Many students who attends competitive exams such as ielts exam commits a well known mistake. Learn at the last minute. This strategy works for a few subjects, but not for English vocabulary. For many students, English vocabulary is the toughest. They feel dejected and bored when they try to mug up the English words by heart without any reasoning. The reason is that they are unaware of the easiest method to learn vocabulary. This essay addresses the common mistakes that students make while learning English and how toppers handle English vocabulary with ease.
Etymology
Toppers learn English vocabulary not for the sake of passing exam. They know two basic principles about vocabulary.1) Words are verbal symbols of ideas, and 2) the more ideas you are familiar with, the more words you know.They analyses and learn English words with all associated aspects of the words and its meaning, including its derivation. They get the meaning of words by identifying the root of the word. They are familiar with etymology of the words, where they are aware of the Greek or Latin root that gives a word its unique meaning. With a meaning of root, a person can derive the meaning of atleast 5 to 10 related words.
The power of etymology is illustrated with an example. Dexter is a Latin word for right hand.-ous is a common adjective suffix and –ty is a common noun suffix. So dexterous means use right hand or skillful, as right hand is more skilful than left hand. Dexterity means skill. Ambidexterity means able to use both right and left hands. Ambi is a Latin word for both directions. So with a key word Dexter, we were able to remember the meaning of related 3 words.
It’s very hard to learn etymology in the beginning, but with time and practice, it is the most interesting one. You can derive meaning from the most unfamiliar word itself with etymology. Plan your vocabulary development two to three months in advance so that you have time to prepare properly for the exam.
A word a day
Ensure that you learn a word a day. Not just the meaning, but its etymology,history and usage. When you learn a word you will come across a set of related words which will automatically set in your brain permanently.
Read books with a dictionary
When reading books, note down all the words which you come across. Keep a good dictionary for immediate reference for meaning. This will make you enjoy reading, appreciate works of great authors and make you capable to express complex ideas with few words. Toppers learn vocabulary, not because of their increased memory power alone.They learn English vocabulary to think and express their complex thought process in apt way.
So follow what toppers do.
tojan
http://www.yourieltsonline.com
About the Author:
ielts trainer owns http://www.yourieltsonline.com
No comments:
Post a Comment