1 - When reading anything in English, try to mark as many collocations as you can spot - Collocations are nothing but right combinations of words. When you first see an unknown word, before you look it up on the dictionary, try to pay attention to the words surrounding it. If it's a noun for instance, look for adjectives or verbs that come before and after it. When you finally know what the word means itself, instead of only focusing on its meaning alone, take into consideration the whole sentence it takes part. That way, you will not only have the chance to enlarge your vocabulary twice as fast, but know the right place and time to use it without causing strangeness.
2 - When you're finally through with the first stage, try to put into practice all the words you have learned - People can always listen and read better than speak or write. You must've noticed for instance that just because you can understand most words when you're reading it doesn't mean you can apply them correctly. That happens because reading is a passive learning method to learn a language, which uses a whole different part of the brain. Turning it into an active ability takes time and effort and should be taken seriously if you want to master your vocabulary.
3 - Try to use flashcards - Have you ever heard about flashcards? They're more famous in other countries. In our case, as ESL learners, It would consist of using index cards to simply write the english word or sentence on one side and the explanation or its translation on the opposite side. Once you have made your flashcards, try to test them repeatedly until you get the hang of it. A piece of advice I should provide you with would be not to try to memorize isolated words, but whole sentences instead.
What do you think about our list? Let me know by leaving your opinion in the comment section. Take care!
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