Page 9 - English Vocabulary In Use upper intermediet and advance

1 Learning vocabulary - general advice

What do you need to learn?

1 How many words are there in English? At least:
a) 10,000 b) 100,000 c) 250,000 d) 500,000
2 Winston Churchill was famous for his particularly large vocabulary. How many words
did he use in his writing?
a) 10,000 b) 60,000 c) 100,000 d) 120,000
3 How many words does the average native English speaker use in hislher everyday speech?
a) 2,500 b) 5,000 c) 7,500 d) 10,000
4 How many words make up 45% of everything written in English?
a) 50 b) 250 c) 1,000 d) 2,500
To sum up, there are many words you don't need at all and there are other words that you
simply need to understand when you read or hear them. Finally, there are words which you
need to be able to use yourself. Clearly you need to spend most time learning this last group.
In the text below mark the words you'd like to be able to use.
English vocabulary has a remarkable range, flexibility and adaptability. Thanks to the
periods of contact with foreign languages and its readiness to coin new words out of old
elements, English seems to have far more words in its core vocabulary than other
languages. For example, alongside kingly (from Anglo-Saxon) we find royal (from
French) and regal (from Latin). There are many such sets of words which add greatly to
our opportunities to express subtle shades of meaning at various levels of style.
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You probably marked many words that you would like to be able to use. Unless you are
studying linguistics, however, you probably need only to understand, rather than to use, the
verb 'coin' as used in the context above.

What does knowing a new word mean?
-
It is not enough lust to know the meaning of a word. You also need to know:
-,
a) what words it is usually associated with
b) whether it has any particular grammatical characteristics
c) how it is pronounced
Try to learn new words not in isolation but in phrases.
Write down adjectives together with nouns they are often associated with and vice versa,
e.g. royal family; rich vocabulary.
Write down verbs with the structure and nouns associated with them, e.g. to add to our
knowledge of the subject; to express an opinion.
Write down nouns in phrases, e.g. in contact with; a train set; shades of opinion.
Write down words with their prepositions, e.g. at a high level; thanks to your help.
Note any grammatical characteristics of the words you are studying. For example, note
when a verb is irregular and when a noun is uncountable or is only used in the plural.
Make a note of any special pronunciation problems with the words you're learning.

English Vocabulary in Use