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Clear communication is absolutely crucial. It’s the difference between a project going wrong or right, aircrafts crashing into each other at airports, and soldiers unnecessarily losing their lives at war. However to be able to communicate clearly, one also needs to communicate with precision. This means understanding the tiny yet crucial differences in words that some consider synonymous but are not, and appropriate directives. As such, a sharp vocabulary is mission critical. Below are some tips on how to improve your vocabulary.

Speak more frequently

Speaking more frequently and being mindful of what you say is the most obvious way to improve your vocabulary. Furthermore, speaking with people who are significantly older or younger than you will result in you learning terms that some consider dated, as well as forcing you to use simpler terms to communicate more clearly with the youth.

If you alternate your conversations between your grandparents and a toddler or even a teenager, you’ll be very surprised at how different the terminology across different generations is. And this is a perfect example of how to improve your vocabulary simply through speaking more.

Read

Wherever there is speech, reading is sure to follow, and reading frequently is a great improve your vocabulary. A useful technique is to read literary classics from the late 19^th century and the early 20^th century, while being mindful of the terms used. If you come across something you’ve never seen before, look it up. And based on its meaning, and its useful either reject it or deliberately add it to your vocabulary.

Another clever technique is to purchase foreign language books that have been translated into English, and being mindful of the terms used therein. As many people know, different languages often do not have direct translations and being observant of the literary techniques translators use reveals a lot about dialogue.

Oh, and in this digital world, purchasing an e-reader is a fantastic – and affordable – passport to a world of language you likely didn’t know existed.

Learn, learn, learn

Finally, never stop learning. I know language buffs who have a dictionary widget open on their desktops all day, and when they come across new terms, immediately query the meaning, and either file it or discard it in terms of its usefulness. If you want to improve your vocabulary, you must put pride to the side and show a deliberate willingness to learn.

We hope this guide on how to improve your vocabulary has been useful, and that you implement these techniques right away.

Tags: reading