A fluent English speaker should have an extensive knowledge of the English vocabulary. You can skip grammar but you can’t skip the building blocks of language: words. But let’s be realistic: you can’t memorise the English dictionary in a day!
We have come up with tips to master the English language that will only take you about thirty minutes or less to do:
STUDY FOR TEN TO TWENTY MINUTES
Set a realistic target daily and stick to it. Start with one word a day, and gradually increase it to two to five words a day. Ask yourself, what is the maximum amount of time that I can devote to learning the language? Can I stick to my target if I allot twenty minutes every day? What’s important is that you make it a habit to learn English daily. And remember, fifteen minutes a day will bring better results than half an hour once a week or so.
GET A VOCABULARY NOTEBOOK
Keep all the things you’ve learned in one place. When we say vocabulary notebook, we don’t simply mean it as a notebook—if you prefer to use an app on your smartphone, feel free to do so. The important thing is that you develop a system of recording new words you’ve learned, since this allows you to go through the words and review them once in a couple of weeks.
NEVER LEARN A WORD IN ISOLATION
The best way to build a vocabulary is to use the words you have learned in its proper context. When you’re building your English vocabulary, learn the prepositions that go with these expressions.
For example: the word ‘get away with’ is different from ‘get away from’. The first form means ‘to avoid something or to escape’ (I want to get away from our house) while the second form means ‘escape blame, punishment or undesirable consequences for an act that is wrong or mistaken’ (He thinks he can get away with cheating).
WRITE THREE OR FOUR OF YOUR OWN EXAMPLES
Use it or lose it. Writing it down is not enough. It takes practise for a learner to get used to the word, so make sure you put your new vocabulary to good use.
If you’re enrolled in an English course, try to check with your teacher the sentences that you’ve written. Ask them for additional resources that you can use to further your English studies.