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15 EASY WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR VOCABULARY

by Sharon Green, Reading Coordinator

Office of Academic Support, Niagara University

1. Spend 15 minutes every day reading a newspaper or a weekly newsmagazine .

As you read, circle unfamiliar words. When you finish the article, return to these words and use

context clues to try to determine meaning. Then look the words up in a dictionary, comparing your

definition with the actual definition. Add each word, its definition, and its sentence in a vocabulary

notebook, on a 4 x 6 index card (see #8 below), or onto a web site like www.quizlet.com for later

review. These magazines and newspapers are good sources of vocabulary:

New York Times

Wall Street Journal

Time

Toronto Globe & Mail

Newsweek

MacLean’s

2.

Use vocabulary web sites, especially those with a “Word of the Day,” on the

Internet or your cell phone if you have a data plan with Internet access.

These web sites may be useful for increasing your vocabulary:

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www.m-w.com/game/ (This site is by Merriam-Webster dictionary.)

www.vocabulary.com/

www.wordcentral.com

www.wordsmyth.net

http://www.worldwidewords.org/

http://home.earthlink.net/~ruthpett/safari/index.htm

www.nytimes.com/learning/students/wordofday/index.html

These web sites have a “Word of the Day” feature. Subscribe and a new word will be sent to your

e-mail address every day. This is an easy way to build your vocabulary:

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www.dictionary.com

www.m-w.com/game/

www.wordcentral.com

www.wordsmith.org

3. Browse a dictionary.

Leaf through a dictionary to look for unfamiliar words. For example, if you notice the word

“unorthodox,” you may realize that you’ve seen it before or heard it in the phrase “orthodox Jews”

but never really knew what it meant. (“Unorthodox” means “breaking with convention or tradition.”)

Browsing through a dictionary to look for unfamiliar words or words related to subjects you’re studying

can help you learn useful words.

4. Learn the origins of words.

It’s fascinating to learn where words...