Page 13 - English Vocabulary In Use upper intermediet and advance

Organising a vocabulary notebook

There is no one correct way to organise a vocabulary notebook, but it is a good idea to think
about possible ways of doing so. Here are some possibilities and examples.
Organising words by meaning

This book divides vocabulary into a large number of different topics, probably far too many
for a notebook, but you could try dividing your book into different broad sections, with
sections for words for feelings, words to describe places, words for movement, words for
thinking, etc. In this way you can build families of words related in meaning.

Using various types of diagrams

Words thar can be grouped under a heading or a more general word can be drawn as a tree-
diagram. (See also Unit 2.)

FURN/TURE
/ 1
/living,room\
/ bedY'Om\
/kitchen\
sofa bookcase ............. lamp wardrobe ............ stool dresser
The dotted lines mean that you can add more words to the tree as you meet them.
A bubble-network is also useful, since you can make it grow in whatever direction you want
it to. (See Unit 2.)

Organising by word-class
A Spanish learner of English, Angeles, gave us an interview on how she marks word-class in
her personal notebook. This is what she said:

'What I have just started doing is to write them depending on if they are verbs or nouns
or adjectives or phrases. If they are phrases I write them in red and also the definition. If
they are verbs, in black, and blue if they are nouns.. .And if I write the Spanish translation
I write it in another colour, so it's easy to see.. .I draw some pictures too.'

When you meet a synonym or an antonym of a word you already have in your book, enter it
next to that word with a few notes:

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English Vocabulary in Use