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Vocabulary of an adult. How to increase your vocabulary: tips for adults and kids

Active vocabulary includes words that are used in speech and writing.

Passive Vocabulary includes words that a person recognizes by reading and listening, but does not use them himself in speaking and writing. The passive vocabulary is several times larger than the active one.

Vocabulary of the average person

Russian language

"Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language" by V. I. Dahl has about 200 thousand words. The most common words, according to the "Frequency Dictionary of the Russian Language" edited by L. N. Zasorina, are about 40 thousand words, and a little more than 9 thousand words have the highest frequency, covering more than 90% of the texts processed when compiling the dictionary. According to modern estimates, the vocabulary of a high school student is about 5,000 words. A highly educated person knows about 8,000 words. It is interesting that Pushkin's Dictionary of Language, which contains the words used by the classic, contains an unsurpassed figure so far - approximately 24 thousand words. The unpublished Dictionary of the Language of V. I. Lenin, according to some sources, was supposed to contain about 30 thousand words.

English language

According to the official data of the Oxford Dictionary, there are 250,000 words in the English language and about 615,000 word formations. But some researchers argue that when counting English words, it is necessary to take into account all neologisms, including words from Internet blogs and other unofficial resources, as well as words used only in varieties in English for example in China and Japan. So, the company Global Language Monitor counted 986 thousand words in English.

Japanese language

The Japanese language contains about 50,000 characters. The active vocabulary of the Japanese is formed by the Ministry of Education, which recommends to its compatriots 1850 hieroglyphs for everyday use, of which 881 are studied in primary and high school. The average Japanese uses 400 characters in everyday life, while newspapers and magazines use 3,000 characters.

Rich vocabulary: methods, ways and techniques to increase it

AT modern world, a beautiful and rich speech speaks of culture and good education. Society perceives a person with a rich vocabulary as smart and creative personality. The larger a person's vocabulary, the more likely they are to succeed in life.

Methods, methods and techniques for increasing vocabulary:

1. Think about which of the banal, hackneyed, hackneyed words and expressions you are used to using on a daily basis in standard communication situations. Write them down on a piece of paper. Recorded?

Now take it off the shelf dictionary or a dictionary of synonyms. Find these words that are already hurting your own ears and that you are tired of hearing every day.

Study the long list of alternatives and say each of these words out loud. Which one reflects your personality? Which one suits you personally?

Try each one as you try on a suit and see which ones you find comfortable and cozy.

Choose a few of these words and practice by saying them out loud until they become a natural part of your vocabulary;

2. Communication is the main source of replenishment of a person's vocabulary. During a conversation, each participant replenishes his vocabulary from the arsenal of the interlocutor, there is a word exchange between them.

Talk to your friends, acquaintances, relatives as much as possible. Use new words in your vocabulary, knowledge about a word is nothing without using it;

3. Read, reading books is good. Start with those authors who are more understandable and close to your interests.

Gradually add literature harder. The text where there are interesting words and expressions that you want to remember and apply in the future, re-read aloud (when reading to ourselves, we also replenish our vocabulary, but not so quickly, because in this way we only see the words, while reading aloud, we in addition to this, we also hear them and, most importantly, we pronounce them, so we remember them better);

4. When you spot a new word, don't just look at its definition in a dictionary. Pay attention to the turn of speech in which this word is used, try to replace it for yourself with the corresponding synonym.

Try to rhyme, come up with as many suitable phrases as possible. The more you know about a word, the faster you will learn to use it without complicating your memory. E it will immediately affect the beauty and personality of your speech;

5. Write. Rewrite other people's articles and your favorites literary works following the example of Demosthenes, who rewrote Thucydides' History eight times in a row.

Crossword puzzles are not just entertainment, but also a way to develop vocabulary. Use this opportunity on the road, on vacation. Choose crossword puzzles from well-known publications or those that have a good reputation;

6. For those who spend a lot of time on the road, driving or have absolutely no free time to use books and dictionaries there is a unique opportunity develop your speech and increase your vocabulary with audiobooks.

A similar method will also be acceptable to an audience that perceives better by ear. In any case, while away the time in traffic jams reading good literature is much more useful and effective for your development. published

A group of Belgian researchers representing the University of Ghent found out how many words, on average, people who have reached the age of twenty know American English as their native language. As it turned out, this figure is 42 thousand.

Experts note that we are talking about words in the basic form, that is, in the one in which they can be seen in the dictionary. Proper names were also not included in the list. In the course of their study, scientists used a list that included about 62 thousand words.

Scientists conducted tests with the participation of more than 220 thousand people. Each of them was shown a list that included 67 "real" words, as well as 33 combinations of letters similar to English words, but in fact they are not. Participants in the study had to say which of the words in front of them they knew the meaning of. At the same time, the choice of a non-existent word removed “points” from the participants, so it was unprofitable for them to try to name certain words at random. In addition to testing directly, volunteers had to provide some information about themselves, including their age and level of education.

Based on the number of correct answers, scientists, using a previously developed algorithm, were able to guess how many words of the English language each of the people who were tested knows in total. For participants aged 22, the figure was about 42,000.

According to scientists, after reaching the age of twenty, a person continues to replenish his vocabulary with new words about once every two days, that is, by the age of sixtieth, the number known to man words grows by about six thousand more.

The average active vocabulary of a Russian-speaking person, according to Russian researchers, is as follows:

By the beginning of school, a child knows an average of 20 thousand words (including derivatives), by the time of graduation this value increases to 51 thousand, that is, 2.5 times.
Adults who have just graduated from school know, on average, 2-3 thousand words more than those who did not finish it at the time.
Vocabulary for adults who have received a secondary or secondary specialized education, it practically does not differ and averages 75 thousand words.
Those who studied at universities and institutes (and not necessarily graduated from them) know an average of 81,000 words.
Candidates and doctors of science know an average of 5 thousand more - 86 thousand words.

A lot has been said and written about how to increase vocabulary. Most educated people think about this regularly, even if their activities are not directly related to rhetoric or public speaking. The Russian language, rich and beautiful, allows people who speak it to express their thoughts expressively, elegantly and in a variety of ways. Good knowledge of the native language is a serious advantage in work, relationships, in any communications with others.

How to replenish your vocabulary, what methods and activities will be most effective? Let's try to figure it out.

Varieties of the lexicon

When we think about how to expand vocabulary, it is important to understand that, first of all, we are talking about increasing active vocabulary.

Active vocabulary - these are the words that we use in everyday life, communicating with friends, relatives, colleagues. We pronounce them easily and naturally, they are firmly embedded in speech and writing. We don't need much effort to find the right word.

Passive vocabulary is words whose meaning is generally clear and known to us, but we practically do not use them. Perhaps this is inappropriate in our social circle, or there are some other reasons. Then, in order to remember a word, we have to make some effort.

External vocabulary is highly specialized terms, the meaning of which we do not fully know. Usually these are words that are used in a professional environment, among a small circle of people.

As a rule, most people have a very limited active vocabulary: it's good if a hundredth of the total volume is used in speech. Therefore, when the question arises of how to replenish your vocabulary, this means that you first need to replenish the stock of constantly used words.

Learning to speak again

What do we do when we share our experiences with friends or call the support service and can't find the right name or accurately describe our emotions or feelings?

But we agreed that we would think about how to increase the vocabulary, right? Then we begin to develop awareness:

The recipe, in fact, is very simple: to learn how to speak beautifully, you need to ... speak. It's true. Learn to speak face-to-face. Tell stories, plots of books or films, news or impressions. Try to use new words that you haven't used before. Include them in your life consciously.

Write letters

Written speech will also help to solve the problem of how to increase the number of words used. Write letters. Post on forums or social media. Try writing articles or essays. Keep a diary.

Carefully select words and phrases, look for synonyms - practice and practice is important in this matter.

Make a speech

Helps to enrich speech very well public performance and responsible conversations. Make a sketch on paper in advance. Train, seek different variants, most accurately and fully reflecting your point of view. If you have to speak in front of a large audience, make your speech bright and rich, rather than dull and unemotional.

learn poetry

Learn by heart verses, retell texts. It is important not only to tell the text, but to do it as close as possible to the style of the author, paying attention to new words and phraseological units. Tell emotionally, with expression, then it will be easier to remember new words.

Constantly replenish your active and passive vocabulary: both are important. Listen to audiobooks, solve crossword puzzles, watch useful educational programs and communicate with educated and developed people.
To better remember a new word or turn of speech, create a vivid image, visualize it inside yourself. Words are well remembered in conjunction with others, in sentences, and not on their own.
Write down your favorite quotes and expressions. Use them in your speech. The main thing is that it should be appropriate.
Do not use slang words and swear words: approach the issue creatively, look for colorful bright replacements.
Don't fill short-term memory with useless information.
Learn foreign language. Any. Oddly enough, this allows you to simultaneously replenish the active and passive vocabulary. mother tongue too.

How to activate passive typing

Our passive vocabulary is constantly replenished. Basically, this happens in two cases: while we are listening and while we are reading. So its filling begins in childhood itself. Purposefully memorizing words does not make much sense: they will remain passive.

Choose synonyms for words

Very well helps to activate the passive stock selection of synonyms. There is a whole series of interesting games when some phenomenon or object needs to be described in words, excluding the use of familiar and frequently used words from the list. You can arrange such games in a friendly company or work out alone.

It is useful to make lists of synonyms. For example, a dictionary of feelings. Write down all the feelings you know in a column and try to write as many synonyms as possible for them next to each other. Of course, it is important not only to write them, but also to use them in your spoken and written speech.

Make up stories

Another useful and entertaining exercise: we compose a story using only nouns. Or verbs. Or - the most difficult - adjectives. Remember? "Night. The street. Lamp. Pharmacy". How can you continue?

Other options are also here: compose a story where words begin with each letter of the alphabet in order. Or all words with only one letter. It is important that the story is connected.

Make room for new expressions. Throw out “uh”, “well”, “how to”, “this is the most” and the like from your speech, as well as obscene language and cliches. Send overly capacious expressions to them, like “real”, “fuck” and “cool”.

The trouble with them is that they are able to replace a significant part of the lexicon and make speech scarce.

Take note of the words. Record your own speech on a camera or voice recorder, imagine that you are at an interview or presentation. Reread your social media posts.

Analyze all this and write down the words and expressions that you want to get rid of. Share this list with a friend or colleague, ask him to pull you up every time he hears forbidden vocabulary.

2. Add variety to your reading

It is logical that in order to know more words, you need to read more. But do not cling only to high literature. Flip through low-brow novels, scroll through social media posts, blogs from people you don't know, and magazines that don't suit your interests.

You should know equally well what "indifferent", "emancipation" and "" means and what "hype", "crowdfunding" and "punchline" are.

3. Learn the meaning of obscure words

Do not be lazy to look into the dictionary and do not hesitate to ask the interlocutor again if you do not understand what he is talking about. There is no shame in confessing your ignorance. This is better than pretending to understand everything, continuing an unproductive conversation and losing the chance to learn something new.

Your usual social circle is constantly “cooked” in the same lexicon, because you have the same interests and topics for discussion. You have probably noticed that when someone from your company finds another job or meets new people, his speech changes. He sprinkles with unusual words, jokes, and even the manner of speaking can become completely different.

Every new person changes you. Therefore, strive to constantly expand the circle of your acquaintances. Communicate in the gym, in the store, attend more events and interlocutors on the Internet. Don't push away those who are different from you.

5. Carry a notebook with you

In it, without delay, mark interesting words that you have come across, and undesirable expressions that you have noticed behind you. But just taking notes is not enough - review them regularly and draw conclusions.

6. Learn a foreign language

It will make Why learn a foreign language? Benefits of bilingualism you pay attention to your own. You will become more careful with grammar and syntax, you will begin to carefully select words.

In addition, while studying a foreign language, you are already working out the mechanism for memorizing new words, as well as introducing them into the active vocabulary.

7. Write

Start a personal diary or blog on social networks. Every day, describe your thoughts and events in great detail. Write about your goals and desires, invent stories and stories. When communicating with friends, avoid torn messages and do not use instead of words.

First, writing is a great way to put to use what you've learned and reinforce it. Secondly, if you write by hand, it will help The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking It's even better to memorize new words.

8. Memorize aphorisms, poems, quotes

Touched for the soul catchphrases learning is much more pleasant than cramming vocabulary items in turn. Mark and write down everything that is hooked. Learn, repeat and reread. Over time, there will be more interesting expressions in your vocabulary.

It's not just about embellishment. Imagine how great it will be to show off your knowledge in a conversation. Just do not be zealous with quotes and high-flown lines: you may be mistaken for an upstart.

9. Use flashcards

If you can’t remember a very complex and interesting word in any way, use the method. Many people know this method from school.

On one side of the card you write the word, on the other side you write its meaning. First you need to try to remember the answer yourself, and then turn the element over and check yourself.

This method is very simple and effective: the memorization process begins with preparation. Therefore, it is better not to use applications, but to create cards yourself and write on them by hand. Yes, and you can take a small pile with you anywhere.

10. Exercise

Make up sentences where each word starts with the next letter of the alphabet. For example: “The stork was a great harmonica player. Even the raccoons howled plaintively and nodded their curious muzzles, enjoying the charming songs. That skill became fatal, fatal. The gloomy heron ambitiously threw poison at the frail, selfish youth.
Make up stories from words that belong to the same part of speech. Describe your morning using only nouns. “Call, wake up, alarm clock, turn off. Rise, search, clothes. Approach, window, opening, freshness. Cheerfulness, inspiration, joy. By the same principle, make up stories with only verbs, adjectives or participles. This activity seems simple only at first: if you set yourself the goal of adding more and more details, you will have to learn how to carefully select words and pull them out of the passive vocabulary.

Compose tautograms. So called sentences, all words of which begin with the same letter. Here is an example from the work “Olgin Ostrov” by Nikolai Kultyapov: “Onufry's father, Osip Ostromirovich Ordynsky, graduated from Oxford full-time. He unequivocally refused to remain far from the Fatherland, going back. The obsessed Ordynsky announced a survey of individual districts, regions, vast outskirts.
Find synonyms and antonyms for the words. This exercise can be done anywhere and anytime. Bored in line or at lunch - come up with a synonym for the word. For example, "beautiful" is picturesque, wonderful, encouraging, beautiful, and so on. Do the same with antonyms.

11. Play

You can also learn new words while having fun. Solve puzzles, solve puzzles and crossword puzzles - it's practically a vacation. Apart from the hard work of the brain, of course.

12. Follow the word of the day

Install apps like "Words of the Day" on your smartphone, subscribe to relevant blogs and mailing lists. As a rule, in such complex and unusual lexemes are presented with an explanation and an example of use.

This will help if you can't find time to find new ones. interesting words and their meanings. All you have to do is learn them and put them into practice.