How To Write An A-Grade Essay: Expanding Your Vocabulary
Increasing your vocabulary level is important as you mature as a writer. But you do not want to sound fake or false in your writing. Every person has a voice and in your pieces, you want to remain true to that voice. You want to increase your word use and do in a natural way. Follow the following five tips for adding words to your repertoire.
- Read as much as you write-you increase your word count when you read. So, read as often as you can so that these new terms slowly and naturally enter into your skill set. A word that is gradually introduced into your usage will work nicely and you might not even notice the addition of it.
- English class-you know that book of words your teacher gave you at the beginning of the year and that you have to study each week for the quiz? Maybe you should incorporate some of that verbiage into your dialogue instead of just studying for the purpose of the quiz. Keep your workbooks each year, and flip through them on occasion to add new terms to your list for writing purposes.
- Listen to people-quite often you can pick up new expressions and terms simply be listening to others. Listen carefully to teachers, professors, lecturers, and everyone at the dinner table. Hearing how the term is sued and how it sounds can help you decide if it is a keeper for you or not.
- The thesaurus- go carefully with the thesaurus, and if the word sounds artificial to you, it may sound that way to your teacher. A thesaurus is a great tool, but use it properly. Nothing sounds worse that a piece of writing packed with words found in the thesaurus. Make sure to use the antonym and synonym section of your thesaurus as well.
- Ask for suggestions-when you have your tutor or a friend proof your work, ask them to see where you could possibly switch out overused words and words that re too low level. It seems like other people can spot these easier than you can.
You want to increase the words you use in speech, writing, and every day life as you mature. But you also want to introduce them slowly and correcting, so they sound natural. Use these five tips to help you with the process.