Learn to Write

Vocabulary

In general, vocabulary is all of the words in a specific language. Your personal vocabulary is made up of all of the words you know how to use in a specific language and know how to use in the appropriate context.

Usually vocabulary starts to develop as people learn how to listen and speak as infants, but you may do activities that expand your available vocabulary at any point in your life - like learning a new language or going to school for a specific career.

Types of vocabulary

In general, there are two major types of vocabulary that you might use:

• Active vocabulary consists of the words you use on a regular basis AND know how to use in the proper context.
• Passive vocabulary are the words you might recognize to hear or see, but you do not use these words regularly NOR do you have a clear understanding of their meaning.

There are four main categories of vocabulary that we use at any time:

• Reading (what you learn through reading and words you recognize when you read)
• Speaking (what you learn through speaking and words you know how to say)
• Listening (the words we understand when someone says something to us)
• Writing (what we learn through practicing writing or what we know how to write)

How do I build my vocabulary?

Read often and read a variety of genres and items to learn different words and terms. For example, physical books, audiobooks, comic books and graphic novels, cookbooks, newspapers, magazines, and more!

• Play word games - two popular games you can play include Scrabble and Bananagrams.
• Listen and watch TV shows, podcasts, and videos. You might want to turn on the captions or subtitles to clearly see what the characters are saying.
• Use a dictionary to learn the definitions of words so you can use them correctly. Use a thesaurus to learn about synonyms (words that have a similar meaning but are different) to expand your knowledge.
• Join a club or group where vocabulary is the focus of the gathering - a book club is a great way to learn new words, or perhaps a writing group.

Podcasts

How to Use a Dictionary