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A good vocabulary is a big asset to a person, as it greatly increases your knowledge and skill in using the English language. Enhancing your vocabulary increases your ability to comprehend what other people say, and to use the right words and expressions when you speak. Good vocabulary skills enable you to understand clearly what you read, and to write in a distinct and dignified manner that commands respect from others.

In their book, Funk and Lewis (1991, p 3) state that years of experiments and testing have found that if your vocabulary is limited, then your chances of success are limited; and that one of the easiest and quickest ways to get ahead is by consciously building your knowledge of words. You must improve your vocabulary to help you acquire not only success in your professional life, but also appreciation and respect in your social life.

There are several ways to build your vocabulary skills. Improving your vocabulary can happen spontaneously without any precise instructions, in your everyday life. But according to Miller and Gildea (2001, pp 94-95), such random learning is filled with potential drawbacks: the meaning of the words learned range from richly contextualized and more-than-adequate to incomplete and wrong.

You could augment this inaccurate, natural learning with deliberate efforts to improve your vocabulary. You could note the new words you come across, and later use a dictionary or thesaurus to find out not just the word's meaning, but its variations, usage, and related words.

You could then make an effort to use the word in your conversation and writing. Books, magazines, newspaper, television, film, or anything of the kind, could help you boost your knowledge of English, especially if you give particular attention to new words and take pains to examine them later.

There are various materials and tools available to help you develop your vocabulary. The most common material is, of course, books on that subject: both instructional books and work books. Other common supplements are dictionaries, thesauruses, grammar books, and similar books. You could make tools such as vocabulary lists and vocabulary charts on your own. Other tools, such as vocabulary flash cards and vocabulary diagrams, are inexpensive and widely available. And then there are the commercial and free software.

Such software usually contain additional items and aids, and are quickly becoming the most popular means to consciously enhance your vocabulary. The Internet is also full of resources, some of them based on subscription, but a large amount free, designed to help you build a good vocabulary.

In this dynamic and competitive world, where you need to be at your best to succeed, it has become almost a necessity to improve your vocabulary. Not doing so could easily leave you unprepared and disadvantaged in the long run.

REFERENCES

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

Miller, G A, & Gildea, P 1987, ‘How children learn words,’ Scientific American, vol. 257, no. 3, pp. 94-95