Has this happened to you:  you're bored and you're eavesdropping--while riding the train or while standing in line--but darn it, you can't understand much of what's being said?  There was no heavy foreign accent, the conversation was in English, no heavy use of cultural slang or technical jargon, but there were many multi-syllable, complicated-sounding words .  What impression did you get of the speaker--did you think that the person was eloquent, or just showing off?  Intelligent or bourgeois?  Did you wonder why some people even bother to use all of those unfamiliar-sounding, "BIGWORDS"--especially when no one else seems to care about using them?

    The English language is an ever-changing, growing medium.  Some words that were employed by Shakespeare are no longer in circulation today.  Simultaneously, archaic words are being resurrected and used both in their original meaning and with new definitions. Words are being coined and put into our language at this moment.  Industries are shaping the way we talk, write, and communicate.

    Now, you may be thinking, "What's the purpose of having a large vocabulary?  It won't help me get a job, nor will I get a Bachelor's degree in 'Impressive English Language Management'."  No, but you will have an easier time reading books in your field of study (especially if it's written in English) without having to consult the dictionary constantly for word meanings.  Plus, when you have writing assignments, you will complete them faster without being forced to search through a thesaurus for ideas to complete your work (there's only so many times that you can slip the word "very" past the professor...).  You will also be able to communicate on a higher level and have a larger variety of words to choose from when expressing yourself.  Sounds good so far, doesn't it?

How can you build your VOCABULARY?

    Good question.  Here is some advice taken from a book located in our wonderful, illustrious, Reading/Writing Connection Lab:  Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers, fifth edition, by Lynn Quitman Troyka.  In section 20c (364-369), the merits of vocabulary building are discussed.  Some common strategies discussed are:

• Finding and highlighting unfamiliar words in a textbook for later dictionary search
• Listening for unfamiliar words in conversation and writing them down for later investigation   (there is an inherent problem here--how can you write the word if you've never heard  it before and don't know how to spell it?)
• Finding and learning words over a period of time through individual study

    The next section of the Handbook deals with learning word parts and thus learning their meaning.  Prefixes and suffixes can be good ways to translate the meaning of unfamiliar words.  The prefix is added before the word stem and gives clues to the meaning that the word carries.  A suffix does the same thing, but it is an addition that is placed on the end of the word.

    Last trick in the Handbook:  try to figure out the word meaning by what the rest of the sentence means.  In other words, look for the context.  Sometimes the difficult word is restated in the rest of the sentence. The different types of context clues are discussed in the Handbook.

Need more VOCABULARYhelp???

    Other informative, astutely written books in the Reading/Writing Connection Lab:
The World of Words:  Vocabulary for College Students, fifth edition.  This work book by Margaret Richek is a great place to start.  It's located on the three-shelf bookshelf by the door.

The Oxford English Dictionary--located near the front of the room, it's an authoritative source.  If you want to see all the uses for the word 'wood', go take a look--it's astounding.

Dictionary Drills--Lessons & Exercises for Mastering Dictionary Skills. This book, by Edward B. Fry, Ph.D., is located in the front three-shelf bookcase (by the Roget's thesaurus), on the bottom shelf.

    Here are some good web sites for more help:
The Ten Best Vocabulary Learning Tips
Vocabulary University
FreeVocabulary.com
Syndicate.com
Daily Vocabulary Quiz
Wordquiz.com
Dillon's Online Vocabulary
Word of the Day--Dictionary.com

Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?  Oh, by the way, I purposely included some "BIGWORDS" in this webpage.  Please use them to try out the strategies discussed in the former paragraphs (oops--there goes a BIGWORD now!!).I hope that this page is helpful, and please feel free to give me any and all feedback you may have on whether this page is successful in helping you accomplish your goals.  CLICK here to link to me, Lesa Jeanpierre.

    Good Luck!!