How to Study Vocabulary Without Hating It
So, studying vocabulary is the worst, right? On the one hand, no one wants to sit there drilling flashcards and hating every second of it. On the other hand, you need a high vocabulary in order to do well on just about every standardized test ever (and also to impress people at dinner parties). What’s the solution? Easy: study smarter, not harder. Here are a couple of quick tips to help you do that:
1. READ FOR FUN. I cannot stress this enough. I flatter myself that I have a pretty high vocabulary (for example, I’ll toss a casual “inane” or “superfluous” into my daily conversation, and will nod knowingly if you say something cogent or astute)—and trust me, it is not because I spent hours of my youth drilling vocabulary flashcards. It’s because I’m a nerd who, on occasion, goes to a party and brings a book along. And, this is important: I’m talking about Virginia Woolf, not Dan Brown. Make it worthwhile, stimulating reading. You’ll learn new words, I promise! (You actually use this method all the time, without even realizing it!)
2. AVOID SIMPLE FLASHCARDS. I’m talking about the kind of flashcards with a word on one side and a definition on the other, like this:
[Asinine] – [(adj.) extremely silly or foolish]
Flashcards are no good because your brain WANTS to attach ideas to other ideas. For example, has a parent or teacher ever called you by a sibling’s name? It’s because, in that person’s brain, all the important names are grouped together. Why does this matter to vocabulary, you ask? Why, because flashcards are not related to anything! They’re individual, isolated pieces of information! And that means your brain takes one look at that neat definition and goes “nope, clearly not worth remembering.” So, how do we combat this?
3. BUILD WEBS OF MEANING. This sounds complicated, but it’s actually quite simple: if you can connect the new words you’re learning to each other if you can connect them to images, situations, or physical locations, or if you can write them into a simple narrative, your brain will remember them way better, with way less effort.
VOCAB LEARNED SINCE YOU STARTED READING THIS PAGE:
Inane -- (adj.) Silly; stupid.
Superfluous -- (adj.) Unnecessary, especially through being more than enough.
Cogent -- (adj.) Clear, logical, and convincing.
Astute -- (adj.) Shrewd; perceptive.
Stimulating -- (adj.) Encouraging or provoking interest or enthusiasm
Asinine -- (adj.) Extremely silly or foolish
Looking for more tips? Sign up for our weekly BumoBrain newsletter.
