Why is learning vocabulary so important when you are learning English?
The more words you know, the better you will be able to express yourself, the better you will be able to communicate with others and most importantly the more confident you will become in the English language.
Reading
Reading books, magazines, blogs basically anything that you are interested in, is a great and very effective way to learn new words. The secret lies in reading out loud and if you do not understand a word, first try to guess what it could mean using the other words and if that doesn’t work then look up the meaning in a dictionary. I also encourage all of my students to look up the word in a Thesaurus too as this offers alternative words with similar meanings.
Playing Games
Playing games is another great and fun way to learn English vocabulary. I love making my own memory cards and then playing the game either alone or with some friends. The first card you turn over you have to name in English and then look for the corresponding card in your language. You could also make “4-in-a-row” cards. Here you make a set of 4 cards that fit together for example irregular verbs. Card 1 = go (the infinitive of the verb), Card 2 = went (the simple past), Card 3 = gone (the participle used in the the present and past perfect) and Card 4 = the translation into your native language. There are loads of games you can play to learn vocabulary for more ideas check out my blog posts on learning vocabulary through games.
Adding emotion to your vocabulary
The secret to learning vocabulary effectively is to always attach emotions to the words you are learning. This can be in the form of associating the word with a situation or a person that you have once experienced or by drawing the word and associating it with the image or simply by attaching it to a feeling. If you learn your vocabulary with emotions I promise you, you will never forget them.
Here are some of my favorite websites to help you learn vocabulary by playing games:
Design your own word search here: https://thewordsearch.com
Design your own crossword here: https://worksheets.theteacherscorner.net/make-your-own/crossword/
Design your own memory game here: https://interacty.me/products/memory-game