Living in a tech-enabled, AI-powered, video-on-demand society has many people convinced that knowing a wide range of words just isn’t important anymore. After all, we can just look up unfamiliar words on our ever-present devices, right? Don’t give up on language just yet; vocabulary still matters. If anything, certain types of words matter more than ever. No matter how the exams change, the SAT and ACT both continue to challenge vocabulary comprehension in a variety of ways, both embedded in passage text and through discrete usage and context questions.
What should change is how learners develop the kind of rich, practical vocabulary that promotes success on tests, in school, and in life. Those canned lists of 5000 SAT words won’t cut it anymore, if they ever did. Yes, memorizing certain tightly-focused lists can deliver crucial points on test day. Even better, learning the Latin and Greek roots of words promotes a broader facility and flexibility with the English language. However, efforts to artificially enhance one’s vocabulary can never compete with organic acquisition of new words in context.
The easiest and most enjoyable way to dramatically improve your vocabulary in a way that actually matters can be boiled down to three simple steps:
1. Read
Surprisingly, this may be the toughest step for some, but the entire process of vocabulary development and acquisition depends on a steady diet of text. And not just any text will do. You’re not likely to pick up much in the way of useful terminology by reading the back of a cereal box. Improve your vocabulary by reading articles, essays, and complete works of both fiction and non-fiction written at a high level of complexity. This step works best if you read every day and read what you actually enjoy! Consuming more and more varied reading material may be the only effective way to prepare for questions on the grammar sections of the exams that test usage, basically which words English speakers employ in certain phrases or applications.
2. Use Context to Decode Unfamiliar Words
If you are reading the right works, you will definitely encounter words you do not know the meanings to. When this happens, resist the urge to either reach for your preferred dictionary app or just skip the word altogether. Instead, use contextual clues to guess what the word means. Use surrounding text, the author’s tone, the roots of the word in question, or even the way it sounds. Pay close attention to transitional words and phrases. Don’t give up until you have a prediction. Learning to recognize the meanings of words in context serves as excellent preparation for most vocabulary-related questions on high stakes exams.
3. Look Up the Word
Context is king. When you are able to grasp the meanings of unfamiliar words and phrases by decoding contextual clues, you will understand everything you read more deeply and more quickly. But don’t trust your contextual comprehension until you’ve tested it. Once you’ve predicted the meaning of a word, look it up! Whether you were right or wrong, you’ve added to your growing mastery of the English language.
Follow these three easy steps to a superior English vocabulary and you’ll reap the benefits every day of your life.
Mike Bergin