How can I improve my vocabulary? (Part 2)

If you’re getting poor marks in your Cambridge reading and listening papers, you might need to work on your vocabulary as well as your reading and listening skills.

To expand your vocabulary your need to:

Notice new words and phrases when you’re reading and listening

Then,

Record it and learn it so you can understand it the next time you read it or hear it.

In this post we’ll talk about that second stage. To find out more about stage 1 read part 1 of this blog.

Stage 2

To learn new vocabulary, you need to review it regularly in variety of different ways.

• Make review cards with the word or phrase on one side and the meaning on the other. Test yourself every other day.

• Quizlet is a great tool to help you learn vocabulary. Make an account then create online cards with the new words and phrases you learn. This app uses a technique called ‘spaced repetition’ to test you: it keeps showing you the words you get wrong until you get them right!

• Try out some of the games in Quizlet. You can do these on your phone while you’re sitting on the bus, on your lunchbreak or waiting for a friend.

• Make sentences with your vocabulary. Putting new vocabulary into a relevant context is the best way to make it meaningful and memorable. Choose five words or phrases you’ve noted down and write two true sentences for each one. Think about how YOU would use this word or phrase in real life (not a dictionary example). Try and remember your sentences when are doing something else.

For all these activities, the best thing is to do short amounts regularly. Do ten minutes a day and I promise you will see improvements.