Vocabulary is absolutely vital, especially for a student. Even though there are tons of articles on the Internet about how to become wordy, only very few of them actually give real-life applications of their advice. In this post, I will share all the techniques that I used to improve my vocabulary for school and especially in essays. They are all free (I mention it when they include fees)
In this post, I will try a new feature: toggles! I hope that this will be useful; don't hesitate to tell me what you think about it in the comments!
Technique #1 : Make your own flashcards
What is it?
Flashcards are cards with, on one side, a question, and on the other side, the answer. You quiz yourself and, following whether you got it correct or not, you put the card in the box "1 day", "1 week", "1 month" etc so that you encounter more of the stuff you struggle with, and less with the content you already master. Here is a video on how they work.
They are now mostly used digitally: I personally used Ankidroid (app available in the Play Store and in the App store), and Goodnotes (you can find it only on the App store - it is not free). However, there are many other alternatives like Cram, Quizlet and Brainscape. I might write an article on Flashcards and techniques if requested.
Pros
Flashcards have been proven to be effective.
Digital ones are very practical, as you can review them on your phone.
You can get pre-made decks of cards on some subjects (depending on the app you use). Most of them are detailed and can save you lots of time
You decide how often you practise
Cons
Creating flashcards is tiring
You sometimes will forget to review - due cards will pile on and it can quickly make you demotivated (that's for me because I am lazy)
Comments
Flashcards are a must-try technique of learning - you can try them not only with vocabulary, but you can also literally learn anything with them. The other websites and apps I am going to show you are all using this technique; they just are structured in a way that avoids having you writing every single card.
Technique #2 : Vocabulary.com
Technique #4 : Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com (+flashcards)
That's all for me! I personally used all the techniques (more or less) but I mostly focused on WordUp. If you have any other useful way to improve your vocabulary, please mention it in the comments!
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