[Vocabulary] How do you learn new English "words"

[JustAlilBit]

How do you learn new English words? How many words do you learn a day? and How often do you repeat them?

 

[mathias_r]

I read almost every day in classic works of the English literature, listen to BBC podcasts and browse several news websites to enhance my vocabulary. Some of the new words I thereby discover are self-explaining, others need to be looked up in a dictionary. Occasionally I write them down and read them once or twice again, at most.

What is important for me is that I always see a context in which the word can be used. I suppose once learned without having known the context it is more likely you'll use a word in the wrong place. Therefore I don't think that lists, only consisting of English words and their translated pendants of the learner's mother tongue, are useful, except maybe for beginners.

 

[Esredux]

How do you learn new English words?

Through reading, listening, writing and speaking - in other words, in context.

How many words do you learn a day?

It depends on the topic - sometimes it can be up to five new words/phrases.

and How often do you repeat them?

as often as I need them (in writing, reading, listening or speaking)

It's not so much the matter of how to learn as many words as possible as of how to cope with unknown words that anyone will inevitably bump into every now and then.

 

[stefanietran]

When I meet a new word on its background, I often try to guess its meaning in that situation before look it up in a dictionary. Then link this word to st acquainted to myself so that it can refer to my life, can be a part of my life. taking a glance up and down to see the word family, its noun, verb, adj, phrasal...st like that is a tip, too^^

 

[spanishflame]

The ideal case scenario would be to live in the country where the language is spoken. However, as we must to provide for ourselves and some even have limited funds another option would be to watch Native Speakers talking about everyday stuff and pick up new vocabulary in the context and learn the language in the most natural way.
Some may suggest to widen and enrich the vocabulary by extensive reading. Here, I would be careful. If you read for example: replenish my glass and use it while speaking it would sound odd, funny or even snobbish. In spoken English the words : TOP UP, FILL UP are used. I just want to demonstrate how the language works.

 

[Roaa1]

I always save 10 new words a day and put them in sentences

 

[HanibalII]

I just read. If I find a word I'm unfamiliar with, I look it up in a dictionary, when I find out it's proper meaning, I attempt to use it in sentences.