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  • What is the best way to improve your vocabulary?

  • If you ask this question to English teachers or other English learners, they will tell you the same thing.

  • They'll tell you that the best way to build your vocabulary is to learn vocabulary in context by listening and reading a lot.

  • And I completely agree with that.

  • That is the best way to increase your vocabulary.

  • So this is common sense, right?

  • Everybody knows that.

  • This topic is so boring.

  • But there's a problem.

  • Common sense is not common action.

  • Everybody knows how to improve their vocabulary, but most people don't do it.

  • Because they spend too much time on things like social media and funny cat videos.

  • Now, if regular listening and reading is a common practice for you, then congratulations.

  • You don't need to watch this video.

  • But if it's not a common practice for you yet, let me convince you to start listening and reading on a regular basis.

  • I'm going to share with you two other benefits you'll get from applying this habit.

  • I'm also going to share with you some listening and reading materials at the end of this video.

  • So let's get started.

  • The first benefit you'll get is "intuition."

  • What is intuition?

  • Well, let's say that you come across a multiple choice question about English grammar.

  • You look at the choices and you know immediately what the correct answer is.

  • You don't know the grammar rule that explains it.

  • There's no reasoning behind it.

  • It just feels right.

  • That's intuition.

  • It comes from taking in a lot of input by listening and reading.

  • Unfortunately, some people don't appreciate the power of intuition.

  • They learn vocabulary in a very strange way.

  • They don't learn words in context.

  • Instead, they find a list of words and memorize the meaning of each word one by one.

  • This seems like a good idea.

  • They're learning a lot of new words in a short period of time.

  • There's only one problem with this.

  • It's stupid.

  • Just because we know the meaning of a word doesn't mean that we can use it.

  • It's not enough.

  • We also need to know how the word is used.

  • Now, I'm sure that you already know this, right?

  • You're not one of those people.

  • You already know that it's much better to learn vocabulary by listening and reading.

  • Because when you do that, you're not only improving your vocabulary but also grammar, sentence structure, and so on.

  • Over time, you will become an independent learner.

  • It means that you'll have the ability to improve your English without help from other people.

  • And that's really cool.

  • Let's talk about the second benefit of this habit.

  • The second benefit is an increase in brain power.

  • Just like how a muscle needs physical exercise to become stronger, your brain needs mental exercise to grow as well.

  • Regular listening and reading is a great mental exercise.

  • It improves so many brain's functions

  • When you listen to someone speaking, you have to stay focused.

  • This improves your attention.

  • And if they're speaking really fast, you're also training your brain to process information faster, which leads to better comprehension.

  • Reading is great too.

  • It improves your memory.

  • When you read a novel, you need to remember lots of details like the names of the characters, their backgrounds, the plot, and so on.

  • Some books even increase your intelligence.

  • Reading certain types of books improves the way you think.

  • And these are just a few benefits.

  • There are so many other benefits that I didn't even mention here.

  • Now you might be thinking, "Why should I care about my brain power?"

  • Well, because it will play a huge role in your English language development.

  • Especially if you're trying to improve your spoken English.

  • For non-native speakers like you and I, speaking English requires a lot of effort.

  • It places great demands on so many cognitive functions like memory, attention, auditory processing, reasoning, and so on.

  • So if you want to speak English well, you're going to need to have a strong, healthy brain with lots of power.

  • And by the way, if you're not living in an English-speaking country, this habit is a must.

  • And I'm speaking from my personal experience here because I've never been to an English-speaking country.

  • If you're in the same situation, the only way for you to immerse yourself in the English language is by applying this simple but powerful habit.

  • I guarantee that you'll love the results.

  • So do yourself a favor by start exercising your brain today.

  • Click here to get some listening materials.

  • Or if you feel like reading, click here for my reading recommendations.

  • You can also find these links in the description below.

What is the best way to improve your vocabulary?

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