Tuesday 24 November 2009

English Learning Tips 4:Personal Word Journals

According to John's ESL Community web site, one of the key things you need to, on the one hand, express your thoughts, ideas and feelings clearly, and on the other, be understood by those to whom you are speaking, is a good vocabulary. According to them, the best way to improve your vocabulary is to read as reading, they argue, "introduces you to words and phrases that are used regularly by native speakers". As you encounter these words and phrases, they suggest, you should write them in a personal word journal and then try to use them in an original sentence. Once you are sure you are using the word or phrase correctly, practice using it by writing more sentences using the word or phrase in different contexts and/or using it in a conversation.

While writing a word down on paper can be a tedious [ie. boring] task, there are a number of tools and software on the web to make the process if not easier then at least a bit more interesting. With respect to tools for example you might check out the Vocabulary Builder tool on the John's ESL Community site itself [see the first link below. In terms of software, you could download the_SuperMemo software developed by our friends at _antimoon.com. A link to a site where you can download the software and read some information on the software and how to use it is also located below.

Links:
1. John's ESL Community Vocabulary Builder [read the instruction first then click on the link in blue at the bottom]
2. antimoon.com's_SuperMemo_software link and instructions

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