Vocabulary Hints and Resources

Reading

If you really want to know more words, the best way is to increase the amount and variety of reading that you do.  Read newspapers, magazines, internet sites, and journals to increase your range of words and to understand how words are used in different contexts.  When you encounter a new word write it down on a post-it and add the dictionary definition (the one closest to the meaning in the reading).  Put the post-it in a visual place and review the word frequently.

Memorization

To effectively memorize new words they have to be meaningful to you.  Link the new word with an image, a story or anything familiar to you—even a person.  For example, I always link the word supercilious  (super= above, cilium=eyebrow, i.e., looking down on someone) to my father’s friend in college who called my father supercilious because he wanted to study rather than party.  In your content-area classes it will be helpful if you learn the new terms that you read about or hear about in the lecture as your knowledge of the words will increase your comprehension of the text and your understanding of the lectures.  Try to link the new terms with meaningful images or similar sounds.

Some web resources:

http://www.dictionary.com (useful for a quick definition of the word)

http://www.wolinskyweb.com/word.htm (for wordplay games)

http://www.wordfocus.com (for Latin & Greek  word elements)

http://www.vocabulary.com (SAT, GED, ACT words)