Reading is the best way, but like the teacher up there said it will take some time for you to start immediately comprehending the words that are new to you.

Dagobert

Netherlands1858 Posts

November 19 2010 17:02 GMT

#22

Engaging in intellectually challenging discussions on the internet:

http://www.leagueofreason.co.uk

My rather good command of the English language is the direct result of me absorbing grammar rules, reading a lot of English texts over the years, watching hundreds of movies, thousands of TV episodes, talking to native English speakers, listening to English songs, providing English audio commentary on my daily life when nobody is around, doing the same while some people are around who don't know me and are unlikely to hear me, singing English songs, writing papers for university, correcting other people's papers and last but not least: my insatiable thirst for ~~blood~~ knowledge in general, paired with the strong need to scrutinize every single word, sentence and paragraph I write to detect any flaws in orthography, grammar or style.

Kamille

Monaco1035 Posts

November 19 2010 17:14 GMT

#23

Reading is a good way to improve your grasp of English, but don't take dialogue as an example. Writers tend to take liberties with conversation in order to make a point. Otherwise, reading is a great way to improve your mastery of English. I'm not sure other things are as effective, like memorizing rules or doing exercises, because those are harder to apply in real situations. If you read a novel and encounter intriguing and challenging syntax, it can only improve your English.

NukeTheBunnys

United States1004 Posts

November 19 2010 17:24 GMT

#24

Read Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Its a great, and very challenging book that will force you to expand your vocabulary and grammar and focus when reading

zzaaxxsscd

United States626 Posts

November 19 2010 17:43 GMT

#25

Subscribe to the Economist and carry it around. Read when you have free time. Start with the articles that are interesting to you and try to finish each issue. Underline every word or phrase you don't understand and look them up when you are home.

Once you can completely read through an issue before the next one comes in the mail, your English (and knowledge of current events) should be much improved

Ssin

United States88 Posts

November 19 2010 18:00 GMT

#26

For what it is worth, I will echo what others have already stated and say that read rich material. Not only that, but also start incorporating the words into your thought patterns and conversations. Obviously, the more you use a word in the correct context, the easier it will slide into your natural vocabulary.

Great thing about this is when you use these words as commonplace in conversations, those around you will also improve their vocabulary as well. Or they might think you are an elitist. Either way it is win-win.

shaunnn

Ireland1230 Posts

November 19 2010 18:01 GMT

#27

Reading books, not educational ones just books, especially well written fanatasy tend to have underused words when describing things etc

United States3249 Posts

November 19 2010 18:12 GMT

#28

On November 19 2010 23:04 Slayer91 wrote:
Read books with rich language. How can you learn when to use vocabulary without reading it first? Books make a beauty of words, so that's the point where they start to stick with you. I imagine you have to constantly practice writing as well in conjunction. A good example: I just spent like 30 seconds thinking of the word "conjunction" thinking of words like correlation until I got it. You learn the words and then practice using them.

It won't be quick or easy.
I never was a big fan of english in school but I'd like to think that I'm pretty well acquainted with the language, mostly from reading, and some of it rubs off in writing.

This is all there is to it. Read, read, read. And choose books that aren't written for children.

Scorcher2k

United States802 Posts

November 19 2010 18:14 GMT

#29

Reading, just as everyone has said, is a good way to go. Personally, I have always latched onto new words that carry similar meanings but different connotations to other words because since I had to do speech therapy at a young age I have had this feeling of needing to express myself. I would recommend reading some philosophy. It is almost always an interesting read and the vocabulary involved can be incredibly challenging while not using that many subject specific words (that something like a med school book might use).

couches

618 Posts

November 19 2010 18:17 GMT

#30

Oh yea and when you are reading always find out what new words mean right when you see them. Most of the time context will give you an idea but have something handy to look them up on. A dictionary app on a smartphone makes it super easy.

Mothra

United States1448 Posts

November 19 2010 18:18 GMT

#31

If reading sounds like a chore, just discipline yourself to read one chapter every night before you go to bed. Reading a novel for weeks/months and finally finishing it is extremely satisfying. Of course you want to read an author whose style is palatable. I'd recommend George Orwell or Isaac Asimov for very clear, straight forward prose.

Jerubaal

United States7684 Posts

November 19 2010 18:25 GMT

#32

Strunk and White's Elements of Style. By far the best book of its kind.

Short, sweet, and loaded with concise bullet points of ways to write more clearly and pleasingly.

I also thoroughly enjoyed Stephen King's On Writing.

Of course, at the end of the day, as so many people have said, read, read, read.

emythrel

United Kingdom2599 Posts

November 19 2010 18:34 GMT

#33

the best way to improve your vocab is to read alot of books. Whenever you find a word you don't know, look it up in a dictionary. Also watch UK tv shows, we use words americans don't use very often and we also use a lot of words that other english speaking countries don't use at all. easiest way to do this is to watch the BBC or listen to BBC world service on the radio, news readers have great vocabs.

T0fuuu

Australia2275 Posts

November 19 2010 18:36 GMT

#34

Screw reading. Watch better tv. Im serious. Some people have a natural talent for talking in a colourful and interesting way. You can borrow that and apply it in your writing.

emythrel

United Kingdom2599 Posts

November 19 2010 18:44 GMT

#35

On November 20 2010 03:36 T0fuuu wrote:
Screw reading. Watch better tv. Im serious. Some people have a natural talent for talking in a colourful and interesting way. You can borrow that and apply it in your writing.

i suggest that you have just proven that Tv isn't a good way to improve english since you can't construct a grammatically correct sentence. You used three periods that should be either comma's or not punctuated at all.

Reading has been proven to improve vocabulary and grammar, listening to someone speak isn't a great way to improve grammar but you will probably learn new words. You will still need a dictionary to find out what they mean and without having them written down, it's a lot harder to do that unless you have a good understanding of the rules behind how words are spelt.

Reading is better for one simple reason, people rarely use idioms when writing. When speaking people use idioms all the time and that can give you a false sense of what the word means.

XeliN

United Kingdom1755 Posts

November 19 2010 18:55 GMT

#36

Read. And everytime you come across a word whose meaning eludes you, google.

Ruthless

United States492 Posts

November 19 2010 19:02 GMT

#37

there are certain skills that deteriate with age. Lots of these are discussed as things that make starcraft a hard game to play as you age. But there are also things that will improve with aging. Vocabulary is one of those things. Its something you can consciously work on or something you can just not worry about and let develop at your own pace. Being in a scholarly environment where knowing words is crucial can be helpful =).

couches

618 Posts

November 19 2010 19:08 GMT

#38

Most TV programs are so dumbed down these days it's not worth your time. It sucks.

Manit0u

Poland17713 Posts

November 19 2010 19:45 GMT

#39

1. Read some good books (preferably not some popular fiction, try reading something more complex).
2. Watch some good movies (if you're from US, it could be a good idea to watch something british, especially some of the BBC shows like their "Pride and Prejudice" - seriously, I hated such stuff until I saw this, and they all speak so beautifully there...), although this advice is more oriented at improving your speech than vocabulary.

Some recommended works:

Ad. 1.

J. R. R. Tolkien - The Hobbit
J. R. R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings

I know it's cheesy, but the language it's written in is nothing short of perfect, they just don't make writers like this any more.

If you're into Sci-Fi more than Fantasy you could always check out Dan Abnett's or Graham McNeil's works, not sure how's Lem translations to English...

I'll leave it at that, reading Fantasy and Sci-Fi can help your vocabulary and language more than some straight-up things.

Ad. 2.

Pride and Prejudice

Sense and Sensibility - just trust me on this two. They might be "girl" movies, but they're god damn awesome when you get into it.

Titus - this is a very bold and very mindblowing interpretation of Shakespeare's work.

Kickboxer

Slovenia1308 Posts

November 19 2010 19:59 GMT

#40

You just need to find books that will appeal to you. There are way too many good books out there for you to dislike all of them.

Try the Dune series by Frank Herbert, it's quite brilliant and very much like SC.

In fact it was the basis for the first RTS ever made