Writing and Vocabulary: Tips on How To Improve Them

The following entry was emailed to us by a nonnative English speaker who has made great strides in terms of her English proficiency. We hope you learn something from her experience. Also, if you would like to share your own experience and share some tips and tricks that you have personally used to work on your English, email us at levelupproficiency@gmail.com.

Writing and Vocabulary: Tips on How To Improve Them

To be honest, I have always been a reflective person. I am always the type of person to think about my path. That also includes countless reflections on the way I constantly learn and improve on my own language acquisition. Based on some of my own reflection, I have listed a few tips that have always worked for me. I am aware that learning is not the same for everyone! However, you are more than welcome to inspire your own learning from the tips and even adapt them to your own style of learning!

Now, without further ado, here are some of the most helpful tips for improving your English writing and vocabulary! Note: these tips can also extend to improving other aspects of language skills! Feel free to experiment and adapt!

I. Surround Yourself with the Language!

This has been especially important in my journey to learning the English language. In order to fully acclimate to the nuances of any new language, you have to find a way to immerse yourself in the language. Make sure to watch movies or T.V shows and read books in English. This may sound difficult to do, but it really helps when you want to look at how words are used in conversation. It also helps to understand the various contexts of conversation and look at language at a deeper level.  In addition, it is really not a bad idea to watch movies in English if you are an international student studying in, say, the United States.

In my experience, watching U.S. based T.V shows and movies helped me in the process of overcoming culture shock as it gave me a window to look at the way in which people from the United States interact with each other and use language (there are different dialects in English that are spoken and written in the U.S., I’ll get to that later).

Reading (novels, poetry, etc…) serves the same purpose, but offers you a wider range of dialects and cultures to take in. In fact, I have experienced that reading works the best in terms of learning a language. In my experience, reading has been a massive contributor to my vocabulary expansion since written works often tend to use more vibrant language than, say, an American Soap-Opera (however, that depends on the quality of the written text).

All of that being said, I am well aware that these are just my experiences. You can choose any medium you like! Get creative and explore! As long as you expose yourself to the language, you will definitely improve your proficiency to some degree.

II. A Word a Day Keeps Language Troubles at Bay!

Yes, the title of this point says it all! If you are committed to learning the language, your exposure has to go beyond just exposing yourself; you have to make a commitment to try to apply and use the language as much as possible. Reading and watching movies helps with about a half of the learning process; speaking contributes to the other half.

In this point, I am going to go into the speaking part of language. As intimidating as this can be, it is an essential part of learning a language as it helps you develop confidence while handling the language. That being said, this tip builds from the emphasis on the speaking of language (in this case, English) by building a habit of using it as much as possible.

Nothing exemplifies this habit better than the classic “Word A Day” calendar. I remember using this “Word a Day” concept while studying for my SAT’s.

To be honest, it worked wonders in building my confidence enough to hold conversation in English and it helped me study for the writing section for my SAT exam, which is by far the most intimidating part of the test for those of us (like me) who find that section a little more difficult to overcome.

In addition, using a word or saying that word out loud is an excellent way to retain the meaning of the word. With the variety of synonyms for each and every word, it can be confusing to try to remember all of the definitions and nuances of every word. That being said, using the word is the best way to remember what each word means.

This is where the “Word a Day”  scheme comes in. It forces you to learn the meaning of one word each day and try to use it as much as possible on the same day. In my experience, it has been extremely helpful for my speaking skills and my vocabulary expansion.

Another bonus to this concept is that it keeps you exposed to English and practicing it on an everyday basis. As you may all know, it takes more than just a few hours to learn a whole new language. So, it is a great way to take your language acquisition to the next level.

III. Speak, Speak and Speak!

This tip is actually an extension of my previous one in the sense that it takes a step beyond just practicing a word a day. With this point, I propose that you actually try to learn with some company. It could be with a friend who wants to learn English as well or it can just practicing conversations with family or a teacher; the point is that you find someone to help you with your language skills.

A great company to develop your English skills and practice speaking the language to is Level-Up Proficiency. Their speech communication lessons are the perfect way to improve your speaking capability. Try to carry full conversations in English with them! When you have a new word to try out, try it on them! This is an amazing way to build on the “Word a Day” concept and learn the language more extensively in a nonjudgmental risk-free environment.

In addition, it helps the other person learn as well! There is nothing wrong with sharing knowledge. In fact, sharing knowledge is the best way of learning it. This tip has especially shown its advantages when I moved to the United States. Making friends with native English speakers here and forcing myself to engage in conversations in English has really helped me in integrating myself into this foreign society and learning the language.

It gave me the opportunity to ask them questions about grammar and it also gave them the chance to think about their own language as well. In addition, I was able to see the mistakes that native speakers make and understand the fact that there is no such thing as “perfection” in terms of learning a language. No one is truly an expert when it comes to the English language.

That gave me a little more assurance and confidence in terms of my own proficiency. It also gave me the chance to take the mistakes of native speakers into account and avoid making those mistakes myself!

To Conclude…

All of this being said, there are many ways in which you can learn English (or any other language of your choosing). These are just tips that have helped me personally. You are more than free to customize these to suit your own particular needs and tastes.

Take these tips as a starting point to trying to figure out what works for you! Good Luck!

R.M, 2nd Year English Masters Student