Tips for Learning New Vocabulary

Assimilating new vocabulary can be difficult whether you're trying to improve your skills in your native language or if you're learning a new language. Here are some tips I've found helpful when learning new vocabulary.

• Do a little each day. Subscribe to a vocabulary word of the day e-mail newsletter. You'll find a new vocabulary word in your inbox every day. 
• Pace yourself and your learning based on how fluent you are in a given language. If you're trying to improve your vocabulary skills in your native language, aim to learn one or two words a week. If you're beginning to learn a new language, aim for several words a day until you can read basic texts with ease. In you are in between being a beginner and being fluent, aim for one word a day to three words a week, depending on where you are on the fluency scale. 
• Read a lot. Read newspapers and books in your native language or in the language or languages you're trying to learn to improve your reading skills, fluency, and vocabulary. Be sure to look up words you don't know only after you've made an attempt to figure it out in the context of the words you do know.
• Try your hand at writing. Even if it's a few simple sentences or a little poem, write something. Try to incorporate the new vocabulary words you've learnt recently or look up new words to include in your writing. Just make sure you're using them properly. 
• Converse with someone that is better at a given language than you. If you're a student trying to improve your English vocabulary, talk to an adult with a good vocabulary. If you're a student in the United States trying to learn Spanish, try talking to one of your South or Central American neighbors. (Just make sure they're not from Brazil, as Brazilians speak Portuguese.) 
• Make a word wall in your bedroom. Print out a word and its definition and post it somewhere prominent in your room (with your parent's permission, of course). 
• Try using your new vocabulary in a conversation with your friends or with an adult. You'll definitely turn some heads and make a good impression on your teachers and peers. Again, just make sure you use the word correctly. 
• Try using your new vocabulary in a conversation with yourself. You'll get used to using the word, and it'll stick in your long-term memory better the more you use it. 
• Write each word on an index card, and keep them in three boxes. One box you'll go through every day, one you'll go through every week, and one you'll go through every month. Move the cards accordingly as you learn or forget a word. 
• If you hear or see a word that you don't know, look it up after trying to figure it out using context clues. 
• The better your vocabulary gets, the easier it'll be to use context clues to figure out the meaning of new words. It's a win-win situation! 
• Your dictionary is your best friend. Occasionally visit it, find a word you don't know, and learn it's meaning.
• Never stop learning. A good vocabulary is a work in progress. You'll never know all the words in any given language, but don't let that stop you from learning as many as possible. 
• If you're trying to improve your vocabulary, learn a language similar to your native language or the language you're trying to learn. This will help with your vocabulary because you'll be able to identify word roots and make connections between words you never saw before. 
• If your native language is English, learn a Germanic language.
• If you're trying to improve your skills in a Romance language, learn another Romance language. Learning French really helped me with my Spanish skills.