10 tips to help you take your vocabulary to the next level. Tested by tutors, approved by students, loved by learners!
This article contains Learning Links. Whenever you see a word or phrase highlighted like this, click on it to open a dictionary definition.
How many English words do you know? 100? 1000? 10,000? One of the greatest challenges that many students struggle with is the sheer amount of words in the English language. It's often argued that English has one of the largest vocabularies of all languages in the world! The English Wiktionary, the largest dictionary of the English language, contains a whopping 578,707 unique words.
No matter where you are in your learning journey, whether you are a beginner or a master, A1 or C2, having a wide vocabulary is one of the best ways to improve your fluency and boost your confidence. Therefore, if you want to master English you should be aiming to learn new words every single day.
But how? If you want to get fluent fast, you'll need to focus on techniques that work, create opportunities for learning, and practice daily.
In this series of articles, I've gathered 10 methods that have been tested by myself, supported by psychological research, and have a proven track record of helping my students get fluent fast.
You'll be amazed how quickly your vocabulary improves when you introduce these 10 methods in to your daily practice:
Regular Speaking
Word Journaling
Anki Flashcards
Word Games
Learning Real English
Word of the Day
Watch TV
Listen Carefully
Guided Reading
English Newsletters
I've split these methods in to two categories: absorption and retention.
Absorption methods help you get new words in to your vocabulary.
Retention methods help you keep these new words in your memory.
Today's article is going to focus on the first four methods, which are all retention methods. These methods are designed to help you keep the new words you learn stuck in your memory. Subscribe to updates from the TutorLiam blog to make sure you don't miss out on the next six methods, the absorption methods, that will be featured in the next article.
Let's crack on!
1) Regular Speaking
The brain, like a muscle, needs to be exercised to stay strong and healthy. Whenever we speak English, our brains our working hard to search through our database of vocabulary to find the right words. The more we talk, the more comfortable the brain becomes in searching for the right word, and the process rapidly becomes quicker and more efficient. Imagine you start a new job working in a warehouse. To begin with, you'll struggle to find where everything is. You aren't certain where to find each box, or where they belong, and you might even get lost. But with practice, you become more familiar. The more you search through the rows of boxes, you begin to learn where everything belongs. Eventually, you know where everything is without even thinking. It all becomes second nature. Speaking practice works similarly. The more often your brain is searching for certain words, the more skilled it becomes and finding the right words swiftly.
We already looked at some ways to introduce more speaking practice in to our routines in the last TutorLiam blog article, but today, let's explore some more methods. You don't need to live in an English speaking country or attend a language class to practice speaking regularly.
If you want to find a native speaker to practice with, language exchange services are a great place to start. These services allow you to practice with native speakers, improving your English whilst sharing your own language with them. The top three I can recommend are:
SPEAK run in-person language groups in 9 different countries across the world, and they are planning on expanding in the future.
Not only does SPEAK allow you to practice your skills face to face, best of all: it's totally free!
HelloTalk and Tandem are two quite similar learning apps. Both of them aim to introduce you to native speakers from around the world, and the apps allow you to practice one another's languages, guiding eachother as you learn. Both apps are available on Android and iOS, and also offer browser versions to use on your computer.
2) Word Journaling
Word journaling has proven an instrumental method in helping me learn languages in my life, and is always the first method I recommend to my students, as it is just so easy to implement.
Do you sometimes feel that you're hearing and learning lot of new English words, but that they just don't stick in your head? Word journaling is one of the best ways to take the words you have learned passively, and to take an active decision to keep them in your memory.
To word journal effectively, I'd recommend carrying a small pocket notebook and a pen with you everywhere you go. Yes, everywhere! If you'd rather go for a high-tech method, you could instead use a page on your phone's notes app.
Word journaling is simple. Every time you are introduced to a new word that you want to include in your vocabulary, simply write it down. You should also write the word's definition, and perhaps the translation in your own language, and you can also add any other information you think will help you remember the word.
The key benefit of this method is that it embeds the information in your mind. Educational psychology tells us that taking an active role in learning is the best way to active our memory, and store information. There is an old saying that goes:
"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn."
When we just hear a new word, or have it explained to us, we are likely to forget it. But if we are involved, if we take actions to push the word in to our memory, we are far more likely to learn it. Simply writing the word down makes you more likely to remember it, even if you never look through the book again. Although, of course I would recommend looking back through your word journal regularly, and reminding yourself of the words that you've learned! In the following methods, we'll look at further ways you can use your word journal to help you get fluent fast.
This method saved me when I first moved to Germany. I was hearing so many new words, and being introduced to so many new sayings and idioms, writing them down ensured that I could go back and look over them whenever I wanted, allowing me to remind myself and test myself. It's such an easy method to implement, and one that my students always find helpful.
3) Anki Flashcards
There isn't a single practice method I recommend more often, or more wholeheartedly, than Anki. I truly think Anki is an absolutely fantastic program. Not only is it a great, free, digital flashcard app, but it also uses the Leitner system, a system developed by scientist Sebastian Leitner, used to help learners successfully memorise information, and focus on the areas they need to improve.
The Leitner system works by testing you more regularly on words you struggle with. If you find a word easy to remember, Anki will wait some time (any time between an hour and a month, depending how well you remember the word), before it tests you on that word again. However, if you find a word difficult, Anki will test you on it more regularly, until it becomes embedded in your memory.
Anki syncs your information from your computer to your phone, so you can create your flashcards on your computer, and then have them all saved on your phone, allowing you to access them even when you don't have an internet connection. I've used Anki to teach myself German, Polish, and Japanese, and I completely swear by it. It is so easy to open the app whenever you find yourself with some spare time, and provides a convenient way to fit in practice every day. I would argue it is the best tool for improving vocabulary.
You can use Anki to create your own flashcards, such as new words you've been introduced to, or the words you've written in your word journal, or you can download ready-made flashcards on the Anki website, created and shared by other language learners.
Of course, if you prefer a low-tech alternative, hand-writing flashcards is also a great method. In the future, I'll share another article explaining how you can use the Leitner system with physical flashcards too.
4) Word Games
One of the best ways to commit to a habit is to enjoy it. If you find that daily vocabulary practice can feel like a chore, than word games are definitely the method for you! This method is technically a retention and an absorption method, as it can help you remember words you know, and occasionally teach you new ones.
Word games are another great, portable practice method that can usually be enjoyed for free (or a small investment). Word games are also brilliant for a busy schedule, as they can often take as little as five minutes.
If you're looking for online word games, I'd recommend:
Free Rice - A brilliant online quiz created by the UN that tests your understanding of English words. You can also change the difficulty, which makes it great for all levels. Free Rice has always proved incredibly popular among my students. What's more, you're also doing a good deed whilst playing; for each correct answer, the UN donates 10 grains of rice to the World Food Programme.
Scrabble Online - This website allows you to play Scrabble for free against players all over the world. Scrabble can be challenging, even for native speakers, so I'd recommend this game for more advanced learners.
Words with Friends - This app is very similar to Scrabble, but the app is slightly easier for beginners to grasp. You can also add friends and play against them.
Online ESL Crosswords - This website has a brilliant collection of crosswords made specifically for English learners, and they can all be completed online.
For offline word games, why not try:
Paper crosswords - Crosswords are a great way to test your vocabulary whilst being introduced to new words. You could try to find an English newspaper, as crosswords are often included in these, or you could buy a crossword book. Many crossword books are also aimed at children and young adults, as well as language learners, and these are often great options for beginners.
Paper games - Games like hangman, or word association are great games to play with other learners, and often only require a pencil and paper. Of course, you'll need to find someone to play with!
Board games - Playing boardgames such as Scattegories and Scrabble with other learners is a great way to practice your vocabulary. This method can be more expensive, as you may need to buy the games, but you could always look for a board game cafe near you where you might be able to play them.
How can I get fluent fast?
These four methods are designed to help you keep new words in your memory, and can help you massively boost your vocabulary. But what is the best way to utilise them?
The key to mastering a new skill is dedication and practice. If you want to rapidly improve your English vocabulary, you need to be practising daily. But don't worry! This daily practice can be as little as five minutes, if you find you have a busy schedule. What is most important is that you build a regular habit.
How do I recommend you use these methods? A simple overview that gets fast results could look something like this:
Regular Speaking - 1 hour HelloTalk or Tandem per week
Learning Journal - Write down five new words a day
Anki Flashcards - 10 minutes of flashcard practice per day
Word Games - Relax with a word game once a week
Remember, it's YOUR learning journey, so find a way to include these methods in your routine that works for YOU!
That covers the first four tips, the retention tips designed to help learners keep words in their memory. The next article will focus on six brilliant absorption tips, designed to help learners be easily introduced to a wealth of new vocabulary every day.
Remember to subscribe to updates from the TutorLiam blog to be among the first to know when the next six tips are released in the follow-up article. Don't forget to like, share, and comment below if you enjoyed the article. If you're looking for more ways to get fluent fast and master English, the TutorLiam website is filled with great resources to help you excel.
As always, happy learning!
TutorLiam is a fully qualified teacher from the United Kingdom.
With a first class degree in Psychology, a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, and full TEFL certification, he's expertly equipped to address all your learning needs.
Tutor Liam has been teaching in schools since 2016, and now offers his expertise in online tuition and premium learning resources.
No matter what your language goals are, check out the excellent learning resources, and book your first lesson now, and begin your journey toward fluency and English mastery!