Note: If you are really serious about improving your vocabulary, we highly recommend you check out the popular Ultimate Vocabulary Builder

THE 5 BIGGEST MYTHS ABOUT VOCABULARY BUILDING

With all the talk about the importance of a good vocabulary and the best methods for improving it, all of us have heard a LOT of things that sound preposterous. Here we dispel the 5 biggest misconceptions or ‘myths’ about vocabulary building. They are, in no specific order:

MYTH #1: THE ONLY PURPOSE OF KNOWING BIG WORDS IS TO SHOW OFF

While a good vocabulary does make your speech and writing much more impressive and a lot of people do use their knowledge of words as a bid to (successfully) make a good impression, the truth is that vocabulary building is important for everyone and not just because it will make them look better. With a good vocabulary, you can excel at school as well as perform better at your jobs. Super achievers, both academically and professionally, have always been linked with good vocabulary.

MYTH #2: YOU DON’T NEED TO WORK ON YOUR VOCABULARY BECAUSE YOU ARE A NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKER

This one is the most naïve misconception on our list. Just because someone was born in an English-speaking environment, doesn’t mean they are skilled in the language. At best, they are just fluent with the words they do know. On the downside, research has shown appalling levels of English proficiency amongst citizens of even developed English-speaking countries such as the U.S. Native speakers do have an inherent advantage when it comes to learning vocabulary though- the base is already there- they just need to polish it further.

MYTH #3: THE ONLY WAY TO LEARN VOCABULARY IS BY CRAMMING HUGE WORD LISTS

We have all seen people, especially students who are about to take the SAT, slaving away at hundreds of words written uncharacteristically in long lists on multiple sheets of paper. With such mundane stimuli, it’s no wonder very few people actually manage to memorize words and retain them for long periods of time. Vocabulary building doesn’t have to be restricted to word lists. There are several other more fun ways to go about it- such as word maps, puzzles, interesting exercises, enjoyable word games etc.

MYTH #4: WORDS ARE WORDS- JUST PICK UP THE DICTIONARY AND START

While not necessarily a bad idea, even if an unrealistic one, having a good vocabulary doesn’t just mean knowing a good chunk of the dictionary. You can improve your vocabulary in certain areas, such as business words, as well as for certain purposes, such as the SAT exam or GRE. Several vocabulary programs, such as Ultimate Vocabulary, offer specialized vocabulary lists that you can choose from to learn words most suited to your vocabulary objective.

MYTH #5: USING ‘BIG WORDS’ IS ALWAYS THE BEST OPTION

A good vocabulary means you know big words- but more importantly, it gives you the ability to choose from a wide variety of words to use the ones most appropriate for any context. Depending on what you want to say, to what effect and to whom, you should choose your words appropriately, whether they are big or small, difficult or easy. A good vocabulary lets you have your pick of the words, when you need them and wherever you need them!