Vocabulary—II

Most authorities agree that the way to build a vocabulary systematically is to learn words in categories. This is how the experts work in those paperback books I mentioned in Chapter Six. The exercises are divided up according to groups of words centered in a single idea — the field of medicine, good and bad habits of people, words that grow out of various sciences, words about business and many more such categories. These books are efficient tools for increasing a vocabulary in a step-by-step manner — absorbing whole classes of words in the congenial atmosphere of related words.

There is only one way to master a new word. Look up its meaning in the dictionary (it may have several) and be sure to learn its spelling and its pronunciation.Then say the word aloud, for until you know its sound it will never become part of your active vocabulary. Better still, write a sentence that uses the word and read the sentence aloud. Then you will become familiar with the sound of the word in conversation. It will no longer seem strange to use it.

In looking up a word don't stop with the form you came across first. Learn them all — verb, noun, adjective, adverb — so you can use the word under any circumstances. Let's try one: "anthropology." Anyone who knows prefixes and suffixes can take this word apart instantly and see what it means. "Anthropo-" is a combining form for "man." The rest of the word, "-logy," is a suffix signifying the study or science of something. Therefore, "anthropology" has to be the study or science of man or mankind. Now what other forms of the word are there? A person who practices "anthropology" is an "anthropologist." The adjective is "anthropological." Adding "-ly" to the adjective makes the adverb, and there is no verb. Don't trip on "anthropoid," which doesn't refer to the science at all but simply means "resembling man." ("-oid" is a suffix meaning "like.")

Now for examples of sentences that might be made to fix these various forms in mind:

The science: "Through anthropology scientists have learned a great deal about the development of the world's races."

The scientist: "Anthropologists have made extensive studies of South Sea peoples still in a state of Stone Age culture."

The adjective: "An anthropological expedition spends many months in the field collecting data about individuals."

The adverb: "Working anthropologically, it has been determined that many European races migrated from the Middle East."

Manlike (the word that is not in this direct series): "The gorilla is the most powerful of the anthropoid apes."

Newspapers as Vocabulary Builders

Now consider how the newspaper can provide a special aid in adding words to a vocabulary. By using the newspaper's departments and columns a person will find words regularly in various categories so that he begins to build special vocabularies as the experts do.

Just what does that phrase, "special vocabulary," mean? Take sports. The baseball fan already has a specialized vocabulary. He knows and uses words and expressions which animate the sport. A man who knows nothing about baseball would be lost when the fan discusses the game with a fellow enthusiast. Every sport has special words and idioms peculiar to itself, and writers sometimes use them in a quite different setting to give color to their language. Their sense is instantly recognized if the original meaning is known. Just as an example, you might read in a light fiction story about a man who had tried hard to get ahead in business: "Jim had touched all the bases when he heard he was being considered for a vice presidency but he was left on third." This is just jargon to someone who doesn't know baseball (and I don't intend to explain it) but it is crystal clear to a baseball fan. Often in reading you will find examples of this sort in which words and idioms are used outside their original meaning.

The gardener also has a specialized vocabulary — a big one — which would puzzle anyone who has never grown flowers and vegetables. In fact, the gardener would find it difficult to talk about his hobby to someone who didn't know the words because they are the natural way to express his thoughts and tell what he is doing. It is so much easier to say that he mulches his hybrid teas at the beginning of winter — something any gardener would understand — than to say he puts dead leaves around the plants of his garden roses to protect their roots.

So if a person follows sports and has a hobby he already possesses more than one specialized vocabulary. What will increase anyone's vocabulary in a dozen different directions is regular reading of the newspaper's departments and columnists, particularly in the Sunday and weekend editions. Here is a list of subjects covered in this way:

Books                    food                  music               sports
business                  gardens              radio               television
education                health                 records           theatres
fashions                  homes                science            travel
finance                    movies               society            weather

Some of these subjects will have no immediate interest for you, but try reading the most promising regularly. You will soon realize how many words have been fed into your vocabulary. Don't confine this "specializing" to the newspaper. Go to a well-stocked newsstand and look over the dozens of specialized magazines. They offer fascinating introductions to new fields of knowledge. Then, when your interest is captured, visit a book store and get a recent book on the subject. The world's knowledge, particularly in science, is increasing so rapidly these days that to keep up you must read widely. And all this enriches your vocabulary.

Specialized words constantly enter general reading, and they provide the key to advanced vocabulary building. Knowing their meanings and the way they are used contributes to smooth achievement in reading ease — and speed. It does more, for a wide vocabulary is basic to comprehension, the subject we take up in the next chapter.