First of all, don’t think that you need to spend hours each day on your English vocabulary improvement program. If you have a good software package like Ultimate Vocabulary that’s been scientifically designed to target the essentials of vocabulary building and help you build a personalized study plan, then you really only need ten or fifteen minutes of concentrated attention to make quick progress. If you’re studying on your own, you might need to spend a half an hour a day on your studies, but you can break that into two. If you pick out a word or two from your morning newspaper and by the time you leave for work you’ll be able to have all the elements you need to review the word throughout the day.

Let’s use today’s word, acquiescence, as an example. Once you’ve selected your target word, take a few minutes to do the following:

Get a definition. Acquiescence means “silent agreement (to something)” or “agreement without protest.” Some words have several meanings depending on how they’re used, so make sure you’re familiar with all of the main definitions.

Find an example. Many dictionaries have sentences using the word in context, but you may have to search on line. Once you’ve found an example and understand how to use the word correctly, create your own sentences to practice.

Carl’s acquiescence to his supervisor’s constant demands led everyone to believe he was happy with his job, but in fact Carl spent all of his free time looking for another position.

Identify the related parts of speech. One of the best ways to memorize a word is to link it to other bits of information. In this case, you’ll find it easier to remember this word once you realize that there are several derivations of the noun acquiescence: the verb to acquiesce and the adjective acquiescent.

Learn more about the word. You can get more information about a word by looking up its etymology. When you know the origins of the word, you’ll also discover other words that are related to it. For example, acquiescence comes from the Latin root word quietis, which is where we get the word “quiet.” Once you know this, the definition becomes even more clear, and your understanding of the word will be much better.

Accept the fact that daily practice is essential to achieving an excellent vocabulary, and find fifteen minutes in your schedule to devote to this valuable routine.

Speaking of fighting, have you ever come across the word myrmidon? If you’ve spent any time reading the Greek classics, you might remember that the Myrmidons were the warriors who supported Achilles in the Trojan War. They were fierce fighters who developed their superb skills by constant practice. Like today’s top athletes who devote hours each day to physical exercise, you’ll see quick improvement if you spend at least 10 or 15 minutes a day at the mental exercise of vocabulary study. Take a look at your schedule and find that quarter-hour slot; we’re sure there are 15 free minutes somewhere. Try to study at the same time each day to help you develop a routine.

Even people with advanced English vocabulary skills probably don’t use the word myrmidon very often. Today, the word refers in general to people who fight on behalf of someone, often as “enforcers” or as people who obey orders without question. There’s a negative connotation to the word, implying that someone who is a myrmidon doesn’t think for themselves, but just follows directions given by their superiors, like ants under the rule of a queen.

In fact, if you look at the etymology of the word, you’ll find that it’s traced back to the children of a princess named Eurymedousa who – at least according to one Greek myth – was turned into an ant by Zeus, and then had Zeus’ child, who became the first of the Myrmidons. Finding out some of these word histories will make you more interested in the words, and in the process of vocabulary study.

Above all, be sure you’re working as hard as an ant to build your vocabulary, one word at a time!

You’ll be able to read through more material with better understanding. Most people have mailboxes – both virtual and physical – that are filled daily with things they need to read and process. Often important tasks and decisions can’t be completed until the information in these documents is understood. With high-level vocabulary skills, you won’t be confused by unfamiliar terminology and slowed down by having to look up words or ask others for their meaning. This means that you’ll finish reading sooner than you used to, and that extra time can be devoted to accomplishing the items on your agenda for the day.

You’ll have more confidence and ability as a speaker. Having the right words at the tip of your tongue that express exactly the thoughts and ideas you want to communicate means you’ll never be hesitant to speak up. In addition, you’ll be able to put together speeches and presentations more easily and quickly, and will have the confidence that you’re using and pronouncing words correctly. Your skills as a speaker will lead your audience to have confidence in you in return, and gain you credit with your clients and your managers.

Your faster reading skills will lead to new knowledge and advancement. For many professionals, it’s important to keep up with the latest research and discoveries in their field. Additionally, most jobs change frequently as technology is upgraded or businesses take new directions. By having the vocabulary and reading skills to always stay on top of these developments, you’ll have a better chance at rising to the top of your field. When you’re the person that everyone else goes to for answers, you’ll definitely be the person picked for a promotion.

Are you motivated to get back into your vocabulary studies now? If one of the problems is that you’re trying to do all of your studying on your own, you might want to try the Ultimate Vocabulary system, which will give you guidelines, tips, direction, and the words you need to succeed.

Here’s a quick quiz: What does pejorative mean? One of the ways to learn new vocabulary is to first look at the word in context and see if you can figure out its meaning by how it’s used. In the preceding paragraph, we’ve given an example of how you might find yourself without a retort to answer someone, and referenced how vocabulary will help you in friendly as well as unfriendly conversations. Given that background, what’s your best guess as to the meaning of the word?

The other useful tool for analyzing a new word is etymology, or word roots; by knowing these you’ll be able to identify them in unfamiliar words and get a clue to what they mean. Unfortunately, this may not help you here, because pejorative is not related to any other common English word. However, if you look at the origin of the word, you’ll see it comes from a Latin verb pejorare, meaning “to make worse.” This will help you understand the definition of this adjective, which is “derogatory, belittling, dismissive, contemptuous.” Pejorative is also used as a noun, referring to a word or phrase that expresses such negative meaning.

Example 1: Simon Cowell was both liked and disliked for his unceasing flow of pejorative comments about almost every performance on the talent shows he judged.

Example 2: “Ambulance chaser” is a pejorative sometimes applied to lawyers who make a practice of visiting accident victims in the hospital to try to persuade them to sue someone, hoping to get money for themselves.

Mnemonic (pronounced neh-MAH-nik) is an adjective that means “related to helping improve memory.” It’s also used as a noun, with the same pronunciation, and the meaning of “something that helps in remembering.” Here’s how the word is used in a sentence, first as an adjective and then as a noun:

Some memory-improvement courses focus solely on teaching you mnemonic tricks and ignore the importance of a healthy diet and adequate sleep.

The mnemonic HOMES is frequently used to help students remember the names of the five Great Lakes in North America (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior).

The word mnemonic comes from the name of the ancient Greek goddess Mnemosyne, ruler of memory and mother of the nine Muses. A good memory has been a vital element of personal and professional success for thousands of years; in fact, at one time all information had to be memorized and recalled as part of the oral tradition that early humans had before the art of writing was invented and widely used. Even today, many traditional storytellers and poets keep hundreds of works in their memories to relate to the next generation. People have been working on mnemonic tricks such as linking, visualization, and abbreviation since at least the 4th century BCE.

So how can you use mnemonic devices to learn new English vocabulary words? You have several methods to choose from, but we’ll focus on two that will help with most words: visualization and linking.

Visualization is a good way to remember nouns, action verbs, and most adjectives and adverbs. By involving your imagination and your visual cortex, you’ll trigger activity in more parts of your brain, which will help solidify the memory and make it easier to recall the word later. If you draw a quick sketch illustrating the word, that will make an even stronger connection; using your hands brings in yet more parts of the brain and its neural energy. To practice this technique, think about how you might create visual images for the words memorabilia and commemorate.

Linking is a useful way to remember words that can’t be easily expressed in visual format. For example, the word remember might be illustrated by a picture of a head with a “thought bubble” over it with something inside, but how would you know that’s supposed to be remember and not visualize or imagine or think, or even the name of the object in the bubble? Instead of trying to create a complicated picture, link the word to another word or concept. Learning synonyms is a good way to create these linked groups, because it’s easier to think of a set of three or four related words than one alone. Link remember to recall, remind, recollect, and retain. This way, you’ll be able to call to mind several words, expanding your vocabulary and training your memory at the same time.

Cross-posted at the Ultimate Memory blog.

First of all, remember that often less is more when it comes to vocabulary improvement. By that, we mean that it’s usually better to focus on a few words rather than trying to memorize a long list all at the same time. Pick one word to start with, and concentrate on learning it well. If you don’t have a new word to learn today, try the adjective onerous (pronounced AH-ner-us), which means “difficult, burdensome, requiring much effort.” You can quickly add more value to this word by including its synonyms; since the words all have essentially the same definition, you’re learning several at once. Besides onerous, you could describe something that’s difficult and time-consuming as oppressive, laborious, or troublesome.

Next, find ways to have fun with words. You might make some silly rhymes to help you remember a word and its definition, or create a sample sentence that brings an amusing image to mind. Look for ways that authors have used the word in their texts, and think about examples of how you might apply the word to a situation in your own life. You can also work with a study partner to discuss the word and its meanings. If you’re talking with someone about a word, the process of using your own words and phrases will give you a better understanding of the term, and will also help you remember it for future use. Another benefit of having a study partner is that you can each motivate the other when you’re feeling tired or bored.

Keeping your resolution to improve vocabulary won’t be nearly as difficult once you learn a few steps to lighten your load.

The adjective tactile (TAK-tile) means “related to the sense of touch” or “perceived through the sense of touch.” You might enjoy the tactile sensation you get when petting a cat’s soft fur, for example. Tactile sensations are transmitted through our largest sensory organ, the skin. When you write out a word, the sensation of holding a pen or pencil and the feeling of the way your hand moves to shape each of the letters are sent via your nervous system to your brain, where that information is added to what your eyes see as you trace the letters and – if you’re also saying the word out loud – what your ears are hearing.

The process of “learning through doing” is often referred to as tactile learning or kinesthetic learning. Some people seem to learn more quickly if they use this method as much as possible, and anyone who adds this technique to the process will both speed up learning and increase memory retention. If you’re not sure whether you benefit most from a tactile learning method, or if you’re more of a visual or auditory learner, try adding active handwriting to your vocabulary study program, and see if it makes a difference. We’re sure you’ll find it adds just the right touch.

The Lord of the Acoma shifted knobby knees beneath the desk. “I am answering my father’s letter. Listen to this: ‘Dear Father: Are you well? I have won all my wrestling matches at the soldiers’ bath at Sulan-Qu. I am well. Mara is well.’ … What should I say next?” Barely masking irritation, Mara said, “Why don’t you ask if your brothers are well?”

This quote from Janny Wurts and Raymond Feist’s “Daughter of the Empire” gives a good example of our word of the day: redundancy. Although both Feist and Wurts are excellent writers, able to create rich descriptions of landscapes and situations through their use of vocabulary, in this passage they’ve deliberately created a very uninteresting – though humorous – bit of text. By using the same word over and over again, a letter that might have been a pleasure to receive and read becomes a boring exercises in repetition.

The word redundancy has two main definitions, though they’re related in concept. When speaking of vocabulary, redundancy refers both to repetition of words and to the use of more words than necessary to convey a concept. The passage above illustrates the first meaning, and phrases like completely unique and free gift the second (if something is “unique” it’s by definition different from anything else, so the word “completely” is redundant; likewise, a gift is always free). A more general meaning of the word redundant is “no longer needed, outdated.” For example, many older homes still have oil tanks in their basements even though they’re now completely heated by natural gas; the oil tank is part of a redundant system.

One way to avoid redundancy is to practice learning and using synonyms. The verbally-challenged letter-writer quoted above actually has several options to use instead of the word “well.” He and his family could be flourishing, healthy or (more archaically) fit as a fiddle. When you expand your vocabulary with synonyms, you’ll have the ability to write more creatively and descriptively, and what you write will be more interesting to the reader. This is important for many reasons, particularly those related to your work environment. If you need to communicate on any topic, whether you’re writing a summary e-mail or giving a presentation to a group, holding your audience’s attention is crucial. You might have the facts and figures they need to know, but if you’re not able to present them in an interesting way, you’ll find it hard to get a good response. Managers always have their eyes out for capable and effective speakers who know how to use vocabulary to their advantage. Expand your English vocabulary with synonyms, and you’ll never be the worker who’s found to be redundant – in any sense of the word!

While rapid vocabulary improvement is best done by a focused study program, simply reading as much as possible will also gradually increase vocabulary. Obviously, the faster you read the more word’s you’ll see. In addition, the more words you know, the faster you’ll read, because you won’t have to slow down or stop to look up a definition. It’s best to develop an eclectic reading style so that you get the broadest possible range of words and see more than one way of using them.

The adjective eclectic (pronounced eh-KLEK-tik) means “drawing from a wide variety of sources and styles” and comes from the Greek verb eklegein (“to select”). Applied to reading, it means that you should avoid just reading things you’re familiar with; for example, if you normally only read spy thrillers, pick up a book on travel instead. It’s important to read many different things not only for the vocabulary, but also to see how different authors use the words. You can learn how to emphasize the beauty of words through poetry, and how to craft descriptive but to-the-point explanations by reading books on science or engineering that have been written for the general public. You’ll see examples of metaphor and simile, of conversational styles and narrative flow, and absorb new ideas along with the new words.

Cross-posted at the 7 Speed Reading blog.

It’s true that Q words give many people problems in spelling and pronunciation, especially those words that come directly from other languages. In this post we’ll discuss a few of the common issues we’ve found that cause most of the difficulties, and give some explanations and examples.

Pronunciation of words beginning with Q. In general, if a word starts with Q (and in all common English words it’s always followed by a U) the sound that the ‘qu’ combination makes is KW. The exceptions to this rule are generally foreign words that have been adopted into English without a change in pronunciation – but of course there are exceptions to those exceptions!

quahog (KWAH-hog) noun
A large clam found along the North Atlantic coast.

querulous (KWEH-ruh-luss) adjective
Whiny or complaining all the time.

quintessence (kwin-TEH-suhns) noun
The perfect example of a particular quality.

quotidian (kwoh-TIH-dee-uhn) adjective
Everyday, ordinary, happening daily.

One of the exceptions is the word queue, pronounced KEW. Though this has been a common English word for “line (of people, usually)” since the 19th century it still retains its 15th-century (and current) French pronunciation. Another French word without the KW sound is quenelle (kuh-NELL), a poached dumpling usually made of meat or fish scraps mixed with flour or potatoes.

At the end of a word, the ‘qu’ sound is generally pronounced K, though there are a few instances where it becomes a separate syllable.

burlesque (bur-LESK)
antique (an-TEEK)
picturesque (PIK-tyur-ESK)
unique (yew-NEEK)
barbeque (BAR-beh-kew)
applique (ah-plee-KAY)
risque (ris-KAY)

Spelling of words beginning with Q. After all of the exceptions listed above, you’ll be relieved to know that – other than the few foreign words mostly used by Scrabble players, like qat and qanat – in English the letter Q is always followed by a U, and the U is always followed by another vowel. In fact, this rule holds true no matter where the Q appears in the word.

Quis leget haec?