What are words for, when no one listens anymore.

Thanks for the replies everyone, it's great to hear other's experiences + recommendations.

I might have to pick up a Kindle, the dictionary feature sounds like one that would benefit me greatly, my smart phone is just too small and carrying a laptop back to forth between work is a hassle.

I'm not aware of any major differences between the English language used in the UK, USA and Canada. I know there are some minor variations in how certain words are spelled (color VS colour, neighbor VS neighbour, etc). From my personal experience, I haven't had any trouble with any novels/publications printed in the other regions' languages.

If we're talking about phrases used, that's different. I've tried watching Dragons Den UK VS Dragons Den Canada VS Shark Tank (USA's version of Dragons Den), I've had an incredibly difficult time picking up some of the things they were saying.

You may be right about the shyness part. I find myself pretty uncomfortable in certain situations, especially when I'm around strangers or someone that might intimidate me in one way or another.

Conversely, my parent's friends (mostly Asian) have praised me for being much more outgoing than their sons/daughters. Guests would come over to our house and I would almost always politely say hi to them, whereas their children would stay in their rooms, glued to their computers or TVs.

I'll ask my roommate who lived with me for the past two years to read this and see if he can bring some extra insight. I don't think a person can objectively asses themselves very well.

Regarding the public school system comment, I don't know if I gave enough information. I moved around like crazy as a kid (7 schools from grades 1-12), didn't have any super close friends (facebook wasn't this big back then) and I never really had anyone I could call or chat with when I had nothing to do. My best friend is someone I've known since I was 8, but he also came from China, so he would've have been the ideal candidate to learn off of to develop a vocabulary, if you know what i mean.

Or maybe its a cognitive thing, I find that I learn certain things pretty slow, especially when it topic gets a bit too advanced.

Thanks, I'll try it on my smartphone and let you know how I find these. This definitely beats reading the daily free newspapers every morning on the Train. I feel like the vocabulary level that they use are at a very basic level, as Toronto is a very diverse country and there are many readers whom do not have English as their mother language.

Not sure if anyone can relate to this, but based on the people I've meet in my life, I feel that the Chinese people that speak Cantonese have an easier time picking up English than those that speak Mandarin. Mandarin is my primary language and the one spoken at home growing up (still do to this date with my parents).

My proficiency is in the language is slowly declining - I can barely read or write many characters, but I'm able to have decent conversations with others that speak the language. As soon as they get to some phrases or slang-like terms, I find myself lost.

broken_jia, you seem to already have better language skills that most of the English speakers I know.

Try using the word "whilst" more often. Makes you sound sophisticated.

I like this thread idea, as I can relate to OP. I strongly feel that my vocabulary doesn't reflect my intellect well enough, and that I struggle to express myself fully. This is not only the result of my limited reading history, but also for memory related reasons. I have a difficulty in retaining words.

It's easy to say that reading is the best approaching to expanding vocab. In my case most of my reading is of articles, and I don't particularly like reading fiction. In general I feel the latter offers more of range w/ vocab. I could read more non-fiction books, but due to great focus/attention issues, this is also not my preference. I like Atakdog's recommendation of The Economist, which I read time to time, though similarly get sick of some of their agendas.

I disagree that a good vocabulary should only be attainable by avid readers. If there are effective/preferable non-reading means to OP's goal, then use 'em. I hope someone offers such recommendations in this thread. I just got my 1st smartphone, and got an app called PowerVocab. Its methods seem decent, though the words seem basic so far. I'm sure software like this could be helpful. I don't mind doing these type of excercises, I feel they're more enjoyable than print alternatives I used in school. Although it's easy to agree w/ the reading is better than studying sentiment (for reading's extra benefits), I'm sure there are plenty like myself, who are under served by their vocab, and who aren't drawn to (the necessary) habitual reading.

Reading >>> word-a-day programs for quite a few reasons. Atakdog mentioned one. A few more:

• Word-a-day words tend to be the sort of obscure words you'll rarely get to use correctly. And even when used correctly, they tend to interfere with clarity.
  
  
• Understanding collocation (how words go together in well-formed sentences) is much more important than having a "good" vocabulary. Reading well-written material will expose you to a lot of good phrase- and sentence-patterns, which you'll naturally assimilate and use in your own speaking/writing. Lists of words will not.
  
  
• Words most people understand but few think to use >>> obscure words. Reading supercharges the former category, but lists of words tend not to.

^^ clearly word-a-day sites suck. There are software aides however available that are obviously more effective. The one i referenced above (PowerVocab app) uses repetition to choose definitions for words, and then reverses the process w/ synonyms. It then makes you use the same words later in sentences (mult. choice). I'm sure there are better aides, but also that there is potential w/ such software. Of course this stuff could be used as a supplement to reading.

busted, aids!

An added advantage to reading fine writers is that you will be able to turn better phrases, speak more elegantly and use words in proper context which I don't think the 'word a day' approach is good at.

I'd prefer something like the New Yorker over the Economist for that. I have a nit-pick w/ the Economist bec they refer to themselves as 'this newspaper.' OTOH, at least you'll know what's going on in the world which'll put you ahead of most of the ppl you run into. Don't really agree that it's necessary to read the business related stuff in the second half tho.

The Economist will bore you to death before you learn anything.

The New Yorker is definitely the way to go.

I had issues with this years ago, so I am not sure how relevant I will seem, but:

Read a lot.

Look for books, articles and journals that are slightly above your level of comprehension.

Look up all words you do not understand. If you finish a sentence or paragraph and do not understand the point of the author, reread.

Write in a journal. If your ideas take up a lot of space, you could stand to condense them. Try to be pithy.

I had major academic issues in middle school, and I am not sure if you are trying to overcome some deficit or sound stilted when speaking with friends, but I hope this helps.

Play WWF it's xi best.

People who work in a business? People who attend business meetings and are expected to understand what is being said and contribute? People who want to understand and be able to converse easily with their bosses?

For example, if your boss talks about how important it is to increase margins this quarter, and you start indenting your memos by 2 inches instead of 1 inch, you may need to work on your business vocab.

Just guessing, though.

OP,

Your written English is better than that of many posters at 2+2.

The best way to build fluency in a language is to use the language more frequently. You build a vocabulary best by writing and speaking, not just reading. Words find a more secure place in your vocabularly if you actually use them to express your thoughts.

Write a journal. Join a service organization that has meetings; get on a committee. Volunteer for something that will have you working as part of a team. Look into Toastmasters.

Of course, reading can help you with familiarity too. I'd support the Economist over the New Yorker, but both are good. You're in Canada - get a subscription to Maclean's. Look up "Canada Reads" on CBC and follow the radio shows and read the books in the list. Get a library card and read books. They don't have to be old classics or high art. Try out genre books: detective stories, S.F., fantasy, or popular novelists, especially ones that have a series featuring the same characters. Find something that you like. Talk to a librarian.

Most importantly, combine reading, writing and talking with some existing area of interest. If you like and/or know the subject matter, the communication will be easier, and the learning will seem less like a chore.

I've been using a brute-force method to build up my vocabulary. Knowing the definition of a word and being able to retrieve it from memory when you need it are two different things, I find. I've written a little program that selects 20 words from the dictionary I've compiled over the years, and quizes me on them. I try and do this twice a night. In addition, I go through my wordlist from A-Z, just trying to ram these damn words into my head.

Here's an example 20 words:
Ebullience:
Trenchant:
Moiety:
Almoner:
Anemometer:
Leveret:
Abeyant:
Onager:
Lascivious:
Bruit:
Herringbone:
Touchstone:
Minatory:
Wherry:
Adown:
Vertiginous:
Nocuous:
Mazurka:
Lanyard:
Lea:

semi-grunch:

Do you read books now? Are there any you're interesting in reading? I was a really voracious (sorry =) ) reader when I was a kid, and I think that's why I have a good vocabulary. Instead of just learning words, I would recommend reading some fiction book or non-fiction books about stuff you're interested in.

Also, doing something like reading a few wikipedia articles a day, not only will that improve your vocabulary, but also give you some knowledge on various topics as well.

Its been said a million times, but read a decent newspaper/ magazine. If you have an equilivelent of BBC radio 4, if have access to that listen to that as well. The approach above seems stupid. I've always had a habit of looking up words to which i don't know the meaning of if i seen the word before, and yet half those words i've never seen.

Even if you do learn them whats the point of using language that other people will not know

^^^ That list (edit: in post 41) is a great example of what, in my opinion, most speakers don't need. TTI in post 32 is exactly right in his points about this sort of vocabulary enhancement, so I'll just direct people to reread it.

Building one's raw vocabulary is not a bad thing — no one should understand me to be saying it is. But it should be at best a minor adjunct to one's learning.

Meh. It's a rare wiki article that I don't find I need to edit, for grammar or diction, provided I have the time. And frankly, the same goes for typical newspaper articles (though I don't get to edit them; I'd certainly like to). I think there's a great deal more value in reading things that are known to be well written. Obviously more reading > less reading in almost all cases, but as everyone's time is limited it makes some sense to direct one's efforts a bit carefully.

That is very true. I was just trying to point out that focusing just on vocabulary is kind of a poor way to learn. Getting context and learning ways to apply vocabulary to speech/writing are more important than just "learning definitions". I just thought wiki would be easier than diving into more technical writings or buying books.

+1 for the Economist, as well.

I could help you imbeciles learn some new words but the forum censor would thwart me.

You could be efficacious why not be effective. You could repudiate why not reject. Im sure theres alot of other examples where knowing bigger words does not increase conversational skills.

Interesting survery: Out of those 20 words how many do you recongise? How many can you give a definition for? I recognise 7 cant give a defintion for one

I agree with you guys as well. I'm not just focusing on "learning definitions" here. I know that most of those words are pointless in day-to-day existence. But they've all come from various books I've read over the last few years. I'm not one to just skip past words I don't know.

Plus it's just meant to keep my mind on edge, because I find I can't recall any vital word I need unless I keep my mind sharp. For instance, I also read more than 30 novels or textbooks a year, and write more than 1000 pages a year, plus what I edit. Just trying to be a life-long learner, as cheesy as that sounds.