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An excellent vocabulary is a huge asset to a person. The better your vocabulary, the better your chances of a larger income and higher social status. A surprising truth is that most people are not even aware of this fact. They expend their effort in improving other aspects of their personality and their life, which are important. However, they often ignore the crucial importance of a good vocabulary, which can affect them detrimentally in their career.

People, who have put in the effort to expand vocabulary, can use words effectively, and appear intelligent and knowledgeable of what they are talking about. As a result, other people feel more inclined to listen to their opinions and ideas. They garner a lot of respect and attention from their colleagues and friends.

On the other hand, people who fumble with words or use poorly chosen words, often appear less intelligent than they are. They don’t seem confident or well-versed in the subject they are talking about. Consequently, their coworkers tend to take them less seriously, and often overlook their ideas and suggestions even if they are good.

To have a successful professional and personal life, you must appreciate the tremendous power words have, and how to deploy them with maximum effect. ‘Every word in our language is a frozen metaphor, a frozen picture. It is this poetry behind words that gives language its overwhelming power. And the more intimately we know the romance that lies within each word, the better understanding we will have of its meaning,’ (Funk, W & Lewis, N 1970, p. 21).

Natural acquisition of vocabulary tends to decline with age. One reason is because, as you grow older, the majority of the words you keep hearing are the ones you already know. Thus deliberate effort must be taken to expand vocabulary to make sure you have a much better knowledge of words than an average person.

One of the most traditional and easiest methods of improving your vocabulary, which is still one of the best methods, is to read a lot of books and other articles, especially good quality materials. It would be much better to make use of auxiliary tools such as dictionaries, thesauri, and other tools, to develop a solid understanding of the words acquired from reading. Even better is the use of additional materials such as images and drawings. ‘It is important to recognize that, although vocabulary learning has to be verbal in nature, it is useful to engage other modalities to reinforce and supplement learning,’ (Blachowicz, C L Z, Fisher, P J & Watts-Taffe, S 2005, p. 13).

Nowadays, modern vocabulary learning methods are becoming increasing popular. You can make use of a vast amount of free online resources, as well as online services offered for a price. And you have a numerous choice of vocabulary software applications, free and commercial, to choose from.

REFERENCES

Blachowicz, C L Z, Fisher, P J & Watts-Taffe, S 2005, Integrated Vocabulary Instruction, Learning Point Associates, Naperville, IL.

Funk, W & Lewis, N 1991, 30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary, Revised edn, Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, NY.