# I would like to improve my vocabulary (in Chinese).



## yuechu

大家好！

I was recently talking to some Chinese people, and we were talking about what we would like to improve (in Chinese, English, etc.). How could I say "I would like to improve my vocabulary (in Chinese)"? Would you say "我想提高我的中文词汇（量？)"?
Thanks!


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## twenty6

Something like “我想提高我的中文水平” (I think 水平 would be best suited for informal conversation).


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## yuechu

Oh! I was thinking of that too... (I think I've heard that structure a lot in Chinese).
Thanks, Twenty6! 

How about if I want to specifically emphasize "vocabulary" (opposed to "pronunciation", for example)?


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## SimonTsai

我想學更多字、更多詞，我現在懂的太少了。

'水平' (or '水準') means levels (of proficiency). You may have a huge vocabulary but still fail to master Mandarin.


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## yuechu

SimonTsai said:


> 我想學更多字、更多詞。我現在懂的太少了。


That's great! Thanks for your help, Simon! 
EDIT: Oh, actually.... what you say is absolutely true, but more specifically, I find I can understand a lot of words (in speech or writing), although when I try to speak Chinese, I don't know the correct words to use. Do you know how I could say that instead?


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## T.D

学习更多词汇/提高词汇量 works.


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## yuechu

Thanks, T.D!


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## retrogradedwithwind

提高汉语词汇量。这个搭配我认为没有问题。


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## hx1997

Normally, 提高词汇量 implies that you still don't know a lot of words, rather than you know them but can't use them actively. Some foreign language learners in China may be familiar with the 主动词汇/被动词汇 distinction, but I guess those people are a somewhat small part of the whole population.


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## radagasty

hx1997 said:


> Some foreign language learners in China may be familiar with the 主动词汇/被动词汇 distinction ...



This distinction applies also to one's mother tongue, but I agree that most people are unfamiliar with it.


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## SimonTsai

yuechu said:


> when I try to speak Chinese, I don't know the correct words to use.


Do you mean that you don't know which word to use although you have some candidates, or do you mean that after knowing how we may say it, you feel like 'Oh, I actually know this word'?

If it's the first, then you may say, '有些詞我知道不一樣, 但要用的時候, 就不知道差在哪, 所以不確定要用哪一個.' If it's the second, then you may say, '有些詞看到的時候, 都懂, 但平常說話或寫文章, 就不會想到, 用不出來.' (I know that neither of these two is a translation, but we simply wouldn't say '主動詞彙' in everyday life. '主動詞彙' sounds distinctively non-native. It is clearly a translation from some European language.)


T.D said:


> 学习更多词汇 [...] works.


Just to be pendantic, I think that '詞彙' means something like vocabulary as opposed to words.


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## T.D

SimonTsai said:


> Just to be pendantic, I think that '詞彙' means something like vocabulary as opposed to words.


There might be a difference, but it's too insignificant to be mentioned, I suppose. (or it can be another mandarin vs Taiwanese thing?)


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## SuperXW

yuechu said:


> "我想提高我的中文词汇（量？)"?


It sounds nothing wrong to my ears.


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## T.D

SuperXW said:


> It sounds nothing wrong to my ears.


Strictly speaking, one can only improve his 词汇量, not 词汇.


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## SimonTsai

T.D said:


> There might be a difference, but it's too insignificant to be mentioned, I suppose. (or it can be another [mainland] vs Taiwanese thing?)


'詞彙' is actually frequently confused with '詞' by many people here, too. But just because it's common doesn't mean it's acceptable. The distinction should be drawn, I would say.


> one can only improve his 词汇量, not 词汇.


'大量地閱讀將會使你的詞彙更豐富.' Here '詞彙量' doesn't seem to work.


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## SuperXW

SimonTsai said:


> '詞彙' is actually frequently confused with '詞' by many people here, too. But just because it's common doesn't mean it's acceptable. The distinction should be drawn, I would say.
> 
> '大量地閱讀將會使你的詞彙更豐富.' Here '詞彙量' doesn't seem to work.


It seems acceptable to me.
The major concern is that whether 量 can match the description: 丰富.
发量丰富 sounds acceptable to me.  
P.S.
词提升 doesn't match
词汇提升 doesn't match
量提升 match


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