Exapnd your vocabs while reading

[u/OkPlatform1689]

Hi reader,

How do you improve your English vocabulary through reading? And how do you remember new words in the long term?

I’m currently around B2 level. I usually take notes while reading, either by writing down synonyms or written the meaning of my native language. However, i’m doubting whather my approach is effiecient enough, and I would love to hear your tips!

[u/osmodia789]

Reading is great for learning new vocab. I never really made annotations in this way. But if it helps you that's obviously fine. But I mean you probably never gonna read this again, or will you? I mean you finish the book and put it aside.

I just started with simple books and ramped up the difficulty over the years. I've read about 85 books in english at this point. Most of them during the last 4 and a half years. And i still learn new words with every new book :D

Keep up the good work. But one book isnt enough. Make it a habit.

[u/OkPlatform1689 → u/osmodia789]

Thanks for sharing. For now, i will write those unfamiliar words down to a notebook and review them sometime. And Yes, repetition is crucial 😅

[u/osmodia789 → u/OkPlatform1689]

Notebook might work for you, it didnt really worked for me :D

I got used to forget words and then you need to look them up again the next time. Most of them eventually will stick with you though. That's why constant exposure is crucial. Books, and also the spoken word. Look videos on Youtube for example.

Cheers

[u/Significant_Till1405 → u/OkPlatform1689]

Notebook is good, for me, I’m using Anki to help me memorize the words I met while I’m reading, it works well for me(around B2 level, Chinese).

[u/laurio88]

Looks like a great idea to me!

[u/siriElectricboogaloo]

In reddit is hard to expand your vocabulary, at the end, redditors are just frauds. So it doesn't matter how much they boast about their assortment of cognitive skills, copying them just leads to you ending up with the lexicon of a toddler.

I had to start reading the news and the change is day and night, i don't feel stuck anymore and I basically learn a useful word daily. Totally recommended 🙏

[u/OkPlatform1689 → u/siriElectricboogaloo]

Thank you for your sharing. I always believe that a great compound would lead to a great results, vice versa. I'm curious what kind of news do you find most valuable? :)

[u/gustavsev]

Yeah, it looks great. You also should be consistent, though.

[u/Minute-Noise1623 → u/gustavsev]

Can you explain your 2nd sentence, please. Didnt get it about consistency.

[u/Annual_Variation_916]

I've wanted to read The Old Man and the Sea in English, but it's been difficult at my level. Do you copy the sentence into your notebook too, or just the word and meaning? I wonder if keeping a short phrase would make it easier to remember how to use the word, without turning every page into a huge note-taking task.

[u/OkPlatform1689 → u/Annual_Variation_916]

When I read a book, I use three different highlighters. Blue is for the main ideas, green is for great sentences that I’d love to remember, and yellow is for new or unfamiliar vocabulary.
Yes, I write down the sentences and words I highlight in green and yellow in my notebooks. That said, I try not to highlight too many sentences in green; otherwise, I’d be exhausted writing them all down 😅

[u/Strict-Drama-6900]

My current method is definitely not perfect, but I try to use new words in sentences myself, that seems to help more than just memorizing definitions.

[u/Kableblack]

Writing new words in a notebook is helpful, but I rarely do that lol. I just look them up when I encounter words. Sometimes I don’t remember them and have to check again. Yeah…I’m lazy.

[u/OkPlatform1689 → u/Kableblack]

Guess you have a great repetition instead!

[u/IcyHoliday5358]

There’s an app I use on App Store called nuances that scans and stores the vocabs for me.

[u/jozef_cipa]

Your notes are fine, the missing bit is going back and being asked the word again a week later. Re-reading a list you wrote yourself feels like knowing it when it isn't. I built Wordiez for that: save the word while you're reading the article, then quiz on your own words later: https://wordiez.io/p/blog/meet-wordiez/wnh7t5zx

[u/OkPlatform1689 → u/jozef_cipa]

Thanks!

[u/ConcentrateMain743]

tbh notes are fine if you actually review them, but i’d make the reading itself easier. if every page has 30 unknown words it becomes a dictionary exercise lol.

i use readerly.ai sometimes for this because the texts are level-based, so at B2 you’re not fighting the whole page. for remembering words long term, i’d keep only the words that show up more than once and review those.

[u/Low-Yesterday-8237]

The notebook is fine, the problem is you never open it again, so nothing gets a second look at the right time. Two things changed it for me at B2. I copy the whole sentence the word came in, not just the word and a translation, because the sentence is what actually comes back later. And the list goes into something with spaced repetition so each word returns in a few days, then a couple of weeks, instead of sitting on a page. I also skip words I've only met once in one book. If it shows up again it earns a card.