaper in your target language?  Perhaps an online version?  I find that the Arts section - art exhibits, cinema, dance, & theater reviews - are written in fairly complex language; also the Politics Section & Editorial Page, which have the added bonus of revealing current concerns & issues of the culture. I listen to podcasts in both English & foreign languages and there are both in-depth language courses & shorter "word-a-day" podcasts in many languages.  Many universities allow outsiders to download audio files of lectures through the iTunes store - you do not need to use a Mac or an iPod to access them.
I hope this is useful
-


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## .   1

The only way I am aware of that would logically work is reading.
People are notorously more highbrow when writing as opposed to the colloquiality of spoken utterances.
Smiths of the written word have more time to access various arcane thesauri in the quest for function in form while the usual verbalist is more interested in the content of the communication.

.,,


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## Etcetera

I just try to read more in the target language. When you already have a good level in that language, you even don't have to make a special effort to memorise a new word. 
And as for the choice of books - well, I read everything, from Jane Austen and D. H. Lawrence to sci-fi.


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## yaggi

fyi
The statistics claim that the average French native speaker daily use a vocabulary of less than 250 words!

So discussing with a foreigner may not increase your vocabulary but just give you a better fluency. I guess we all agree on that point.

I agree as well on that fact that reading is the best process to acquire new vocabulary.
However, sometimes, reading gives you wrong information. Last time, I read the word "tip", in an American magazine, I spontaneously guessed it meant "hint" in this context. But when I then used it in a sentence told to my British former supervisor, he thought I was talking about something completely different (a wasteland or sth like that i don't accurately remember).

This is the first trap I want to "learn" is order to avoid it next time :  *variation of meanings in accordance with time/geo*.

The second trap is about : *sayings*
For example
"That's a red tape a requirement you know"
> "Oh? is the color really important?"
 obviously I shouldn't have translated this word by word into French ^^

So to complete the posts, I would say that 

reading is important, if you keep both the word/meaning and the source in mind (because the meaning depends on the geo/time reference),


and to specify my thought, I'd say you should read specialized docs. For my part I'm reading an IT book for my work placement, and I realize that those kinds of book have to be so accurate that the vocabulary used is really specific => new!

it just depends on which way you want to enlarge your vocbulary
... technical side? old english side? slange  ?


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## palomnik

Setwale:  As I understand it, you're talking primarily about acquisition of passive vocabulary - relatively literary, "highbrow" words, the knowledge of which would probably increase your reading speed.

I have to say that I'm not at all convinced that reading alone is a good way to acquire proficiency in this.  Being placed in a situation where you have to look up every other word can be discouraging, and at least for me the words don't stick very well in my head.  In many languages - French, Spanish, Italian and Russian spring to mind - learning the meaning of word roots is an excellent drill, and I've used this particularly well with Russian.  This is somewhat less effective with English, since most (but not all) of the higher vocabulary of English comes from Latin word roots, but it does have some validity.

For other classes of words like household objects, and names of animals and plants, I will use mnemonic devices to remember.  Words like that you may not need very often, but when you do they need to be part of your active vocabulary.


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## mirx

The key is reading no doubt, But what to read?

I suggest you start reading classics, specialized articles from different extracts, such as medical, financial, political and so on reports.


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## Athaulf

mirx said:


> The key is reading no doubt, But what to read?
> 
> I suggest you start reading classics, specialized articles from different extacts such as medical, financial, political and so on reports.



I think that translations of German philosophy, especially the classical German idealism and the likes of Heidegger, would be a good source of abstruse vocabulary in any language; assuming, of course, that you don't find it too excruciating to wade through reams of pointless sophistry. 

Alternatively, I've read some literary works whose authors were showing off with esoteric vocabulary quite a bit, and yet the books were on the whole quite entertaining and readable. But this is of course highly dependent on individual tastes.


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## judkinsc

TRG said:


> If you can construct a single sentence using the word "postmodern" which will be understood by nearly everyone who is a native English speaker then I promise to tell you the secret of how to increase your vocabulary.



Several English professors at my university specialize in postmodern studies, meaning the literature from primarily the period after the second World War to 1970 or so. 


Just because I could.

Speaking of that, I recommend researching postmodern studies and postmodern theory for increasing a vocabulary!


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## Macunaíma

Athaulf said:


> I think that translations of German philosophy, especially the classical German idealism and the likes of Heidegger, would be a good source of abstruse vocabulary in any language; assuming, of course, that you don't find it too excruciating to wade through reams of pointless sophistry.


 
There is an anecdote which says that Heidegger himself had to read the French translation of his "Sein und Zeit" to make sure he understood it. Reading good literature is enough to acquire "abstract" vocabulary in a foreign language, I think_ unless you want to really make a splash while talking to a group of smart-asses. 

By having a good vocabulary I understand having a good_ active_ vocabulary, so you have to use it. Talking is as important as listening and writing as important as reading. We should also be attentive to the connotations of words_ learn words according to their meaning and according to their connotation too.

And finally, acquiring vocabulary is an ongoing process _words keep coming into the language and going out of fashion, taking on new meanings, so you will never reach a point where you think you know enough.


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## Outsider

Have you tried doing some translations? For example, of songs?


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## beavitt

It seems to me that the acquisition of vocabulary at a high level in any given language requires an understanding of the rules of word formation in that language as well as a good knowledge of the etymology of words, not only in that language, but also in the languages that have had a strong influence on it.

If one studies French and German, one will inevitably gain deeper access to the wealth of etymological formulations that give English such a rich lexicon. Of course, Latin and Greek will be extremely useful in this regard also.

You could argue that having acquired a knowledge of the word formation rules in these four historical precedents of English, it may be worth delving into Sanskrit or another proto-indoeuropean tongue to broaden the base of understanding of etymology.

Perhaps the ability to use word formation principles to coin neologisms is as valuable as the ability to store terms previously created and already in use. In German particularly, no dictionary will contain all the words it is possible to correctly use. But this is true of English too (although the word formation rules are less rigorous than in German so there may be more grey areas as to which neologisms are "allowed" and which are not)

Tommy


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## coconutpalm

I don't like memorising words in a vocabulary handbook because I have a poor long-term memory. I think reading is a better choice for me. I like reading Fortune, but it's too high-priced for me to purchase, so I can only read it in our reference room.
I like reading novels in English, too, but I have to confess that it is little help in building my vocabulary. I have started to read abridged French novels and I have more patience to make notes because my level only permits me to scramble through it with a dictionary.


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## Setwale_Charm

OK, I know about reading but that, although so good for developing your style and sentence structures, works very slow with regard to boosting your vocabulary since you fish for occasional words you do not know, which is still good but...
 I was thinking chiefly of some special programmes, courses that would concentrate on teaching you the less common, "highbrow" words. ReadersDigest used to have a page like that with 15 new words a month but that is by far too slow a pace for me I was wondering whether anything of a similar kind exists especially for native aspeakers or very advanced language students, in any language.


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## .   1

It is hard to improve on the classics.

Collins, Oxford, Cambridge take your pick and then just take a leisurely browse.
You will learn about world history {from an Anglocentric viewpoint, it is Alexander the Great} and mores and grammar and punctuation.

I also read the Readers' Digest 'It Pays To Enrich Your Word Power' when I was a kid and found it fascinating.

.,,


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## maskedmesothorium

If you're looking to increase your english vocabulary to a savant/high brow level, search the internet for SAT practice, and be sure to search for the old comparisson tests that are no longer used, too. I'd guess over half of the nation doesn't know over half of the words. Hah!

Then again, I just read an essay by H.G. Wells arguing the merit of simplicity of speech.


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## Athaulf

Setwale_Charm said:


> I was thinking chiefly of some special programmes, courses that would concentrate on teaching you the less common, "highbrow" words. ReadersDigest used to have a page like that with 15 new words a month but that is by far too slow a pace for me I was wondering whether anything of a similar kind exists especially for native aspeakers or very advanced language students, in any language.



For English, the closest thing to what you describe would probably be some training materials for the vocabulary section of the GRE test. Words that appear on this test are usually far more highbrow and obscure than those on SAT, and there exists a vast industry of preparatory programs for it (just google for more information). Some of these programs include cramming several thousand esoteric words in a period of a few months.

The only other language in which I've ever dealt with highbrow vocabulary is my native one , for which I'd recommend browsing through the monumental _Rječnik stranih riječi_ by Bratoljub Klaić.


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## Suehil

One of the ways I increased my vocabulary in Dutch was not only to read a lot, but also to do crossword puzzles.  I was lucky enough actually to enjoy doing them and I ended up with a vocabulary far greater than the average native speaker.


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## Lugubert

Suehil said:


> One of the ways I increased my vocabulary in Dutch was not only to read a lot, but also to do crossword puzzles. I was lucky enough actually to enjoy doing them and I ended up with a vocabulary far greater than the average native speaker.


My English is better than my German. I generally solve most of German crosswords, but am mainly helpless when it comes to English ones. Haven't so far tried any Dutch puzzles. Might be interesting at least to compare the type of clues between languages.

If you're at a certain level, why bother? You know how to find the meaning of the few words new to you, most of which you can guess correctly anyway, and you outperform most native speakers when it comes to comprehension.


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## Suehil

I was talking about the straightforward puzzles (synonyms) rather than cryptograms.  In Dutch they have a lot of them and some of them are quite advanced.  To start with I used a special 'crossword puzzle dictionary' and that is how I collected words and their synonyms.


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## latinasoy

This happens to me all the time.  The best way for me is to literally have a dictionary at hand at all times and continue to read in that language I'm having difficulties..for me is Spanish.  Unfortunately, I don't think online transaltors are very good.


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## lallitapz

Here's my "tip": everytime I travel, I bring with me my agenda where I write all new words I learn every day. I'm in Spain right now, and I started it as soon as I arrived here. It works! You might think it's a little help. It might be, but I can assure you that by writing 3/4 words every day, at the end of the month, you KNOW at least half of it, which is: 60 words.. not too bad, is it?!


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## lallitapz

.. and, of course, when I don't have the chance to travel, I read books and newspaper, watch tv, visiting websites in the other language and I keep doing my daily execise!
see ya!


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## Stripped

lallitapz said:


> Here's my "tip": everytime I travel, I bring with me my agenda where I write all new words I learn every day.



Works for me too. It's somewhat "Auntie Mame" yet effective!


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## Poetic Device

I don't knowk if this would work for other languages...  Sorry...

What I did/do is I went to www.webster.com.  There I found a link that allowed me to subscribe to a word of the day mailing list.  A new word comes every day into my e-mail and I study it, memorise the defenition and try to use it that day at least once.  More times than not it works and I remember the word and its meaning.  Good luck!


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## Setwale_Charm

One thing I do (though it is not so relevant to my initial question since it mostly refers not to high-brow, but colloquial expressions and use) is: I specifically study the words and turns of speech which are marked in bold type in dictionaries, just open the dictionary and go. This helps to learn a lot of idiomatic expressions and to really start using the language not translating it from your own but actually the way it works with natives.


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## jonquiliser

If you want "specialised" vocabulary, read and write "specialised" texts - then you learn the words and, most importantly, _how_ to use them. A definition is rarely enough or even instructive, unless you see the words in context. Through my studies (philosophy) I have to read and write a lot, and I learn a lot of new words continuously. Some writers are particularly fond of absolutely obsolete, freaky-sounding, technical vocabulary. I am all for words, and love words, all the nuances they may express... But there is nothing so unpleasant as words used to sound "learned" or clever; it's just obscurity mistaken for skilfulness...

On topic, for how to widen your vocabulary: read, write, listen, talk. There is no better recipe. I noticed my Spanish started to get better when I actually wasn't in Spain anymore, mainly because I emailed a lot, through which I learnt so much. While talking to people is tremendously important, to get a "feel" for a language, it's not all that good for acquiring more vocabulary. As you have to "produce" language much faster, you might tend to stick to what you already know, and simpler structures. Whereas in writing, you can experiment more, take the time to think about your phrases, rewrite what's wrong etc. What others say (write) also gets "imprinted" on your mind in a different way. So if you have someone to correspond with in the language(s) you want to improve in, take the chance and write all you can! Talking/listening and reading/writing are of course not one better than the other. Both are necessary. But in combination, they're amazing!


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## nicolioncelle

Hi there !

My first post on this forum - I really can relate to you problem Setwale Charm, so I'm taking the chance to jump on the bandwagon. On the other hand, Jonquiliser has already brought up the most relevant points, so there's little for me to add : writing is the key ! 

For example, in this last paragraph, I had to figure out how to best render in english the meaning of (my native language is french) : 

"j' en profite"
"faire le tour de la question"

and then there's even a last sentence I wanted to add about a clash between writing and our intrinsic laziness that I didn't in the end because I couldn't find a way to phrase it well and, hum ... got lazy. 

Writing is really the most effective way of learning new and convoluted words because it brings up the need to actually say these words, contrary to reading. It also gives you the time to weigh their exact meaning, contrary to talking/listening. This is very important because you don't want to end up being the laughing stock of the world using nonsense highbrow embellishments. 

As for improving one's own native language vocabulary, maybe writing with a "dictionnary of synonyms" closeby ? Never tried it, can't tell whether it works. Figuring out how to find out the word that corresponds to a given, as yet abstract feeling can be somewhat of a problematic task. But I think the direction is the good one: one should first strive for the precision of thought that requires the use of complicated words, and then learn and use them.

I don't think any classes/courses will ever be able to teach you the "finesses" of a language. It's something I had thought of before, but it is probably more of a chimera that anything else. What should the teacher do exactly, come up each day with a fresh list of complicated words and have you write phrases using them ? 

Somehow, I also have the feeling that some words one will never remember, and even less so use in the right manner. Like "_emolument". _It's probably the 5th time I've been looking it up. How should I try remembering a word that sounds like a bump on a camel's back but that supposedly means profit, salary ? 

Greetings to you,

Nicolas


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## nurirgendwo

I'd say just immerse yourself in your target language as much as possible.

I'm fluent in English, but I'm learning German.  Here's a typical day for me:

1. Wake up and drive to work.  On the way I listen to Bushido, Juli, Christina Stürmer, and other current German music.  When I get there, I'm translating a section of a German information security standard to get some system improvement ideas.
2. On my lunchbreak I check my yahoo mail.  I use the German version which is almost entirely navigated using German menus.  I then write a letter to my German penpal in German.
3. For the drive home, I listen to deutchland radio kultur.  This is particularly useful because they have a radio show every night where normal everyday germans call in and talk.
4. I get home and have a problem I need to fix on my honda.  I use the hondapower.de forum to ask a question and get information I need to install a part.
5. Before going to work on the car, I chat with my penpal on yahoo messenger about my day.
6. I watch video at muenchen-tv.de and ehrensenf.de for amusement after working on my car.


There has never been a better time to get audio, video, and text in your target language for just about any topic that interests you.  I hope this gives you some ideas.


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## Maeskizzle

"Grasp the subject, words will follow." Cato the Elder (234 B.C. - 149 B.C.) 
This was somebody´s tag, I think I saw it in a wordreference forum.  I agree with this, so you´d have to pick a highbrow subject to learn highbrow words. Maybe Judkinsc suggestion to read postmodern theory is good for this type of vocabulary.

Like Lallitapz and Stripped, I also carry a notebook around with me to increase my vocabulary here in Chile.  I even brought my notebook to a party at a friend's house one time.  We just sat and conversed all night.  I got a lot of good expressions that night and boy did we laugh!  They started teaching me Chilean ghetto language, also known as "coa".  It really got some interesting conversations going.  Some of the expressions I´ve learned, lots of Chileans don´t even know and maybe don´t want to either . 

I also second Nicolas that writing really helps vocabulary, just in general using new words in writing or speaking can improve vocabulary because you really have to have a grasp on a word to use it properly.  And if you use a word incorrectly, someone will probably correct you.

Though I did have a faux pas one time when two of my adult friends (like in there 50s) taught me the word "p**hulear" which more or less means b***hslap, though they told me that it meant to punish.  Which is true but they never told me that it was vulgar and I didn´t ask either.  I ended up saying the word rather enfatically to a friend´s grandmother when I was trying to explain why she should lend us a mop so we could clean the house before my friend´s folks got home and that if she didn´t they were going to punish us. (I was saying it jokingly).  I was very proud to have used my new word for the first time in conversation, but realized I´d made an error when my friend's adolescent cousins ran into the bathroom, shut the door and burst out in laughter.


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## Poetic Device

> A definition is rarely enough or even instructive, unless you see the words in context.


 
That is why I really like webster.com.  It gives you the defenition, a link to listen to the word, written pronounciation, a sentence for an example and a brief history behind the word.  What more could you want?


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## Setwale_Charm

Poetic Device said:


> That is why I really like webster.com. It gives you the defenition, a link to listen to the word, written pronounciation, a sentence for an example and a brief history behind the word. What more could you want?


 
Does it deal with regional accents and dialects?


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## Poetic Device

Setwale_Charm said:


> Does it deal with regional accents and dialects?


 
Smart guy...  lol

Of course it doesn't.  It's a dictionary so it defines and educates the root of the language.


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