The word lucrative means “profitable.” If you look at the word’s etymology, you’ll see that it comes from the Latin word lucrum (“wealth, riches”). One of the best ways to gain wealth and riches is to improve your salary and earning potential by moving up the career ladder. You can do this by gaining more knowledge and training in your field, which means you’ll have to know the vocabulary and jargon specific to your industry in order to succeed. You can also get promoted by being an excellent employee who can be counted on for quality work and innovative ideas, which means you’ll have to know the vocabulary related to your daily work as well as the word skills to communicate your ideas clearly and effectively. Finally, a quick way to bring yourself to the attention of upper management is by being the person who takes charge of projects and presentations, which means you’ll be the one called on to speak about programs and topics in front of others – and you’ll definitely need an excellent vocabulary to do that.

If you always have the words you need, you will never be at a loss when called on – and you’ll profit from your expertise in English vocabulary.

Are you one of those soon-to-be-former students, working hard at getting a good curriculum vitae together that will set you apart from the other applicants? If so, we’re sure you’re aware of the power that each word in this document can have, and the importance of choosing exactly the right ones to present yourself and your skills in the best manner possible. Obviously, the better your vocabulary is, the easier it will be to compose an effective and persuasive document to sell yourself to your prospective employer.

The term curriculum vitae might not be familiar to some people in the United States, or to those not interested in a career in academics or an advanced degree. In general, a curriculum vitae (the Latin phrase translates as “the course of [your] life”) is more detailed than a resumé, though the terms are often used interchangeably. For example, in a curriculum vitae (often abbreviated CV), it’s standard practice to include all of your educational and professional background, including any articles you have had published, presentations you’ve given, and honors you have been awarded. Detailed CVs are often required for jobs in higher education, the legal field, or medicine.

For the most part, a resumé is all most employers will ask for in the United States, although requirements may be different in other countries. A standard resumé shows the dates and locations of previous employment you’ve had, a summary of your responsibilities and accomplishments at those jobs, and a brief overview of your academic degrees and any special training. Because this document and the accompanying cover letter required by most employers need to be short and to the point (cover letters no more than one page long, resumés no longer than two pages), you’ll find that you need to choose descriptive and pertinent vocabulary to be able to fit in all the information you want to communicate into those few pages.

If you’re getting ready to look for your first job, or polishing up your resumé or CV to find a new one, take some time first to think about the words you want to use. Investing some time in vocabulary review will pay off in the future.

For those of you who aren’t using the software, here are 5 top vocabulary-building techniques, all of which you can start using right away to learn new words. As an example, let’s consider a word from the previous paragraph you might not know: unprecedented.

Technique #1: Break the word down to its roots. A dictionary will help you discover how to segment a word by syllable and by root word. Here’s an example:

un | pre | cede | (e)nt | ed

We’ll talk about how to use this breakdown later to help understand the word’s definition. First, however, focus on using the syllable breakdown to …

Technique #2: Learn how to pronounce the word correctly. Communication is done both in writing and in conversation, and many people forget that a major component of spoken communication is pronunciation. You may know useful and powerful English vocabulary words, but if you’re not pronouncing them right, people won’t understand you and the value of your vocabulary will be lost. Again, a good dictionary will give you a word’s pronunciation; systems like Ultimate Vocabulary have audio links so you can hear the word being spoken correctly out loud.

uhn-PREH-seh-dehn-tehd

If you know how a word is pronounced, it will help you …

Technique #3: Learn to spell the word correctly. Just as no one will miss your pronunciation errors in a written document, you won’t make any spelling mistakes when you’re talking – but even one error in a document will make the reader doubt your knowledge and competence on the subject. Practice the word’s spelling, writing it out several times so that your hand and eyes automatically reinforce your brain’s knowledge of the proper order of the letters. A good way to practice spelling a word is to …

Technique #4: Create sample sentences using the word. The best way to learn how to use a word correctly in context is to practice making up sentences with that word. Of course, in order to do this you need to know what the word means, so check the dictionary: in this case, you’ll find that unprecedented is an adjective meaning “new, not like anything previously seen.” Knowing the meaning of a word lets you use it correctly, but you might find it hard to remember the definition. That’s why you need to …

Technique #5: Look up the word’s etymology. Go back to Technique #1 and look at the breakdown of the word. In this breakdown you can find the word’s meaning, and other words related to it.

un is a prefix meaning “not”
pre is a prefix meaning “before”
cede comes from the Latin root word cedere, “to go”
the suffix (e)nt turns the verb into a noun
the suffix ed turns the noun into an adjective

Putting this all together, you get the meaning “not (something that has) gone before” – in other words, “new, not like anything previously seen” as we said above. You’ll also notice the word precede, which is a verb meaning “to come (or go) before.” By looking at the roots of the larger word, you’ve added another word to your vocabulary without even trying.

Using the techniques in combination. By using all of these vocabulary study techniques together, you reinforce your knowledge of the word, making it easier to remember and use correctly. Keep practicing, and you’ll experience an unprecedented increase in your vocabulary skills!

Knowing the root of a problem is the first step in solving it. The ancient Greek word gignoskein (meaning “to know, to learn”) forms the last half of the word diagnosis, which makes clear the connection between knowledge of a problem and finding its solution. A diagnosis is the process of identifying a problem by studying the symptoms or results of that problem. Most of the time you’ll see the word used in a medical setting; a doctor will look at the symptoms of a patient (rash, fever, chills, etc.) and diagnose what’s wrong with them. You can do the same thing if you’re sick of studying vocabulary – once you pinpoint the specific issues, you’ll be able to come up with a remedy. Here are some possibilities:

You’re not learning any new words from the things you’re reading. There are two possible problems here, and both are easy to fix. First, make sure you’re picking books from a variety of genres and sources. The best way to find new words is to read about new topics. For example, if you always read business journals, pick up a history book or a novel instead. The second thing to check is whether you’re challenging yourself enough with what you read. You might have reached a plateau where you’re reading things that don’t use vocabulary at the next level up. Look for more difficult texts and/or ones on more complex subjects.

You’re having difficulty learning new words. Here’s where you need to ask the types of specific questions you might get from a doctor, because you’ll need to isolate exactly what the problem is before you can fix it. What’s the aspect of vocabulary study that’s slowing you down? Are you having issues with learning how to pronounce words? Is a word’s spelling always the hard part for you, making you spend extra time with each word before you can move on? Do you find that you confuse word definitions, and can’t remember what definition goes with which word? Take each of these issues one by one and work on ways to improve your skills in those areas. One advantage of using a software system like Ultimate Vocabulary is that it has exercises that target each of these aspects of vocabulary study.

You’re just tired of focusing on vocabulary improvement. That’s an easy one to fix: go ahead and take a break! Unless you’re up against a fixed deadline (like the test date for the SAT or GRE, perhaps) there’s no reason you can’t just relax for a bit. Try some of the low-impact study options like a “word of the day” calendar, read for fun, do crossword puzzles and other word-related games, or watch a foreign movie with subtitles. Vocabulary words are all around you, and you don’t have to work hard all the time to concentrate on them.

Feeling better now?

Many English words can be traced back to ancient Greek, and that’s the case with today’s word, xenophobia. You’ll probably recognize the last half of the word, as phobias have become all too common in our modern world; the word phobia comes from the Greek phobos, meaning “to panic, to make run away” – or more generally, “fear.” Words for different fears have become part of our standard vocabulary, like the fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia) or the fear of wide open ones (agorophobia). To determine the meaning of xenophobia, look at the first half of the word; you’ll see it matches the Greek root word xenos, or “stranger.” Xenophobia is a fear of strangers, or of foreigners.

Being afraid of things that are new or different can be very limiting. That’s why we encourage you to explore different areas of vocabulary improvement so that you can be exposed to as many sources of knowledge as possible. For example, if you read a wide range of materials – from science textbooks to cooking magazines, biographies to mystery novels – you’ll come across the most vocabulary words, many of which will be new to you. Take this opportunity to look up those words and add them to your vocabulary, practicing them in conversation and written documents until they’re just as familiar as the words you grew up using. Look for authors from different parts of the English-speaking world, and you’ll get an idea of the different ways English is used.

Being comfortable with your own language helps you to be comfortable in other languages as well. Don’t be afraid to travel to different countries, even if you don’t speak the language. If you’ve been practicing keeping your eyes, ears, and mind open to new English vocabulary words, you’ll find that it’s easier to pick up the basics of other languages as well.

There’s a world of words out there waiting for you – go and explore!

Today’s word is anthropomorphic, as you might have guessed from the previous paragraph. This word is the adjectival form of the noun anthropomorphism, something that has been part of human culture since the beginning. We relate best to things that are similar to us, and so early people looked at rock formations and saw faces, listened to the howl of the wind and heard voices, and assigned human attributes and personalities to these natural phenomena. If you’re familiar with Aesop’s fables, you’ll recognize the characters of the vain crow, the wily fox, the industrious ant, and the lazy grasshopper, all acting like our friends, neighbors, and ourselves. The word comes from the Greek roots anthropos (“human”) and morphe (“form”), and was often used to describe gods and animals who took human shapes to interact with people.

We’re still prone to assigning human emotions to animals these days, and even to inanimate objects. Any pet owner will have a hundred examples of their cat or dog acting “just like a person!” and most of us have yelled at a malfunctioning machine, talked back to our computer, or coaxed a sputtering car to make it to the next service station, please, just a little bit farther down the road, you can do it … Of course, we know that the car isn’t really feeling a new sense of encouragement from our words, but instinctively we’ve assigned it a personality and are doing our best to try to work with it.

As technology advances, it’s going to be harder and harder to distinguish between people and machines, as you’ll know if you’ve been following the latest developments in robotic technology. Take a look at this video and you’ll see what we mean. But remember that even though machines may look like us, we’re still the ones who teach them the words they use to communicate, so keep on with your vocabulary studies – it will help you in the coming robot apocalypse.

astrogation (ASS-troh-GAY-shun) noun
Like the well-known word navigation, this word has to do with travel, as you can see by the Latin root word agere (“to drive”) which forms the last half of both words. However, where navigation originally had to do with finding your way when sailing over the ocean (navis means “ship”), the ships of the future will drive between the stars (aster is the Greek word meaning “star”). An astrogator will plan the route her spaceship will use as she navigates around planetary gravitational fields, asteroids, and supernovae on the way to far-flung galaxies.

geosynchronous (gee-oh-SIN-kroh-nuss) adjective
Although we’re still far from interstellar travel, this word should be familiar to anyone who uses modern communication technologies, because many television, radio, and telephone systems use satellites in geosynchronous orbits to send signals. Geosynchronous literally translates to “Earth-together-time” if you look at its Greek root words (geo- = Earth; syn- = together; kronos = time), and refers to the satellite’s orbit when it matches the rotation of the Earth.

ionopause (eye-ON-oh-pawz) noun
The International Space Station (which is not in geosynchronous orbit) stays in the ionosphere, which is a layer of the Earth’s atmosphere where the ionizing radiation from the sun creates a layer of charged particles. The ionopause is the upper boundary of this layer, right below the exosphere – the very last layer before you reach outer space.

metamaterial (MEH-tah-muh-TEE-ree-uhl) noun
One of the things the astronauts do on the ISS is experiment with compounds and combinations of substances that can’t or don’t occur naturally on Earth, mostly due to the gravity-free environment of space. The goal of many scientists is to find ways to create these precisely-engineered metamaterials (using the Greek root meta-, which means “over, beyond”) and develop new ways to build stronger and better tools and equipment to keep space exploration moving forward in the 21st century.

Reading introduces you to new words, and your vocabulary study techniques allow you to build on those words so you’re learning groups of them at one time. Take the word insatiable, and apply some of the study tips to it that we’ve discussed in previous posts on this site. A good place to start is with the word’s etymology, so you can find out more about the word. If you look up the roots of this word, you’ll see that it comes from the Latin root satiare (“to fill full”) with the prefix in- (“not”). Without even looking up the dictionary definition, you can put those two root words together to get the meaning “not filled full” – that is, not satisfied. “Insatiable” (pronounced ihn-SAY-shuh-bull) is an adjective usually paired with the words “hunger” or “desire” and used to describe the feeling of never having enough. If you’re an insatiable reader, it means you’re never tired of reading, and perhaps would rather be reading than doing anything else.

When you’re looking at the root word satiare you’ll probably notice that another word shares that root, the verb satiate (“to satisfy, to fill to completeness”). If you pair those words together in your mind, you’ll be able to learn them both – and you can add even more words to the group by including the related words satiation (noun: the state of being completely filled or satisfied) and satiated (adjective: completely satisfied, usually referring to being full of food).

To increase your exposure to as many words as possible, pick from a variety of sources and topics. Keep a notepad handy to jot down words you’re not sure of so you can look them up later and practice them. As your vocabulary and reading skills improve, you’re sure to be satisfied with your progress and achievements.

Cross-posted at the 7 Speed Reading blog.

For example, let’s look at the word farrago used in the previous paragraph. If you look the word up in a good dictionary, you’ll see that they provide the information that it comes from the Latin word for grain, far, and that a farrago was a kind of mixed porridge made of various types of grains, often used for animal feed. You can get a visual image of this mess of mush, and link it to the modern definition of the word, which is “a collection of miscellaneous items, often of poor quality.” In general, we use the word in a negative sense, as seen in this quote from a British newspaper a few years ago:

Like millions of others, I now bitterly resent that a prime minister could use such a farrago of lies and manipulation to deceive us and to take the nation to war so dishonestly. (Michael Meacher, The Guardian, December 1, 2006)

The idea of mixing in a variety of techniques, however, is a good one. Studies have shown that the more ways you approach a topic, and the more ways you involve your brain in the process, the better able you are to learn quickly and remember what you’ve learned. Looking up a word’s etymology will get you thinking about different facets of the word’s definition and roots, and about related words. Looking up the word in context to see how skilled writers use it will give you clues as to how you can include the word in your own written communication. Finally, practicing the word by creating your own example sentences will stimulate your creativity, and the act of writing them out will involve the areas of your brain related to motor movement, which will add to the connections your mind makes and strengthen your ability to recall and correctly use the word in the future.

Learn to separate the wheat from the chaff, and you’ll find kernels of wisdom that you can apply to improve your vocabulary and boost your study program’s success.

The word anthropology comes from the Greek root words for “mankind” and “the study of” – it’s the study of humanity, in other words. The suffix -ology should be familiar to you from all of the other fields people devote themselves to, such as biology, archaeology, oncology, and so on. Many people pick one of these fields and focus on it, learning the vocabulary specific to that field. The particular words used in a certain area of study are often completely incomprehensible to those outside the field, but many words are useful no matter what your area of interest is.

One good way to learn powerful and useful vocabulary words is to look at the terminology (sometimes called “jargon”) used in one particular field. This is especially important if you’re trying to change careers or learn a new subject at school; your understanding of the basic vocabulary used by your instructors, texts, or co-workers is essential for your rapid advancement. College texts are good places to learn not only vocabulary but facts about any topic, and a used-book store near a university is an excellent resource for your own study. If you’re in a professional field, be sure to subscribe to the related trade journals and topical magazines, and you’ll be able to keep up on new advances as well as the new words used to describe them.

With your ability to use advanced terminology effectively, you’ll quickly move up to the highest levels of society.