Vocabulary

What is vocabulary?

Vocabulary can be defined simply as a list of words. People use the knowledge they have of words to read, write, and speak. Without a basic vocabulary it is difficult to communicate. If you listed all of the words you know how to use, it would probably be a very long list. If your classmates did the same, you would discover that all of the lists are different. Why do you think that would be the situation?

People read different books, do different jobs, listen to different types of music, and do different hobbies. Books, jobs, music, and hobbies require people to use different words. For example, a person working in the produce section of a grocery store would know much more about words related to fruits and vegetables than a person working in an electronics store. You can increase your vocabulary by purposely looking for new words. Reading, writing, and talking are good ways of adding vocabulary to your word lists.

Before you can add a new word to your vocabulary list, you need to be able to say the word, recognize it, know its meaning, know how it is used, and use it. This takes time and effort. You could open a dictionary and start learning each word, but the best approach is to learn the new words which you will need on a daily basis. Even when you narrow the types of new words you want to learn, it can still be a challenge. Thankfully, there are some strategies and tools you can use to make learning new vocabulary easier.

Learning strategies fall into one of three categories. They are structural strategies, contextual strategies, and phonetic strategies. All words have a structure. Using what you know about word structure (structural strategies) can help you discover the meaning and use of a new word.

Words express complete ideas when they are combined with other words. Using your knowledge of how words are combined to create sentences and paragraphs can help you discover the meaning and the use of new words.