How do I improve my vocabulary? When I was an exchange student living in Germany, and learning German, this is what I would do. Every night I would think about the next day and what was likely to happen. For example, if I had plans to go canoeing the next day, I would think of words related to canoeing that I might need, like "splash" or "oar" or "dock" and I would look them up in German, and write up a sample sentence, like "don't splash water on me!" (but in German). Then the next day, I would try to use my sentences with the native speakers, using my new vocabular words. This worked well for me. Hope this helps!

Hello Angela, Beside all above mentioned you could also increase your vocabulary by mingling with native speakers. You could benefit a lot by listening to new words and asking eventually for the meaning of some word you hear repeated several times. By speaking you already practice using the vocabulary you acquired theoretically. Looking up new words instantly when coming across them online ,in a movie , as lyrics in a song will help you increase it as well. Writing down the new vocabulary help memorizing them ,try to use them practically while writing a letter to a friend, finding ways to apply them adequately and when appropriate at work when writing a business letter for example or if you are a student just when writing a comprehension. To acquire the vocabulary through different means is not enough to memorize them ,so continuous repetition and practice will help you memorize them and be able to use them effectively when building sentences. Good luck:)

Hi Angela, in order to improve your vocabulary you can follow two methods, which are firstly; the repetition-based method, where you learn words by writing them several times or saying them repeatedly until you remember them all. If you patiently follow the process, you will see your vocabulary extended very well. Secondly, you also need have to have a notebook with your own note-taking rules. Each time you log onto Italki, note down any new words in this Answers section. The only problem is whether you want a rich vocabulary or not. Any good plan should answer the four following questions. Firstly, how many words will you learn a week: five, ten, fifteen or more? Secondly, when will you learn them? At a fixed time every other morning or anytime you feel like learning? Thirdly, how often will you review what you have learnt: once a week, once a month or before a test at school? Finally, what areas of English will you focus on: sports, music, games or sciences? The answers may vary a great deal from one person to another depending on memory, schedules and interest. Otherwise, your study results won't be as you expected. You can gain a big vocabulary simply by determining what field of words to learn, making a plan of learning, choosing a learning method and regularly practising your plan and method. Athough it is up to you, daily vocab learning is better than weekly and weekly is better than monthly.

Hello, You could read an article about something that's interesting to you. As you read, underline or highlight the words that are new. Read through the article again, and try to work out the meaning of the word(s) by looking at the whole sentence or paragraph. Write down what you think the word means, then use a dictionary to check. http://www.thefreedictionary.com is very good. I hope that helps. Regards, Lee.