How to Increase Your Vocabulary

Despite having taken eight years of French in school, I speak almost no French (though I can read simple texts). As part of my first master's English program, demonstrated proficiency in a foreign language was a firm requirement, met either by a written translation exam or enrollment in language classes. I didn't relish the idea of enduring yet more instruction that was unlikely to take, so I attempted the exam. Believe me that no one on the planet could have been more amazed than I was myself when my "pass" notification posted!

As a self-professed grown up, I'm fortunate to travel frequently to countries around the globe. But I find myself at a significant disadvantage because simple spoken communication in any language other than American English (I wish real-time, real-life subtitles existed for Australia and the UK) eludes me.

Translation apps are...ok, I guess, at least for simple requests and one-word needs, i.e. restroom...? 😰 🤞

But to communicate well, we need much more than simple words. If all we can claim is a fixed, basic vocabulary, then it follows that our thoughts and expressions themselves will never exceed the basic. That's great when we successfully find the facilities (be they a toilet, lavatory, washroom, water closet/WC, comfort room/CR, loo, sanitary room, or some other nomenclature) but decidedly not great when we write creatively.

Given that all sentences are constructed of words, doesn't it make sense that we should know as many of them as possible? Put another way, would you prefer your building contractor to have expertise in and ready access to many appropriate tools or just go at every project with the same hammer?

If your next thought is "I'll just use the thesaurus to find unusual or archaic options for 'blue'," you've definitely missed my point.

Now more than ever, we have all kinds of incredible tools at our immediate disposal. But we must have the words in our head, not just at our fingertips. Merely having the tools at hand does not provide the contractor with the knowledge and experience needed to wield them with confidence — theirs and yours.

As writers, we should consider ourselves obligated to routinely add new words to our vocabulary. If this is not something you've intentionally done since your school days, there's no better time to start than now.

Cautionary reminder: acquiring vocabulary is much, much more than just learning a straightforward definition. To truly claim a new word for ourselves, we also have to know how to properly and easily use it in various sentence types and situations. Add it into what I like to call your transitional vocabulary that day, both in speaking to others and in writing practice.

• Start a "word of the day" practice, either through a method of your own devising or an automated (and free) service offered online. Aim to claim at least three new words per week, revisiting any others as often as necessary until they're yours.

• Flashcards or a vocabulary journal, whether you're an old school index card or digital kind of person, allow you to test your definition recall and level up to spontaneous creation of an original sentence that includes the word naturally.

• Require yourself to use a word in speaking to others. AND Set up a written task for yourself in which you must use that word in a 100-word exercise.

Like everything that matters, this practice of becoming intimately familiar with words, the writers instruments, takes strategic and consistent effort. Yet when you possess the exact word you need to communicate clearly and exactly, from your own well-used and well-loved vocabulary, your satisfaction and skill will measurably and consistently enlarge the world of your writing.

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