Habit 4: Learn a New Word Every Day

Polonius: “What do you read, my lord?”

Hamlet: “Words, words, words.”

If you are keen to master English to succeed in business or in your profession, this article is for you.

The purpose of this article (the fourth in this series) is for you to master English, so that you can communicate with impact and achieve business or professional success. However, if your mother tongue is English or you have mastered English already, this article is not meant for you. Each article will talk about a habit that you need to adopt and put into practice immediately to master English. This article talks about the importance of learning a new English word every day.

Habit 4: Learn a New Word Every Day

What is the English language made of? Words! So, the more words you know, the better you can communicate. Simple.

How can you learn new English words every day??

I can suggest 2 pro-active ways.

First, google a new English word as soon as you come across it.?You may have come across the new word in your reading or while you were listening to someone else. When you google the word, you must learn the following:?

1.?????Meaning of the word,?

2.?????How to use the word in a sentence, and

3. How it is pronounced (by clicking on the loudspeaker button).?

I would add one more thing: make a sentence with the new word, and use it on someone immediately. If you are alone, say your sentence out loud to yourself. If you make a sentence and use it immediately, you internalize the word. This means that the new word will automatically pop into your mind when you need it in your next conversation.

A word about English pronunciation. English is not a phonetic language, so you have to learn the pronunciation of every single word that you learn. For example, “put” and “but” use the same vowel “u”; however, the sound of the vowel is different in the two words! Sinhala and Tamil, on the other hand, are phonetic languages: you speak like you spell, and you spell as you speak.?

One more thing. If your English pronunciation is very poor, I suggest that you get a couple of pronunciation lessons from a reputed elocution teacher. You can reach out to your HR department, Learning & Development colleagues, or friends or relatives to find a good teacher. From this teacher, you should learn the basics of correct pronunciation: pronunciation rules and the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) that will help you pronounce any English word correctly, when you refer a dictionary. A good dictionary will state the pronunciation in the IPA after the word.

Warning: Never learn a new word by looking at its synonyms. Note that no 2 words are the same. Synonyms may have different meanings, connotations, uses, and syntax. You can look at synonyms once you have mastered English, or when you are looking for a similar word when writing.

Second, you can subscribe to receive a “word of the day” every day in your email inbox.?How do you do that? Simple: go to?https://www.merriam-webster.com . Click on the “WORD OF THE DAY” link on the top navigation panel. A new web page will open. Scroll down to the heading “Build your vocabulary! Get Word of the Day in your inbox every day.” Insert your email address in the slot under the aforementioned heading. Then hit the “SUBSCRIBE” button. Job done – and there is no charge for this service! Starting the next day, you will receive a new word from Merriam Webster in your email inbox – every day.

When you receive a new English word from Merriam Webster dictionary every day, simply follow the same routine that I mentioned to you about googling new words (See above).

In my practice, I encourage students to note down new words in a notepad or digital device of their choice. When they have some free time (for example when they are at a boring or unproductive meeting), they can refer to the words, meanings, usage, and sample sentences - and refresh their memory.

In closing, if you want to improve your business communication in English, start learning a new English word every day: by googling new words you come across, and by reading the “word of the day” every day.

In the next article, I will share Habit 5 with you.

Till then,

Happy word-learning!

Yukthi

"The best word shakers were the ones who understood the true power of words. They were the ones who could climb the highest." - Markus Zusak