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There are a variety of reasons why you should increase your vocabulary and word knowledge.

Knowing a large number of words gives you more command over the language, which boosts your confidence in communicating with people, which in turn increases your ability in dealing with situations.

A good vocabulary helps you receive more attention and respect from your peers, friends, family members, and even strangers you converse with.

This is not surprising, as a good vocabulary and effective use of language convey the impression that you are an intelligent and educated person who takes himself or herself seriously.

A person’s knowledge of words and their meanings starts from his or her childhood, and progresses throughout his or her life.

Hence it is advisable to give a child a solid foundation and good quality resources to start developing a strong vocabulary from a very early age:

‘A child needs to develop knowledge of the core concept of the word and how the word is used in different contexts to develop flexible knowledge about a word that contributes to reading comprehension,’ (Tannenbaum, K R, Torgesen, J K & Wagner, R K, 2006, p. 383).

But that does not mean you cannot develop a powerful vocabulary if you have not had good training and support from a young age. However, you will have to dedicate more time and effort toward the development of your word power.

There are several ways to increase your vocabulary and word knowledge, such as conversing frequently with people with good vocabulary, reading good books and articles, using resources and materials that build your word power, taking vocabulary lessons, downloading nad using vocabulary-building software, and so on.

The more you encounter and use a word, in spoken or written form, the more familiar you get with the word, and the more comfortable you get with its usage:

‘As word learning grows, a person’s notion of the meaning of the word grows from the first encounter with the word, where the meaning of the word is totally unknown, to a partial knowledge of the word, to richer and richer understanding of the meaning,’ (Schwanenflugel, P J, Stahl, S A & McFalls, E L, 1997, p. 533).

English language has hundreds of thousands of words. The more words you know, the more choices you have in the selection of words to use in any particular situation. You can use language fluently and eloquently, such as to garner admiration from the people around you. You will not just be able to express your ideas and feelings clearly, but also get people to listen to them attentively and consider them in detail.

A powerful vocabulary is clearly a big asset to you in your professional career as well as personal life.

REFERENCES

Schwanenflugel, P J, Stahl, S A & McFalls, E L 1997, ‘Partial Word Knowledge and Vocabulary Growth during Reading Comprehension,’ Journal of Literary Research, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 531-553.

Tannenbaum, K R, Torgesen, J K & Wagner, R K, 2006, ‘Relationships between Word Knowledge and Reading Comprehension in Third-Grade Children,’ Scientific Studies of Reading, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 381-398.