MEPX
Chapter 5 of 10All chapters
  1. 1Why context works
  2. 2The four clue types
  3. 3Word parts
  4. 4Shades of meaning
  5. 5Building vocabulary
  6. 6Vocabulary in exams
  7. 7Figurative use
  8. 8Academic and formal words
  9. 9Latin and Greek roots
  10. 10Keeping it

Chapter 5 of 10

Building vocabulary

What actually works.

Read widely

Volume of reading predicts vocabulary better than any deliberate method. Meeting a word in several contexts teaches shades that a definition cannot.

  • Look up a word only after guessing from context; the guess makes it stick.
  • Keep a short list of words you meet twice, not everything unfamiliar.

Use it

Writing a sentence of your own, or using the word in conversation within a day, moves it from recognised to available. Recognition and use are different skills.