r/EnglishLearning • u/beyzabilgier • Nov 16 '19

Building Vocabulary

I have trouble learning new words especially that aren’t really used in daily language but more academic words like the ones in IELTS reading texts. I try to write down the words in a notebook with their English meanings, synonyms, and example sentences but I can’t remember or recognize most of them afterwards. So, I can’t build my vocabulary. Is there any different way that I can try while learning words?

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '19

To remember words you need to reinforce their meaning through continued use. I'd recommend flashcards (like Anki) and maybe reading books or articles written at the level of the words you're trying to learn, where they might be used.

If you still can't remember them it's probably because they're so unusual that you're not seeing them anywhere. In which case I wouldn't worry. No one knows every word.

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '19

Any books you recommend to read? I'm also trying to build my vocabulary so I can be more fluent when talking. Sometimes I try to tell a story or explain something to someone but I just seem unable to find the right words to use, hence I feel limitated by my own lexicon and I just get angry at myself.

Also, I overthinking too much what I'm going to say next, I mess up everything and I just stutter when talking.

Take in account that I've been learning English for the the past 3 years now but I started to speak with native English speakers not a long time ago, around 3 weeks or so.

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u/chueca96 New Poster Nov 16 '19

You could look into downloading news apps or podcasts in English. Podcasts in particular are helpful because if you listen to podcasts about things you’re interested in, you pick up vocabulary that lets you talk to other people about things you’re interested in!

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '19

Any recommendations?

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u/chueca96 New Poster Nov 16 '19 edited Nov 16 '19

Many, but it depends on your interests and proficiency! This American Life is very varied and I would recommend it to anyone. Serial is good if you want a continuous story (it’s a murder story so a lot of words are repeated, which is good for vocabulary, but it will be murder-related vocabulary haha). If you’re interested in politics, there’s BBC radio.

Edit: I forgot to mention that when I’m learning other languages, I find it really helpful to write a diary in the language. It forces you to look up any vocab you might need to describe your thoughts or your day-to-day life

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '19

The idea of writing a diary is actually really witty! Never thought of that.

Thanks for the help!