Improve Your Vocabulary

Using the right word is important; learning new words is also important. Having a good vocabulary gives you credibility and authority. Knowing what a word means and how to correctly pronounce it is the mark of a professional.

• Read. Reading is one of the best ways to improve your vocabulary.
• Get a good dictionary and use it. Look up every word you don’t recognize.
• Spend one hour a week browsing through the dictionary and set a goal to learn the meaning at least 20 new words each week. Use them in your conversation the following week. Put the words, their meaning, and pronunciation on a 3x5 index card and carry the cards with you.
• Practice the words when you have pockets of time.
  Each week, buy one newspaper from a different area of the country. If you live on the West coast, buy a Florida paper. Try to identify how that newspaper uses words. Is it different from the newspaper you are used to? If so, what’s different?
• Each month, read one magazine you have never read before to expand your vocabulary in new areas.
• Do crossword puzzles and word games.
• Ask someone you trust to correct you when you misuse or mispronounce a word.
• Play Scrabble® with someone who has a better vocabulary than you.
• Use a thesaurus to learn words with similar and opposite meanings.
• Buy and use a book designed to help you improve your vocabulary.