by Raquel Arnold

Created on: May 02, 2009

The choice to expand your vocabulary is one that will greatly benefit you in many aspects of everyday life, whether it be talking, writing or otherwise.

As an amateur writer and aspiring journalist, a wide-ranging vocabulary is less of a perk and more of a necessity. How many of us resort to looking up a word in the thesaurus time and time again, when we just can't think of an alternative - or better - word on our own?

Fortunately, there are very simplistic and efficient ways to broaden your vocabulary.

'One-Word-A-Day' Books:

The easiest way to improve your vocabulary is buy purchasing a one-word-a-day book. The purpose of these books are simple: you're introduced to one word a day and are encouraged to complete exercises that are associated with the word. They are available at many retail stores and on-line. A simple query will return a plethora of suitable books.

Word of the day Calendars:

Perhaps the cheapest (and simplest) way of expanding your vocabulary, no more will the one word a day calendar be used for a coaster or sat atop your kitchen table just to view the date. Actively reading each word of the chosen day will greatly improve your vocabulary and just think - in a month, you would have learned at least thirty new words.

Read, Read and Read:

Go ahead, pick up that novel that looks foreign to you. You're hesitant about reading it but so far, you understand most of the words. You've gotten past chapter one and just as you go to chapter two... you squint. What's that word again? Unless you know every word of the English language, it's likely that there will be plenty of words that are unfamiliar to you. Another useful way to enlarge your vocabulary is to read literature with 'big words.' If you're not speed reading, chances are you'll want to know what those words mean and will prompt you to look them up in the dictionary. By the time you read the novel over again, you would have learned all of those words that confused you in the beginning.

Flip through the Dictionary:

Quite possibly the most popular method, sorting through the dictionary to learn new words is a tried and true way to improve your vocabulary. The only downside? Most people start from the very beginning of the dictionary, but what good will it do you to know the meaning of every 'A' word and nothing else? One idea would be to learn new words from the first five letters (A,B,C,D, and E) one day; the next day, the following five letters (F,G,H,I, and J) and so on.

While it's easier said than done, putting in the effort to improve your vocabulary pays off in the end. So remember that a little bit definitely goes a long way.

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