Links

People who talk in a smart and witty manner usually end up impressing other people. So, to impress other people, you just need to talk smart. But it is not as easy as it sounds.

For one thing, you must have a wide vocabulary, so that you have a large number of words to choose from. It is often the variety in their ideas as well as the variety in the words they use, that marks people as intelligent and smart. No matter how good your ideas are, if you express them using poorly chosen words, or using the same words over and over again, you are not likely to get the desired effect.

A person with a strong command of the language is generally more intelligent, and by any means will appear more intelligent, than a person who fumbles and struggles with language. An effective way to enhance your speech skills is to increase your vocabulary.

Speaking fluently is a skill that anyone can develop through constant practice. However, you should be willing to put in a bit of your time and effort. There are several methods of increasing your vocabulary; from the use of traditional tools such as text books, work books, grammar books, and so on, to modern tools such as computer vocabulary software and online vocabulary resources.

There are also vocabulary programs at different levels, with some just aiming to enable you to speak moderately well and without hesitation, and others attempting to build your vocabulary at a considerable level, and give you the ability to take command of any situation with your language skills. ‘The overall goal of a comprehensive vocabulary program is to expand both receptive and expressive vocabularies, and to continually move words from the receptive level to the expressive level,’ (Blachowicz, C L Z, Fisher, P J & Watts-Taffe, S 2005, p. 3).

All methods to expand vocabulary use the same basic techniques, though in their own specific ways. You must get acquainted with as many words as possible. But simply knowing a word or knowing its meaning will not enable you to use the word effectively in your communication.

You must find out a lot more about the word, such as its derivatives, its usage in different contexts, and several examples of its usage. ‘A person who has not thought about the matter may believe that vocabulary knowledge consists of just these two facets – meaning and word form. But the potential knowledge that can be known about a word is rich and complex,’ (Schmitt, N 2000, p. 5). Once you are confident with the use of a word, you must keep using it in your conversation and your written communication, so that you retain knowledge of the word and its usage.

REFERENCES

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

Schmitt, N 2000, Vocabulary in Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press, The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge.