[Vocabulary] About how to remember vocabulary.

[yu-chen]

Dear teacher

How are you. I have a question about how to remember vocabulary. There are some book that teach you how to remember important vocabulary. In the book, they list many vocabulary from A to Z. Is it real good way to learn vocabulary from A to Z ?

Thank you for your reading.

Yu-Chen

10:25am 15 Dec 2014

 

[emsr2d2]

Dear teachers,

How are you? I have a question about how to remember vocabulary. There [STRIKE]are some[/STRIKE] is a book that teaches you how to remember important vocabulary. In the book, they list [STRIKE]many[/STRIKE] lots of vocabulary from A to Z. Is it really good [STRIKE]way[/STRIKE] to learn vocabulary from A to Z?

[STRIKE]Thank you for your reading.[/STRIKE] Unnecessary. If we're helpful, thank us afterwards by clicking the "Thank" button.

[STRIKE]Yu-Chen[/STRIKE] Unnecessary. We know your username already. It's at the top of the post.

[STRIKE]10:25am 15 Dec 2014[/STRIKE] Unnecessary.

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

People learn in different ways. I'm sure there are a few people who decide to learn, for example, five new words beginning with A on Monday, and then five new words beginning with B on Tuesday etc. It doesn't seem very practical or helpful to me though. I am a fan of learning vocabulary as you discover each new word.

Please give the source of this advice about A-Z vocabulary (give us the title and author of the book).

Note my corrections to your post above, in red.

 

[oldbei]

Not a teacher

Yu Chen,

emsr2d2 has just showed you how ineffective your English would be if you only knew how to spell English words and their meanings as listed in cram books.

When I was a student, I was advised to learn new words in contexts, but I didn't believe in the advice and thought memorizing new word lists was a shortcut to enlarging my vocabulary.

Now I understand the wisdom in the advice and regret that I did see it when I was in school.

I hope you can realize what I did not at an early stage of your English study.

Good luck!

 

[MikeNewYork]

I agree. The best way to enlarge a vocabulary is by reading, reading, reading. In that way, you learn words in context. That is the only effective way, in my opinion.

 

[Tdol]

Learning long lists of words is a waste of time in most cases- people forget them quickly. Learn a few words at a time, and learn them well- recycle them and learn them in context. Also, when you learn a word, learn it efficiently- learn other forms of the word, so learn the associated adjective/adverbs, etc, and the negative. This will maximise your learning. I agree with those who recommend reading- a good text is more interesting than a list and has words in context.

Also, having a large vocabulary does not mean that you can automatically speak and write well. Most native speakers don't use a huge vocabulary.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Hello, Yu-Chen:

1. I agree with the other members: read widely, especially things that really interest you.

2. I would also suggest that you relax. Do not be too tense (worried).

3. Finally, I found something on the World Wide Web to share with you:

All speakers (including native speakers) have two kinds of vocabulary.

Your passive vocabulary includes all the words that you can understand but do NOT use when speaking and writing.
Your active vocabulary includes all the words that you can understand and do use when speaking and writing.

That article gives this example:

If you were to turn on TV and watch a report about an earthquake, you would probably understand the words "devastation" and "death toll." Those words would be part of your passive vocabulary. You would understand the words but you would not be able to use them in conversation or writing.

In regular conversation, you would probably tell a friend that there was "a large amount of damage" [devastation] and "the number of people who died" [death toll].

That article suggests that learners (and, I might add, native speakers) need to move words from their passive vocabulary to their active vocabulary. In other words, when they speak and write, they should try to use words like "devastation" and "death toll." Then their active vocabulary will gradually grow larger.

My source: TOEFL Tip #207.

 

[tedmc]

Not a teacher.

I think for beginners who are learning English as a second language, it is more important to write correct English than strive to increase your vocabulary through memorization. I would say vocabulary comes naturally as one progresses, through reading and the habit of looking up the meanings of new words.