ENGLISH LANGUAGE—Vocabulary building

1. Improve your Vocabulary. Understand how words are used in different parts of speech.

2. Try to find out synonyms and antonyms. When you make an attempt to find them you will learn a lot of
other words.

3. Read the newspapers of a national level circulation and try to underline the words difficult for you.
Make an attempt to know the real meaning.

4. Some words do have different meanings. In the examination, some words are underlined or boldened
and you need to find out the meaning of the words as used in the passage. So vocabulary building is a
must. We give below the techniques of vocabulary building.

TECHNIQUES OF VOCABULARY BUILDING

Word power or vocabulary is the ability to memorise and reproduce a word knowing its meaning.
Vocabulary is the power to use the words easily without referring to any audio or visual materials.
Vocabulary is not learnt in a single day. It requires a constant practice. We give you the techniques for
this constant practice. People recognize your knowledge when you are able to communicate by using the
most appropriate word. So, begin your practice. Some of the techniques are narrated below. There may
be other techniques.

A) Construction
B) Thesaurus—physical and electronic
C) Comprehending editorial columns of newspapers
D) Jumbles & scrambles
E) Mix up of consonants and vowels
F) Crosswords
G) Creating a personal DICTIONARY

A) CONSTRUCTION:

Similar to word building, but word power increases when you exchange your words with those of your
friends/colleagues. Take a word with 10 letters and above. Write as many words as possible by using the
letters available in the word selected by you. But each word should be 4 letters or more. However, in
case a letter is used two or three times in the word chosen the same can be used that many number of
times in the words you are going to construct. Set your time to be approximately 30minutes to 1 hour.

Practice words:

Administration: Registration; Responsibility

You may wonder that a graduate would be able to construct about 100 words from the word
Responsibility

Demo:

Best
Prose
Iron
Siron
Sobre

Go on thinking like this

Transfer all the new words to your personal dictionary.

B) THESAURUS:

Thesaurus is a type of dictionary, which gives synonyms and antonyms for words. Synonyms mean the
meaning of the word and include words near in meaning or equivalent word. Antonyms mean the word
which is opposite in meaning or near opposite in meaning. Thesaurus is available in book form (like a
dictionary in the book stalls) and also in electronic form (CDs, MS word—tools—language—thesaurus,
world book of dictionary, internet)

Every language has its own beauty. A word can be used in different contexts to mean differently. E.g.
Fast means speed, quick. The word is also used to mean, “not taking food”.

Transfer all the new words to your personal dictionary.

C) EDITORIAL COLUMNS OF Newspapers.

Make a practice of reading the newspapers in a systematic way. Read the editorial columns of the
newspapers. When you read the editorial columns the first time, you find lot of difficult words. Note down
4 or 5 difficult words (not all the difficult words) and try to get the meanings through talking to friends,
relatives, parents, elders, teachers and then referring to a DICTIONARY OR THESAURUS. This will help
you to learn the words used in different activities of human life.

Transfer all the new words to your personal dictionary.

D) Jumbles and Cross words can be practiced when you are free and not during a time when
examination is fast approaching

Transfer all the new words to your personal dictionary.

E) MIX UP OF CONSONANTS AND VOWELS:

A, E, I, O, U (sometimes Y is sounded as a vowel) are vowels and all other letters are consonants. Play
word building by mixing up some vowels and consonants at random. Example: The word “END” has a
vowel E and consonants ND. Make as many words as possible with the letters END to come at the end
of the words you make. Example: Mend, Bend, Attend etc. It is possible to make about 35 to 40 words
from this.Words can be formed by choosing common letters mentioned in the beginning.

Transfer all the new words to your personal dictionary.

F) CROSS WORDS:

Play the cross words appearing in newspapers, magazines etc. A beginner may find it difficult. Start with
solving one or two words in a crossword. Try for other words. Make it a practice. One day you would
become a crossword master.

Transfer all the new words to your personal dictionary.

G) CREATING A PERSONAL DICTIONARY:

Create a personal dictionary. Transfer all the new words you learnt to your personal dictionary.
Remember, do not write the words that you already know. Go through this personal dictionary once in 15
days.

AT THE END OF A MONTH OR TWO YOU WILL BE RICHER BY ABOUT 1000 NEW
WORDS