Contents
Hello dear readers! The ability to speak beautifully and competently was valued at all times. And in modern society, it is also difficult to achieve success without possessing at least minimal oratory skills. To influence the opinion of the interlocutor, it is important to use more words than Ellochka the cannibal from the novel «The Twelve Chairs». She managed only 30, which is why others perceived her as uneducated. Therefore, today we will learn how to develop our active and passive vocabulary in order to conquer the interlocutor with competent and rich speech.
Introduction
Active vocabulary consists of those words that a person constantly uses in the process of communication. Both verbally and in writing. It is believed that the average static person has about four thousand words. Unfortunately, there are times when a person is fluent only in obscene language. Especially in stressful situations, when thoughts get confused and you can forget about literacy.
The passive lexicon includes words that are understandable to a person, but not used in everyday life. And also when you have to make an effort to remember how they sound or are spelled correctly. Sometimes a person can only guess about the meaning of a word, but not know for sure. This is often the reason why she leaves him unattended when forming a proposal. For example: “lobbyist, cabalistics, trickster, phase, tow, avant-garde, belly, grumbler” and so on. Agree, not every one of them will be able to characterize. Although there is a rough idea of their meaning.
The Most Effective Ways to Develop Vocabulary
Writings and poems
This method is time consuming, but quite effective and not only for vocabulary replenishment. Thanks to him, you can develop lateral thinking, associative, logical and even non-standard.
- Write a story, even a very short one, using only nouns. Alexander Blok wrote the first line of his poem with the help of nouns alone: “Night. The street. Lamp. Pharmacy». Here is something like this and you need to create.
- This part of the exercise is a little more difficult, you need to do the same, only using the same verbs. For example: “I woke up. Washed up. Shaved. Fell. Got up. Gathered. Went. Late.»
- Now try to make a sentence in such a way that each word begins with the letters of the alphabet in order. Example: «Andrey was cheerful, loud, homely» and so on.
- And the last task, you need to choose one letter and start all words with it. Only that they were connected with each other, with meaning.
Dictionaries
Get the explanatory dictionary of the Soviet linguist, Sergei Ivanovich Ozhegov. As a last resort, download it to your smartphone or any other gadget that is convenient to use. Every day, starting from the first page of the dictionary, study at least 10 words. Do not just read unfamiliar ones, but also memorize their meaning. Think of situations in which you could use them and, importantly, do it. Because otherwise the passive lexicon cannot be converted into an active one.
Reading
Read as much as possible. Dedicate to this process, almost every free minute. Believe me, over time you will feel all the positive bonuses of this way of spending time and developing. In addition to acquiring a rich vocabulary, you will improve your sleep, increase self-esteem. Help your body cope with the effects of stress and protect yourself from Alzheimer’s disease and other manifestations of dementia.
In addition, it is not necessary to focus on scientific works and creations that are difficult to understand. Choose the literature that interests you.
Fantasy
Connect your imagination to work and come up with completely new and unusual words. You can even do it with kids as a game. By the way, this is how the words atmosphere, loser, drawing, absent-mindedness, and so on appeared. They were invented by writers, using them in their novels, poems. Yes, it is so appropriate that they have replenished the active vocabulary of most of the inhabitants of our planet.
Letter
If you can’t remember something right away, connect your visual memory and write out a certain number of times those phrases that turned out to be difficult for you. Play with a new word, come up with interesting and unusual stories with it. And be sure to record them in a notebook or electronic media. This way you can go back to what you learned at any time to refresh your memory.
By the way, learn poems, sayings and aphorisms. They often come across phrases, the meaning of which you need to think about in order to understand. Or refer to the explanatory dictionary. A nice bonus will be the strengthening of memory, which will fail you less and less.
Circle of acquaintances
Expand your circle of acquaintances. Especially if you communicate mostly with the same people. It is unlikely that you will be able to learn something new from a well-known person. But if you meet people who are completely different from you or not at all the ones you usually choose as friends, partners, etc., then the development of your horizons will be ensured. Visit forums with various topics, chatting and actively participating in discussions, you will replenish your vocabulary. Especially, introducing diversity into it with the help of narrowly specialized terms.
By the way, communication with native speakers of a foreign language will help you learn it faster. And at least, keep calm during the conversation, not getting lost due to the variety of information that cannot be translated and understood the first time.
Audiobooks
Unfortunately, the pace of life of a modern person is so fast that sometimes there is not enough time not only to learn something new, but also to satisfy natural needs. For example, for sleep or food, rest in general. For such too busy individuals, but striving for self-development, there are audio books. You can listen to them, for example, on the way to work, in a traffic jam, during water procedures, getting ready for bed, and so on. In general, do not waste time on excuses, but download what you need to a USB flash drive and start listening.
Games
There are a lot of games that allow you not only to have fun, but also productively. For example, the game «Typesetter». You should come up with one long word and from the letters that make up it, you need to create new ones. Whoever comes up with more options wins. You can even play it with colleagues, taking a task home for the weekend. And from the beginning of the new working week, arrange the calculation of points. The winner has a prize, for example, he can come up with a punishment for the loser, such a phantom. It’s fun, creative, and also useful. There are also various charades, puzzles. In general, there would be a desire, but there are a lot of ways to realize it.
Completion
By the way, the exercises concern not only the Russian language. You can also learn and expand your vocabulary in English, French and any other language. So develop, learn new things and be sure to practice in order to remember what you just learned. At work, with friends, in correspondence with acquaintances and colleagues … In general, every time you have the opportunity to chat with someone. Good luck and accomplishments!
And finally, we recommend reading an article about storytelling. This method will perfectly complement your communication skills.
The material was prepared by a psychologist, Gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina