It’s summer – in the northern hemisphere, at least – and for many people classes are over, vacations are planned, and there will be picnics at the beach and in the park. But even if more relaxation is on the agenda than usual, it doesn’t mean you have to give up your vocabulary study time. In fact, the lazy days of summer provide some of the best opportunities you have to work on building your English vocabulary. Here are some of the things to pack along with your bottle of suntan lotion when you’re ready to head out:

• Books. If you have more free time, you can put some of that time to good use by reading more books and magazines. While even the “beach read” titles will give you exposure to some new words, you’ll be able to increase your vocabulary even more by choosing novels by talented writers such as Margaret Atwood, who creates intricate and fascinating worlds that draw a reader in (try “Alias Grace”), or Kazuo Ishiguro (best known for “The Remains of the Day”), whose characters inspire pity, horror, and self-reflection. If you have an interest in learning about a new field, choose a non-fiction book such as Jared Diamond’s “Guns, Germs, and Steel” and be introduced to a new viewpoint of modern civilization, and the vocabulary to describe it. For a crash course in placing modern civilization in perspective, pick up Stephen Hawking’s “The Universe in a Nutshell” and expand your mind beyond our tiny solar system. By reading a variety of novels, short stories, fiction, and non-fiction, you’ll learn the most new words and see how to effectively use them in context. Don’t forget to take a pen and a piece of paper with you to write down words to look up later.
• Games. Get out the travel Scrabble set, bring the box of Boggle, or just take a pad of paper and a pencil and play “Hangman” in the back seat of the car! There are many fun word-related games suitable for children as well as adults that you can use to keep up your vocabulary study. You can add vocabulary review to any word game by adding some new rules: instead of just using a word, a player might have to give the definition of the word, or use it in a sentence, or give three synonyms and one antonym (where possible) before being awarded the points or the score. An easy-to-carry pocket dictionary can start a game of “fictionary” – check this post for the rules.
• Flash Cards. In a previous post, we talked about how flash cards can be an important part of your vocabulary study. Their portability means that you can take them with you on any road trip, and if you make your own from inexpensive card stock, you don’t have to worry about losing them or accidentally dropping them in the pool. Even a fifteen-minute review, if done every day, will give you a significant advantage in your study program.

What suggestions do you have for vacation-friendly word study? Leave your answers in the comments.