Vocabulary

 


The typical 20-year-old university student in Canada will have a vocabulary of about 20,000 words.   The typical 5-year-old will have a vocabulary of about 5,000 words.

The first 2000 words are the most important as they are the most frequent.  They will account for approximately 82% of the words in academic texts.

If you want to engage in academic study in English, it has been estimated that you will need mastery of the first 7-8000 words.    Mastery of the first 5000 is a minimum.  Otherwise in reading and listening there will be far too many words that you don’t know, which will seriously impede your comprehension.

The tests you will take will indicate your vocabulary mastery of the different levels of vocabulary.

Mastery can be considered above 80% in the vocabulary levels tests.    This would mean a score above 31 on level 1 and above 14 in the other levels.    How is your vocabulary?

The next step is to plan your vocabulary study?   Are you effectively building your vocabulary?

You can learn more about vocabulary and develop your vocabulary using the vocabulary page in my main blog here

There are also some great links on this vocabulary page

One of my favorite programs is called Word Count  (where you can determine how common or uncommon a word actually is, and hence whether it is worth learning).

Vocabulary Strategies

 

 

 

 

A strong vocabulary is the foundation to effective communications.    While most of you have a sufficient mastery of the first 3000 words used in English (albeit receptively)  you remain very weak in Level 5000 and Academic Words.     Therefore, to succeed in academic studies in  English you need to improve your knowledge of and ability to use these words.   But how?

Simply making lists of words with their translations is a poor way to study vocabulary.

Making word cards using paper or digital technology is a far more efficient and effective method.

This is what you should do.   Use the two sides of the card.

Side 1:   First language translation of the word/a picture/an English definition:  Choose just one type of
information about the target word. This goes in the middle of the card.

Side 2:   The target word in English.   This goes in the middle of the card.

On side 2 there are five spots to put additional information to help expand your knowledge of
this word.   The four corners and the centre.

Possible types of vocabulary information include:
*   pronunciation and syllable information (the centre is a good spot for this)
*   part of speech such as verb or noun (this could also go in the centre)
*   word forms
*   synonyms
*   antonyms
*   sentence example/s
*   collocations
*   common phrases using the word

I recommend studying between 30 and 50 words.   As you learn the words, you remove these from the study pile and add new words.     As your ‘known word’ pile grows,  you need to review it occasionally.
If you forget the word, you return it to the ‘study’ pile.     If you spend 5-10 minutes a day studying vocabulary this way,  you can really learn 30-100 words per month.    It is important to choose words that are useful for you.

This website is designed for just that:   Anki

This website will also improve your vocabulary:    vocabulary.com

Cloze Creator     You can make a cloze test for yourself from any inserted text to practice
your vocabulary and/or grammar.   I highly recommend this website as most AP4 students do poorly at cloze exercises that utilize vocabulary and reading knowledge and skills.

Some additional websites that are helpful:

Vocabulary Power — a very extensive webpage

BBC Learning English

Les Barclay’s Old Vocabulary Page

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