Vocabulary
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What words are worth learning?
Organising your vocabulary learning
Remembering Vocabulary
Evaluating your vocabulary learning
Learning vocabulary from lists
Learning vocabulary by reading or listening
Learning Vocabulary by writing or speaking
Word-building
Phrases and idioms
Deciding Which Words Are Worth Learning
Besides textbooks, there are many good
books of all kinds in the Learning Support
Centre - like Roald Dahl's Revolting
Rhymes.
How do I decide which words to learn?
This is an important question. There are a lot of words in English compared with many other
languages, and it is impossible to know them all: even native speakers frequently meet words they
have never seen before in their reading. Look at any page in something you're reading at the moment
(e.g. a newspaper or book) how many words on the page do you not know?
Even if there is only one word on every page that you do not know, it will slow down your reading a lot
if you have to stop to look up a word in the dictionary every page. And with 3 or 5 unknown words on
each page ... Luckily, though, not every word needs to be looked up and remembered:
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some words can be guessed from the context;
many words are not common: you may not meet them again for years (if ever) and are
therefore not worth learning;
some words are common or important, and are therefore worth learning.
Steps to try when deciding if a word is worth learning
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Try to guess the meaning. If you can guess the meaning, carry on reading. If not, go to step 2.
Does the word seem important? (Check in a bilingual dictionary. Is the meaning given an
important one?) If not, carry on reading. If it is, go to step 3.
Is the word common? You can check this by looking in the COBUILD English Dictionary (new
edition) and seeing how many black diamonds are next to the word. The chart below may
help you decide if the word is worth learning:
5 diamonds
In the most common 700 words of English. You know it already.
4 diamonds
In the most common 1,900 words of English. If you don't know the word
already, you should learn it, as it's very common.
3 diamonds
In the most common 3,400 words of English, which make up the vast majority
of English. Well worth learning.
2 diamonds
In the most common 6,600 words of English. You may want to learn it if you
already know the first three levels.
1 diamond
In the most common 14,700 words of English. Not very common. Is it important
or interesting to you? If not, you may want to ignore it (unless you know the first
four levels).
0 diamonds
Not in the most common 14,700 words of English. Probably not worth learning,
unless it is important or interesting to you.
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Organising Your Vocabulary Learning
How can I Organise the Words and Phrases that I want to Learn?
When considering this problem, there are two main decisions to make:
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Where do I put the words/phrases I want to learn? Notebooks, flash cards, computer files, or
pieces of paper around the house can all be helpful.
How do I classify the words/phrases I want to learn? There are many different ways of
organising vocabulary items, and everyone has their own preference.
How to classify/organise? Parts of speech (nouns/verbs etc. - but drawbacks)
Topics, Situations, Alphabetical, Chronological, Frequency, Difficulty
There's too much to learn - How can I cope?
Let's say that you plan to learn 10 words a week (a modest target). Unless you can remember words
just by looking at them once, you are likely to face the following problem: The first week, you will have
no problems. The second week, in addition to the 10 words for that week, you will also have to revise
the 10 words from week 1. The third week, in addition to the 10 words for that week, you will have to
revise the 20 words from weeks 1 and 2, and so on.
Here are two ways in which you could reduce your learning load:
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Try to recycle the vocabulary you learn as much as possible. If you try to read, listen to, speak
about or write about the same topic (e.g. a particular news story) over a number of weeks,
you will find that the same vocabulary keeps occurring. If you follow the same topic over
several weeks, it is likely that you will meet some of the words you have tried to learn earlier.
Meeting the words in context will help you remember them, and will reduce your memorising
load each week. It will also give you an idea of how the words are actually used in context.
Focus on the words that you find most difficult to learn. You may be spending time on
'learning' words that you already remember - time that could be better spent on the words that
you just seem to keep forgetting. This is covered in detail in eMIT Remembering Vocabulary.
Tips on Organising your Learning:
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Search for techniques on the LSC computer catalogue: choose Vocabulary under 'LSC'.
Read Chapter 7 of How to Learn a Language ('Learning a Language' shelf in the LSC Audio
area), or Unit 5 of Increase Your Vocabulary ('Vocabulary' shelf in the Reading & Writing
Area).
If you are interested in the frequency of words, check out eMIT "Deciding Which Words are
Worth Learning".
If you are interested in organising words according to how difficult you find them to learn,
check out eMIT "Remembering Vocabulary".
N.B. The important thing is to find out what works/does not work for you and why. Do your
methods help you to learn effectively? If not, what could you do that would help you to learn
more effectively?
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Remembering Vocabulary
Reading books you enjoy is an excellent
way to improve your vocabulary. The
Learning Support Centre has a wide
variety of books, such as Jurassic Park.
How can I remember what I have 'learned'?
Here are some suggested methods for reducing the 'forgetting problem':
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Learn repeatedly and focus on the words that you find difficult.
Try out different methods. For example:
o If are you a visual person (e.g. if you prefer to access a computer by clicking on icons
rather than by typing in letters and numbers), you may like to try the Keyword
method. This method has been found to be very effective with small numbers of
words (e.g. a few hundred), even over many years. It is especially useful with
'concrete' words that can be easily visualised (e.g. mountain), but may not be so
useful with abstract words (e.g. emotion). How does it work? You associate the target
word in the foreign language with a word that sounds similar in your own language.
This is the keyword. Then you form a picture in your mind that combines the keyword
and the meaning of the target word. Every time you see the target word, you
remember the picture you have formed, and then remember the meaning. For
example:
 An English-speaker, learning the French word petit ('small, little') might think
of the English word pet, picture a small pet such as a very small dog, and
then remember the meaning for petit - i.e. 'small'.
 A Cantonese-speaker, learning the English word sugar, might think of the
Cantonese word syu ga ('bookshelf') and picture 'sugar on a bookshelf' in
her mind, and then remember the meaning of 'sugar'.
Write the words you are learning on pieces of paper/stick-it notes and put them round your
room or home.
Record the words/phrases you are learning on tape, and play them to yourself whenever you
have some spare time (e.g. when travelling) - this way you will get used to the spoken form of
the word as well as the written form.
Use what you have learned (especially if you are learning vocabulary for speaking or writing).
Using vocabulary in speech or writing helps it to stay learned. As they say: "Use it or lose it."
Recycle what you have learned. If you try to read, listen to, speak about or write about the
same topic (e.g. a particular news story) over a number of weeks, you will find that the same
vocabulary keeps occurring. If you follow the same topic over several weeks, it is likely that
you will meet some of the words you have tried to learn earlier. Meeting the words in context
will help you remember them.
Test yourself frequently. One example of testing is given above. For more suggestions, see
eMIT Evaluating Your Vocabulary Learning.
For more suggestions, see Units 6 and 7 of Increase Your Vocabulary ('Vocabulary' shelf,
Reading & Writing Area).
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Evaluating Your Vocabulary Learning
Evaluating your Progress
Here are some tips for evaluating your own progress. You may already have a method that works well
for you - if so, that's great, stick with it. If not, you may like to:
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Test yourself or ask a friend to test you - and do this frequently.
Test yourself or ask a friend to test you on your knowledge of a set of words over a period of
time (e.g. one or two months) - how well do you know the words now?
Do a 'before' and 'after' test: at the beginning and end of a period of learning (e.g. when you
start and a couple of months later) do the same test, hold a conversation or write a report on
the same topic etc. - this is a good way to see if you've improved.
Keep a diary as you learn. Write down your feelings and comment on your progress as you
go. This will help you to see evidence of progress and detect problems.
If you are practising speaking or writing, ask a fluent or advanced speaker or writer of English
to comment on your use of vocabulary. If you are in touch with them over a few months, they
should be able to tell if you have made progress, at least if you have concentrated on a few
topic areas only.
If you are learning vocabulary from a Vocabulary textbook, use the exercises in the book to
test your knowledge.
If you are learning vocabulary of a certain frequency range (e.g. the most common 3,000
words or the University Word List) try reading a book of the same frequency level (e.g.
simplified readers or academic textbooks) after a certain period of time - do you find it easy to
read the book now?
To see how other learners evaluate their vocabulary learning, check out Learning to Learn
English, pp. 30-32 ('Learning a Language' shelf, Audio Area).
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Learning Vocabulary From Lists / Textbooks
The Interactive picture dictionary is available on CD-ROM in the Learning Support
Centre.
Useful Materials in the Learning Support Centre
There are a number of wordlists available that you may find useful. Some people find them boring, but
the advantage is that they often list words of a similar frequency or a similar topic together, so that it
doesn't take as long to find useful words as it does when you're reading through books or
newspapers.
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Wordlists. There are wordlists in:
o English Vocabulary for Tertiary Study (H6) in the English for Special Purposes
section
o An Academic Wordlist in the Vocabulary section
o Vocabulary Lists in the Vocabulary section
Textbooks
There is a wide selection of Vocabulary textbooks for you to browse through on the
Vocabulary shelf in the Reading + Writing area. Here are some which you may like to try
out:
A Way with Words, English Vocabulary in Use, Build your Vocabulary, Test your
vocabulary, Word power.
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Dictionaries
For examples of how words are used in context:
COBUILD English Dictionary, Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, Longman Dictionary
of Contemporary English (in the Reference area: the latest editions are the best ones)
To hear the pronunciation of words:
The Interactive Picture Dictionary (ask for the CD-ROM at the LEARNING SUPPORT
CENTRE desk)
To learn vocabulary to improve your writing or speaking:
Longman Language Activator (lists similar words together so you can see what the
difference is between them)
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Other Reference Material
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Other reference material
Some reference sources give extra information about what words normally go together
with the words you are learning:
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LTP Dictionary of Selected Collocations in the Reference area
Webster's Universal Dictionary and Thesaurus in the Reference area
Issues in English (ask for the CD-ROM at the LEARNING SUPPORT CENTRE
desk)
Simplified readers can be very useful if you are learning words of a certain frequency (see
glossary). There are many to choose from in the Reading and Readers areas, each with
certain frequency levels (e.g. 1,500 words; 3,000 words etc.). There are also some
readers in the Library under the Dewey number 428.6 that you can borrow on your
student card.
The WWW
http://lc.ust.hk/~learn/
http://www.rong-chang.com/
http://members.home.net/englishzone/index.html
Learning Vocabulary by Reading or Listening
Finding Materials
This won't normally be a problem - just read or listen to whatever interests you. The advantage of this
type of vocabulary learning is that you can find materials anywhere, not necessarily from the
LEARNING SUPPORT CENTRE.
Useful Materials in the Learning Support Centre
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Magazines: North and South, NZ Listener, NZ Geographic, Fashion Quarterly, Mana, Pacific
Islands Weekly, Consumer
Newspapers: New Zealand Herald
Films: There are many movies in the LEARNING SUPPORT CENTRE. Some films contain a
lot of useful vocabulary; others do not. See eMIT Listening to Movies for further advice.
Cassette tapes: You can use the readers with tapes in the Listening and Reading section to
build your vocabulary knowledge by checking what you hear in the reader.
News reports: For advice on audio and video news sources and learning materials available
in the LEARNING SUPPORT CENTRE, see eMIT Listening to the News. A useful resource is
COBUILD Key Words in the Media (on the Vocabulary shelf).
WWW : A very useful internet site for idioms is Dave's internet cafe: http://eslcafe.com/
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Learning Tips
Here are some tips for learning vocabulary from your normal reading or listening. You may already
have your own method that works well for you. If so, that's great - stick with it. If not, you may like to:
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Read or listen to a lot of material on one topic (or a small number of topics). This helps you
quickly become familiar with vocabulary on that topic. For example, for listening you can:
o interview a number of fluent/advanced/native speakers for one or two minutes each
on the same topic and record each conversation. You can then play back all the short
recordings, noting the vocabulary used.
o follow a major news story on the radio or TV over a period of time.
o only listen to certain types of news story.
If you are not sure which words you should spend your time on, check out eMIT Deciding
Which Words are Worth Learnin.
N.B. The important thing is to find out what works/does not work for you and why. Do your methods
help you to learn effectively? If not, what could you do that would help you learn more effectively?
Learning Vocabulary for Speaking and Writing
Choosing Materials
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If you want to improve your vocabulary for speaking, it's useful to listen to conversations as
much as possible; similarly, to improve your vocabulary for writing, it's useful to read as
widely as possible. Both these methods will help you to see how words are used in context,
which is vital if you want to use vocabulary appropriately. You can do this anywhere, not
necessarily in the Learning Support Centre.
If you want to use commercial learning materials, you may find it useful to choose material
which shows words in context, and gives a lot of information about words which are
commonly associated together (collocations, synonyms etc.). Listening material that has tape
scripts will be useful.
Useful Materials in the Learning Support Centre
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Vocabulary textbooks
For material on collocations, try the following:
o A Way with Words 2, unit 4;
o English Vocabulary in Use (pre-intermediate to intermediate),
o Phrase Building (found on the Vocabulary shelf in the Grammar and Writing section.)
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Listening Material
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Browse through the materials in the Listening and Speaking section, use some of the videos
or try the following:
o Kiwi Conversation : the "Shortland Street way" B5, found in the New Zealand
section;
o Issues in English (ask for the CD-ROM at the LEARNING SUPPORT
CENTRE desk).
Pronunciation material: If you are trying to improve your spoken vocabulary, it's vital
(a) to know the spoken forms of words, and (b) to know how they are pronounced in
context, in connected speech.
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To know how a word is pronounced, we recommend:
o The Interactive Picture Dictionary (ask for the CD-ROM at the LEARNING SUPPORT
CENTRE desk);
o Headway Pronunciation J6 - J9 (found in the Listening and Speaking section).
To learn more about how the pronunciation of words changes in connected speech, and in
particular, how words link together, you will find the following materials in the LEARNING
SUPPORT CENTRE useful:
o Speaking Clearly J17, In Tempo J1, and Exploring Spoken English J10 (found in the
Listening and Speaking section);
o Issues in English (ask for the CD-ROM at the LEARNING SUPPORT CENTRE desk).
Reading material: There are many simplified readers in the Reading and Readers areas, at
different levels of difficulty. You can also borrow readers from the Library (at 428.6) for up to
three weeks.
Learning Tips
Here are some tips for learning vocabulary for speaking or writing. You may already have your own
method that works well for you. If so, that's great - stick with it. If not, you may like to try one of
these(there are more in the left hand sidebar):
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Read or listen as much as you can.
Find lots of examples of how the words you want to use are used in context (use dictionaries,
concordances etc.). Learning common combinations of words or phrases will be very helpful
for your speaking or writing.
Practise speaking or writing as much as possible.
Read or listen to a lot of material on one topic (or a small number of topics). This helps you
quickly become familiar with vocabulary on that topic. For example, for listening you can:
interview a number of fluent/ advanced/ native speakers for one or two minutes each on the
same topic and record each conversation.
You can then play back all the short recordings, noting the vocabulary used.
Follow a major news story on the radio or TV over a period of time. Only listen to certain types
of news story. Use diagrams to make connections between words that are associated
together. See English Vocabulary in Use, unit 2 ('Vocabulary' shelf, Grammar and Writing
area). Put the word you are learning into a sentence about you or what interests you at the
moment. e.g. Categorise: I'm categorising the words into different topics.
N.B. The important thing is to find out what works/does not work for you and why. Do your methods
help you to learn effectively? If not, what could you do that would help you learn more effectively?
If you do use an effective technique, please let us know about it - we would like to hear from you!
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Learning Parts of Words (Word-building)
Useful materials in the Learning Support Centre
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Language learning worksheets on prefixes and suffixes W138 - W158 (found in the Language
Skills section).
A Way with Words, Book 2, Units 2 and 16; Intermediate Vocabulary, Units 60-81; English
Vocabulary in Use: pre-intermediate & intermediate, Units 7-9 (found on the Vocabulary shelf
in the Grammar and Writing section).
Issues in English (ask for the CD-ROM at the Learning Support Centre desk)
Learning Tips
Here are some tips for learning vocabulary for speaking or writing. You may already have your own
method that works well for you. If so, that's great - stick with it. If not, you may like to try one of these:
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Find lots of examples of how the words you want to use are used in context (dictionaries,
concordances etc.)
Make cards for each word. Write the word on the front of the card; on the back, you can put
its meaning, with any other information that you like, e.g. the sentence it came from, other
example sentences from a dictionary, its pronunciation, other meanings of the word, other
grammatical forms (e.g. -ly, -ness etc.), collocations, synonyms etc.
If you make a vocabulary list or learn from cards, try changing the order of the words when
you learn them each time, so that you don't just remember them in a fixed order. Writing out
the words as a word processed file can help - it's then easy to sort the words in different
ways.
If you are not sure which words you should spend your time on.
Learning Phrases or Idioms
Useful Materials in the Learning Support Centre
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Vocabulary textbooks
o There are many materials on the 'Vocabulary' shelf in the Grammar and Writing area.
Recommended materials:
o A Way with Words 2, unit 14; English Vocabulary in Use, units 74-91
Dictionaries
For examples of how words are used in context:
o COBUILD English Dictionary, Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Longman
Dictionary of Contemporary English
For groups of similar words together (these help you to see the difference between similar
words): Longman Language Activator, Longman Lexicon.
Other reference material
o These reference sources give extra information about what words normally go
together:
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LTP Dictionary of Selected Collocations in the Reference area.
English Idioms in the Reference area
In Other Words: a Dictionary of Expressions used in New Zealand on the Vocabulary
shelf in the Grammar and Writing section
Learning Tips
Here are some tips for learning phrases or idioms. You may already have your own method that
works well for you. If so, that's great - stick with it. If not, you may like to:
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Find lots of examples of how the phrases/idioms you want to learn are used in context (use
dictionaries, concordances etc.)
Look at English Vocabulary in Use, unit 74, for general advice on organising your learning of
phrases/idioms
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Glossary
Collocation
When two words often go together (i.e. one often follows the
other in speech or writing), they are said to collocate with each
other. For example, an adjective that often collocates with rain
is heavy (not big). Heavy rain, therefore, is a collocation.
A computer program that searches through a large collection of
Concordance texts and then lists all the examples of a particular word in
context
Frequency
level/range
This indicates how common the word is. A word in the 1,0002,000 frequency range will be one of the second thousand most
common words in English i.e. very common. A word at the
10,000 frequency level will not be common. Knowledge of the
3,000 most common words in English is considered to be
essential for understanding texts at university level.
GSL
The General Service List - a list of the 2,000 most frequent
words in English.
Simplified
readers
Books which have been made easier to read for non-native
speakers (usually the vocabulary, grammar and sentence length
are altered).
Synonym
A word similar in meaning to another word. e.g. big and large
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