Vocabulary and understanding
How to help your reading
How to improve your reading skills
The best way to improve your reading skills is, of course,
to read. Read a little everyday; this will help you with
vocabulary, grammar and writing skills as well. How? As
you read, your brain will start to understand how the
English language works; you can see how grammar
actually works and is used, and will learn new vocabulary
(and also how these words are used).
How to study vocab most effectively
It takes many years to learn vocabulary, and English has
over a million words. So, you cannot learn all of these
words. Native speakers of English do not know all the
words in English, so you don’t need to either. Your
strategy is to learn the words you need to know.
How to study vocab most effectively

Two kind of vocabulary:

1) basic (common) words in English: the ones you
will see over and over.

2) technical words: the words that apply to your
field of study or major.
Dolch word list (220 words)
Dolch word list websites
http://www.dolchword.net/dolch-wordlist.htmlhttp://www.k12reader.com/dolch-word-list/
http://bogglesworldesl.com/dolch/sightwords.htm
Academic Word List (570 words)
The Academic Word List (AWL) was developed by
Averil Coxhead of Victoria University of
Wellington, in New Zealand. The list is divided into
10 sublists of word families and contains 570 words
selected because they appear with great frequency in
a broad range of academic texts.
Academic Word List
http://www.esldesk.com/vocabulary/academic
http://www.englishvocabularyexercises.com/AWL/
General Service List (2000 words)

The General Service List is a list of the 2000 most
common words in the English language. Therefore
the General Service List plus the Academic Word
List cover nearly 90% of academic texts. Again, you
don’t need to know all of these words.
General Service List
http://www2.elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/generalServiceList
.htmhttp://www.uefap.com/vocab/select/selfram.htm
Vocabulary learning strategies
There are three stages in learning vocabulary:
introduction (you first see it), recognition (you have
seen the word, but may not know the definition), and
mastery (you know the definition, and can use it in
writing/speaking). There are many strategies for
learning new vocabulary (and remember, you want
to learn the ones you will use a lot, see a lot, and/or
are technical words used in your field). Repetition is
the key: the more you review words, the quicker you
master them.
Vocabulary learning strategies
1. Use flash cards (write the word on one side of a
paper, and the definition on the other). Then quiz
yourself from time to time.
2. Make your own dictionary: write the word,
definition and use in a sentence (see SS handbook
for a form you can use).
3. Use online sites for vocabulary quizzes to review.
See recommended sites for some of these. 4ESL is a
good one.
Vocabulary learning strategies
4. Word family charts: group words according to part
of speech (noun, verb), singular/irregular charts, or
similarity/synonyms
5. Create sentences of your own for the words you are
learning. You need to be able to use your words, not
just define them.
6. Write a story that includes all the words you have
learned.
Vocabulary learning strategies
7. Say or write the words you are learning — this can
help you remember them.
8. Play audiotapes or videotapes repeatedly (e.g. songs
or part of a movie) — this is a great way to learn
new words
9. Write the words you are learning on pieces of paper
and tape them around your room.
Vocabulary learning strategies
10. Play online games:
http://www.vocabulary.co.il/
and
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games_voca
b.htm
are two good sites.
Dictionaries

Are easier to use than a print dictionary

Many pronounce the word for you.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/learnerenglish/

dictionary.reference.com

http://www.rong-chang.com/dictionaries.htm

http://esl-dictionary.com/

http://www.merriam-webster.com/

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/
Encyclopedias

Wikipedia is often the first online encyclopedia
students turn to, but the English in these articles is
often complicated, and the information is not often
updated or complete. Encyclopedias are your first
search sites when doing research.
Encyclopedias

http://www.encyclopedia.com/

http://www.britannica.com/


http://www.libraryspot.com/encyclopedias.htm
(list of online references, hyperlinked)
http://www.refseek.com/directory/encyclopedias.htm
l (as above, with other information )

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

http://kids.britannica.com/
Ebooks

You can read these online, or download them to a PC
or Smartphone. If you copy/paste them onto a Word
document, you can use the thesaurus to define words
as well.
Ebooks
The National Library of Rwanda has free e-books and journals:
http://197.243.18.32:8080/jspui/
http://www.openculture.com/free_ebooks list of many
free books to read online or download
www.ProjectGutenberg.org (classics)
http://www.kidsworldfun.com/ebooks.php kids books:
fun
http://classroom-aid.com/open-educationalresources/free-ebooks/
http://www.textbookrevolution.org/index.php/Main_Pa
ge