Greatest techniques to expand vocabulary for the IELTS Exam

Greatest techniques to expand vocabulary for the IELTS Exam

The English Language is a vast ocean as there are ample words, which are used so it is a tedious task for anyone to have knowledge about each and every word. Vocabulary plays an indispensable role in the IELTS exam. Especially in Reading and Writing modules as in Reading, there are three passages, which have forty questions in total. The language, which is used in the reading passages, is not easy to understand for all.

Moreover, in Writing also, it is advised to use good vocabulary to grab good bands. For this purpose, one needs to learn proper vocabulary. Widening vocabulary is always a desire of advanced students. There are so many words in English that it is sometimes difficult to know where to begin. One can learn vocabulary by various ways that are mentioned below:

1- Reading newspaper is one of the best activities one can adopt for learning vocabulary. At the time of reading newspaper, one should take notebook and pen with which he can make notes of the words, which are unknown to him. In this way, he will be able to collect plenty of words.

2- Once one has collected words it is very important for him to retain them in mind which is only possible if he will be using them. It is advised him to make sentences over them which will make his retaining very easy.

3- After this, one should find out the synonyms of these words. A majority of the times, it is seen that synonyms are used in Reading passages which always confuse the students to get the right answers. Once he has knowledge about synonyms, he will be able to answer those questions.

4- Apart from it, one can learn vocabulary by installing various mobile applications in his smartphone, which is quite handy to him for learning new words as everybody loves to operate mobiles.

5- As I told earlier in Writing Module of IELTS also vocabulary plays very important role. For getting good scores in IELTS Writing, one needs to learn connectors, phrases etc. A list of these writing connectors can be easily found on the internet.

6- Be passive- This one may sound strange. Normally teachers encourage you to be as active as possible. Here’s the thing. You learn words by using them and using words can include reading, writing, speaking and listening. By focussing on the passive skills (reading and listening), you expose yourself to huge amounts of vocabulary — far more than 5 words a day. More importantly, you will be learning how the words work — what other words they go with and the different forms of the words.

7- Be Active- Passive is good but so is active. Being active accelerates the learning process. If you spend some time focusing on vocabulary actively, you start to “notice” more about other words when you are just reading and listening. This concept of “noticing” is very trendy among language teachers for now. Being active means setting aside some time each day to specific vocabulary learning.

8- Learn to spell. Spelling does matter in IELTS. Strange as it may sound, it matters most in the listening paper where it can negatively affect your score by up to 2 bands. There is, of course, no magic bullet where spelling is concerned but there are definite skills that can help you learn to spell. One key can be to treat spelling as a looking exercise, not a listening exercise. Part of the problem with English spelling is that what we say and what we write are often two quite different things. The idea is to look at the word, say it, close your eyes, see it with your eyes closed, test yourself. The process takes a little time but it works. What you will discover is that, after some practice, you get into the routine of just seeing words without having to learn their spelling.

9- Think word families. This one is slightly more technical. As a learner of English, you need to be able to be flexible in how you use words. Suppose you have “learned” the word ANALYSIS, you have done well as it forms part of the AWL. However, just think how much better it would be if you could also use ANALYTICAL, ANALYTICALLY and ANALYSE.

10- Get in the habit of looking up words you don’t know. It is absolutely essential to set up at least one online dictionary. Keep in mind to keep it open and handy with thesauruses on its toolbar to look up any new word you are not entirely sure of. Beside each word, you should jot down a brief note of the meaning, collocations, synonyms, example sentences, antonyms, and pronunciation. You can also draw pictures, relate the word to words you already know or do whatever to remember the word.

11- Practice, practice, practice! You should use the new words you noted down in your speaking, writing and check your vocabulary regularly to make sure you the words stick in your long-term memory. You can use the following materials to practice at home.