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  • Hello! I'm Emma from mmmEnglish! What's the best way to learn new English vocabulary?

  • Ahh the million dollar question! If only I could give the ultimate answer to that question.

  • It's a question that I get asked daily - literally! There is no single

  • best way. There is no quick solution, but I do have 10 tips or recommendations in

  • this lesson that will help you to improve your English vocabulary. So you

  • need to find the best way for you and to do that you need to take a few moments

  • to think about YOU. Think about your interests. Do you like reading? The

  • movies? Watching the news? How do you like to learn? Do you like to learn

  • inside or outside, in a group or alone? What type of learner are you? How do you

  • best take in information? And what's your schedule like? When can you study?

  • On the train or with your kids? Use this information to find the opportunities to

  • learn and enjoy English. The truth is that to successfully learn new

  • vocabulary, you need to create really good study habits. You need to keep it

  • interesting and you need to make sure that you're having fun! It's something

  • that you need to be doing every day so you need to find a way to involve things

  • that you love to do. Me? I get really bored reading grammar books and

  • listening to words through dictionaries. I'm much more likely to stay motivated

  • if I'm eating or drinking so I like to study around meals. Hey, you may laugh but

  • it works for me! Consistency is key when you're learning new words.

  • You can't just learn them once and magically they're kept inside your head forever.

  • You need to hear them again and again. Understand how they're used in different

  • context or how they're conjugated or used in different, in word families. You need to

  • use them yourself. The truth is that we all learn differently. So in this video

  • I'm going to talk about 10 different tools and techniques that you can use to

  • improve your vocabulary. You might not like all of them

  • but you will definitely enjoy some of them and hopefully you can make them a

  • part of your daily or your weekly routine. And if you've got any of your

  • own suggestions about ways to learn vocabulary, then add them to the comments

  • below! Share the love with everyone, people! So, the first suggestion or the

  • first tip is get better at studying new words. Keep a vocabulary journal. Don't

  • roll your eyes at me, you can do this in lots of different ways. If you think it's

  • dorky to carry around a notebook, then find a way that works for you.

  • There are lots of apps that can help you to do this - apps on your smartphone. And it's

  • just as easy to make notes there. Your phone is great because it's always with

  • you but if you prefer to keep a notebook that's just as good. So neat ways of

  • doing this are creating lists or by creating vocabulary maps. However, you do it

  • you need to keep updating it and you need to keep building on this list

  • and don't just write the word down. Go deeper! If it's a noun, learn whether it's

  • countable or uncountable. Learn the prefixes and suffixes so that you can

  • build on those words. Learn synonyms for those words. You know, if you said "I felt

  • angry", there are so many other options. Annoyed, irritated, furious, frustrated, or

  • cranky. Learn if any of these words are used in phrasal verbs or idioms.

  • Number two. When you do learn new words, don't just

  • learn them on their own. Learn them with the words that they are often used with.

  • These are called collocations. Two or more English words that are often said

  • together or used together. They sound right because native speakers often use

  • them together. For example, you throw or have or plan a party. You don't make a party.

  • Or instead of memorising the word, apply, learn the phrase "apply for a job"

  • or "apply for a citizenship" or "apply for a visa". You can learn hundreds of new

  • individual words but you'll be frustrated if you can't put them

  • together in a sentence that sounds correct and natural. When you learn words

  • in groups, you're learning the words with the verb, the nouns, the prepositions that

  • they are commonly used with so you'll sound much more natural when you speak.

  • Three. Learn new vocabulary through stories. Stories are full of new words,

  • phrases and interesting expressions that show you how words come together in a

  • really entertaining way. Just like the collocation method, you are learning new

  • vocabulary in context. You're not only learning what words to use but you're

  • learning how to use them. An important note to remember is that it's important

  • to challenge yourself but not feel completely overwhelmed and confused.

  • Read stories that are fun, that are enjoyable and that help you to feel confident with

  • English. Start with children's books if you need to! "Emma are you serious? Start

  • with children's books?" Yes I'm serious! There are lots of great children's books

  • out there that are interesting, they're funny, they're full of adventure.

  • Start with children's books and when you're reading them and it becomes too

  • easy, you can try something a bit more challenging. In the description below

  • I've linked to some great books that you can get started with. In this wonderful

  • day and age that we live in, you can also find audiobooks for almost any book that

  • you can imagine and when you're learning English, hearing how the words are

  • pronounced is so important because English is not phonetic. In English, words

  • are often not pronounced the way that you think they are, so listening and

  • reading at the same time is even better! I use Audible to download my audiobooks

  • and listen to them while I'm jogging, while I'm travelling, while I'm drifting

  • off to sleep. And I've listed some really great books in the description box below.

  • Plus, there's a link down there to try your first audio book for free and I

  • really recommend it. Make sure you choose stories and topics that you love and

  • that you're interested in. On that note, TED Talks are also really great for this

  • because there's TED Talks on almost every topic imaginable and you can also

  • follow the transcript as the speaker is speaking. I'll link you to some of my

  • favourite TED Talks in the description below too.

  • Another great tip is to learn new vocabulary through songs. If you love

  • listening to music, there is no doubt that learning new vocabulary through

  • songs will help you to remember them. You need to find songs where the words are

  • not sung too fast so that you can hear each word and how it's pronounced.

  • It's more effective if you can download the lyrics and read them as you're listening.

  • There are so many more benefits to learning vocabulary through songs! They get stuck

  • in your head - if they're good - so you'll be singing them and practising them so

  • often you won't even feel like you're doing it - in the shower, while you're

  • exercising, while you're driving to work.

  • Songs also use colloquial language or slang language that's really common in English.

  • You'll also hear how words are contracted and reduced and it's going to

  • improve your speaking skills too. If you're singing out loud you'll be

  • improving aspects of your pronunciation. And the rhythm of music helps you to

  • memorise new vocabulary. I'll also link down there to some great websites where

  • you can get lyrics for English songs and also, if you've got any suggestions about

  • great English music that you like to listen to, make sure you add it to the comments.

  • The next tip. Get better at using online dictionaries. Online dictionaries

  • offer so many ways to practise and learn new English vocabulary. Let's look at the

  • word, produce, as an example. When I look up this word in an online dictionary,

  • I can read the definition, I can read and sometimes listen to the different verb forms,

  • producers, produced, producing. I can read lots of example sentences that

  • show how this word is used. I can also learn synonyms

  • and collocations. You can also see the entire word family: produce, producer, production,

  • productive, unproductive, productively, product, produce. You'll also listen to

  • the pronunciation and in this example, you'll be surprised (maybe) to learn that

  • the verb produce and the noun produce are pronounced differently.

  • I recommend some online dictionaries below in the description box. I use Oxford online

  • dictionaries and Macmillan online dictionaries. They also have really great

  • apps for iPhone and for Android. So go and explore all of the amazing vocabulary

  • building tools. Plus, if you

  • sign up to their email list you're going to get sent a new English word every day

  • and that's just another way to get more practice with new vocabulary!

  • OK, what about flashcards and labels? Flashcards have been a really

  • favourite way of learning new vocabulary for years and years! But there are lots

  • more options available for us today. You might prefer to hand-write English

  • phrases on one side of a card and then translate them into your own native

  • language on the other, but you can also use an SRS program such as Anki.

  • Now I downloaded Anki a few weeks ago and I think it's amazing! It allows you to remember a

  • large number of words in a short amount of time. And it also lets you work at

  • your own pace so I guess it's kind of like digital flashcards and as you

  • practise, the program remembers what words you get wrong and it shows you

  • them more frequently. So you get to practise some more! It's a really

  • efficient way of studying, I can't recommend it highly enough! I use it

  • while I'm studying Spanish. Another tip - my favourite tip - is to describe the world

  • around you, what's happening around you. If you like using a dictionary to learn

  • new vocabulary, getting into the habit of describing things that are happening

  • around you in English is a really great way to study. When you're unsure of words,

  • look them up. It will help you to fill in the gaps in your vocabulary. So for

  • example, when you're at your local supermarket, ask yourself "Do I remember

  • the names for everything that's in the fridge?" or "How can I describe the woman

  • waiting in line?" or "Do I know the English names of all of these vegetables?"

  • When you can't think of a word, you stop and you look it up. Understand how it's used,

  • practise it and then use it again next time you're at the supermarket. You can

  • also do it on your way to work on the bus, as you're going past things you can

  • think of the vocabulary and try and fill in the gaps when you don't know how to

  • describe it or explain it. Number nine - my favourite - imitate a native speaker.

  • Imitation and shadowing are great techniques to improve pronunciation and

  • spoken English but they're also awesome for learning new vocabulary, in context too.

  • I have a huge range of imitation lessons that are available on different topics,

  • so if you want to check them out you can go up here or I'll link to them at the

  • end of the video. And number ten. If you are confident enough, speak and practise

  • being in conversations. By the time you've reached pre-intermediate to intermediate

  • level, you already have enough vocabulary in you, you can communicate what you want.

  • The message might not be perfect but it's enough and it's at this point that

  • practising real conversation is going to catapult your English skills and that

  • means push them much further than if you just keep doing what you're doing.

  • In conversations, you're developing core language skills simultaneously. You're

  • listening, you're asking questions, you're learning new vocabulary and context.

  • You're pushing yourself to find new ways to express your ideas. And if you're not

  • expressing yourself clearly enough, you have to find a new way of explaining

  • yourself. And all of this is happening at once, there's lots of pressure, there is

  • no better way to build your language skills than immersing yourself inside an

  • English conversation. There are so many different ways that you can do this.

  • You can do it online, there are companies that connect you with people who want to

  • study English like Cambly and Lingoda. I'll write a link to all of those in the

  • description below too. Or in that link up there. I have a

  • Facebook group that encourages conversation amongst women so if you're

  • a woman, you are welcome to join! It's free and there is a link in the