How I did it:

I am subscribed to "A Word A Day":http://wordsmith.org/awad/.

I strongly recommend this. If you have an affinity for the English language, you will find this not only incrediby helpful, but very enjoyable. The subscription also has a newsletter in which other subscribers write in comments and thoughts, regarding the latest words and their origin, history or application.

Lessons & tips:

There are three other things that I find helpful, but will not be applicable to everyone:

1. Reading literature. Not an easy task, reading many of our classic master wordsmiths - but worth it for the their grasp of language. That being said, there are many books written across different genres so go outside your comfort zone and explore. Also don't be afraid to mark down or look up the words you don't understand.

2. Correspondence with someone who shares a particular passion. You'll be surprised at the way you find you articulate yourself, especially if you refrain from casual dialogue.

3. Write. Write for yourself. Find other ways to describe the norm, use a dictionary and thesaurus. It's possible you might end up with some over flowery or even preposterous paragraphs, but if you don't try - how else will you keep learning?

I wrote in an earlier post that when you don't use certain words that they can be hard to remember and I still find that this is case but, I keep trying.

Did I expand my vocabulary? Yes.

Resources:

"A Word A Day":http://wordsmith.org/awad/.

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Apr 01, 2010, 09:00PM PDT | 0 comments | 1 cheer