Ultimate Vocabulary – Vocabulary Building Software

Word of the Day: Saturated

September 17, 2012

After a long vocabulary study session, you might feel like your brain’s full and can’t hold any more words – that it is saturated with definitions and pronunciations and spellings and usages and won’t hold another drop of knowledge, no matter how hard you try. It’s not an uncommon feeling, especially given the sheer number of words in the English language that there are to learn, and the effort it often takes to learn them.

The word saturated has two general meanings: (1) drenched, soaking with liquid; and (2) full up, unable to hold any more. It comes from the Latin word satur (“full”) which is also the source of the English word sated (“full, completely satisfied”). The more modern and more common meaning of “soaked with liquid” can also be used in a more metaphorical sense, as shown in the examples below.

I got caught in a thunderstorm and my dress was saturated by the time I got home.

The lush landscapes painted by Albert Bierstadt of the American West are so richly saturated in color you can almost imagine yourself in the scene.

One way to “empty” your saturated brain and make room for more words is to move all of your day’s learning from short-term to long-term memory. You can improve your memory and improve your vocabulary at the same time, leaving you hungry for more!

If You’re Just Memorizing Words, You’re Doing It Wrong

September 14, 2012

Imagine that you want to build a house out of bricks. Obviously, you’ll need a lot of bricks, and you’ll need to accumulate a large stockpile of them before you begin construction. However, you need to also know what to do with those bricks once you’ve made them, and how to assemble them correctly, otherwise you’ll just have a pile of bricks, not a useful and well-designed home.

Vocabulary study is really about building a house, not just about learning words (the building blocks of language). Unless you’re a professional Scrabble player who merely needs to remember letter patterns, you’ve got to learn more about words and how to use them in order to truly learn English, or any language. Many studies have been done over the years about how to teach English vocabulary, and the valuable information gained by researchers who specialize in language instruction is always worth exploring if you want to maximize your English language skills. Here are some tips that veteran English scholars and instructors Ruth Gairns and Stuart Redman recommend be a part of any English vocabulary study program:

Learn synonyms, both in words and meanings. We can’t emphasize enough how important it is to look up any synonyms to the words you’re learning. Not only will that allow you to get a better understanding of the word itself, but it will allow you to double or triple your vocabulary acquisition at the same time. In addition, make sure you know the different meanings for the same word; for example, a class could refer to a group of students, a category of objects, or a quality of sophistication, depending on context.

Focus on pronunciation. While written English is an invaluable tool, most of your use of the language will probably be in spoken conversation. If you don’t know exactly how a word is pronounced, you run the risk of confusion and misunderstanding between you and your listeners.

Find out all the ways a word can be used. The English language is rich in idiom, and words can change in meaning depending on when and how you use them. Take note of any examples you can find about common phrases or sayings that use your vocabulary words, and learn those too. If English isn’t your native language, be sure that you have some time with a native speaker so that you know how conversational English is supposed to sound.

Resource: Gairns, R., Redman, S. Working With Words: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Vocabulary. Cambridge University Press (1986)

Have We Found the Origin of Modern English?

September 12, 2012

While the English language is generally seen as something that developed in the British Isles, influenced by Norse and French invaders and shaped by European culture over the course of hundreds of years, the true roots of English go back many thousands of years, to some of the first farming communities in what is now Turkey. Researchers have been applying the same techniques they use to track the spread of diseases towards tracking the spread of the “mother” language of the Indo-European language family of which English is a part.

In fact, they’ve used the word “mother” as one of the words to trace the lines that connect languages, in the search for cognates, or words that share the same root. Take a look:

mat* (Russian)
madar* (Farsi/Persian)
mitera* (Greek)
mutter (German)
moeder (Dutch)
mère (French)
madre (Spanish)
mother (English)
máthair (Irish Gaelic)
modir* (Icelandic)

* pronunciation only, word not in original alphabet

Learning how languages are connected not only helps us to understand English words, but also understand how societies developed and spread over time. English continues to grow and develop, with new words added every year from both local and global sources. It will be interesting to see what paths we take in the future – will we be able to trace the spread of human languages out into the stars one day?

For more information on the language project, you can listen to an interview with researcher Quentin Atkinson here.

“Dis” is the Best Vocabulary Advice You’ll Get Today

September 10, 2012

A good vocabulary study program includes more than just memorizing a word and its definition. You need to make sure that you know exactly how to pronounce the word, and how to use it correctly in a sentence. You’ll have to practice spelling the word so that you don’t make any errors when you use it in a written document. And if you want to get the most out of a word, you’ll include some research into its synonyms and antonyms, and also look into the history of the word (its etymology). This last step is crucial to helping you distinguish the subtle differences between words that appear to be related, but really aren’t.

A good example of this is the difference between words that start with the prefix dis- and words that start with the prefix dys-. While many of the words beginning with these two prefixes do have the same general sense of something negative, the roots of these prefixes are from two different languages, and have two different meanings. Dis- is an Old Latin word form that adds the meaning of “opposite of” or “lack of” to a word, and dys- is an Old Greek root word meaning “abnormal” or “bad.” Here are some examples of how each of these prefixes are used:

dystopia
The English philosopher Thomas More wrote a book titled “Utopia” in which he described a perfect world where equality, justice, and peace reigned supreme. Three hundred years later, another author added the negative prefix to create a word describing a world in which the opposite holds true. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary notes that this was the most searched-for word the week of the release of the movie “The Hunger Games.”

dysfunction
Here we see a good example of the difference between the two prefixes. You might think that the negative version of “to function” is “to not function,” but instead this word means “functioning, but not correctly.”

disobedient
In this case, with the use of the prefix dis-, we do have a word where the negative meaning is “not [obedient].”

disaster
Sometimes the meaning of a word isn’t as easy to see; unlike the two previous words, where the prefixes were attached to recognizable words (“function” and “obedient”) and obviously negating them, if you tried to break this word apart in the same way, you might think it means “not a purple flower.” Etymology comes to the rescue again, and when you look up this word you’ll see that the second half of the word comes from the Latin word astro, meaning “star.” It was long believed that the stars governed our fates, so if the stars were opposing you, you’d have bad luck and terrible things would happen – in other words, disasters.

Remember, a disciplined student of English vocabulary is generally disinclined to discard any tools that can help them get ahead, so keep word research in your study plan!

Vocabulary Improvement: The Final Frontier

September 8, 2012

It’s been 46 years since the crew of the Starship Enterprise flew onto television screens in the United States, but Star Trek fans are found all over the world these days. We’ve got a few lessons we could learn from the mythical space explorers to help us navigate the vastness of English vocabulary. For example, we can stay methodical and logical like Spock, applying precision to our study of each word so that we know as much as possible about it before moving on to the next one. We can take a hint from engineers Scotty and Geordie, and learn to be resourceful and flexible, determined to keep our study program moving forward in spite of temporary difficulties. Most importantly, we can look to Commander Worf, who learned English to communicate with other members of the Federation, while still staying fluent in his native Klingon.

Even in the fictional world of the future three centuries from now, it’s necessary to learn new words to communicate. In the universe of Star Trek, the computers and the “universal translators” provide a bridge between languages, but in our universe, things are a bit more difficult. With improvements in technology, we have tools like Google Translate or iPod apps that let us quickly get word definitions and explanations of phrases in other languages, but there’s no substitute for true knowledge of words and the way they’re used and pronounced – and that holds true for English, too. If you don’t have an adequate English vocabulary, you might think you’re hearing a different language if you’re in a group of people with more experience, education, and training. Only by keeping your vocabulary skills sharp will you be able to join any conversation and not need a translator.

Some Star Trek words and phrases have become a standard part of English vocabulary by now, and even the Oxford English Dictionary has added the terms mind meld and warp speed to its lexicon. You’ve probably also heard of a cloaking device or had someone tell you to set phasers to stun. Like many other cultural phenomena, the rich world of the Star Trek universe has added to the richness of the English vocabulary.

If you’re a real Trekkie, you can go beyond the new English words and learn how to speak Klingon (though your conversational partners may be limited in the real world). Remember, although English vocabulary improvement is important, not yap wa’ Hol!.

A Vocabulary Trick That’s So Easy, A Dog Can Do It!

September 7, 2012

There’s been an ongoing debate among researchers and scientists over the decades about whether or not animals can truly learn to communicate with humans using language. Koko the gorilla is one of the most famous examples of an animal who uses sign language and computer images to talk to people about kittens, and toys, and food, and even her feelings. On the other side of the debate, there are the “trick” horses and dogs (and even pigs) who seem to understand what their trainer says out loud, but who are really watching the trainer closely for subtle cues expressed by the trainer’s body or tone of voice. Parrots can learn to mimic English words, but can they learn to use them in original sentences? Can we really say that when a dog looks at us as we talk to them, they understand what we’re saying to any degree?

There’s a dog that might be able to answer some of those questions – though not using English. A border collie named Chaser has been trained to recognize over 1,000 different nouns, and also knows the meaning of certain verbs. For example, she can “fetch the ball” or “paw the Frisbee” on command. Several studies have been done that seem to have eliminated the problem of getting visual cues from the trainer; for example, Chaser will go to another room, where she can’t see the person giving her the command, and still accurately retrieve the requested object. But is this truly language, and is it communication? Or is it just a matter of learned behaviors?

Researchers are hoping that more work along these lines will help answer the question about how humans themselves learn languages as children. There’s a large similarity between how Chaser learned her words and how a child first picks up vocabulary, and that’s the process of repetition. In order to teach Chaser the specific identifying words for over a thousand objects, her trainer had to repeat the name of the object while showing it to her, over and over again. In the same fashion, a mother might hold up a toy and say “ball” to her baby, helping the baby associate the word with the toy.

Repetition is a key tool in your vocabulary-building routine. To make it even more effective, use different methods of repeating the word when you’re memorizing it and its definition. Say the word out loud, write it several times by hand, and even act it out if you can. By stimulating several areas of your brain at once, you’ll help drill the meaning of the word into your memory, and make it easier to retain and recall.

We don’t want to keep hounding you about the importance of repetition, but if you don’t use this technique as part of your study program, you might find your vocabulary training going to the dogs …

You can watch a video about animal communication, featuring Chaser, on line here.

How to Go to Sleep and Wake Up Smarter

September 3, 2012

It’s every student’s dream, isn’t it: just put your textbook under your pillow, and somehow the information will be magically transmitted up into your brain overnight. Or maybe there’s a pre-recorded tape of lectures that you can leave on automatic replay to drone away while the night goes by, as your subconscious absorbs the lesson. But how much of that is a dream, and how much is reality? Scientists continue to research what happens in the brain while we’re sleeping, and they’ve come up with some amazing results.

The importance of sleep in helping you learn is well known. Your brain uses that “down” time to process what you’ve experienced during the day, and when you sleep you improve your memory of the information, facts, and figures that you’ve learned. In fact, if there’s something you particularly want to remember, like the new vocabulary words you learned that day, it’s a good idea to review them right before you go to sleep so that the vocabulary information is fresh in your mind, which will create stronger memories. Don’t forget to review the words as soon as you get up as well, to really cement the details in your long-term memory.

Can you really learn new things in your sleep, though? A study recently published in Nature Neuroscience seems to indicate you can, in at least a limited fashion. Researchers in Israel just completed a series of tests on sleeping subjects to find out exactly how the sleeping brain processes new information. They used pairs of sounds and smells in their test, using one sound with an unpleasant odor and another sound matched with a pleasant perfume. They sprayed the sleeping people with the nasty smell while playing one tone, and watched as the sleepers automatically took a shorter breath to avoid the smell. Later, they played the other sound while spraying the test subjects with the sweet-smelling odor, and saw that they took a deeper breath. After the subjects woke up, the researchers replayed the “bad smell” sound and the “good smell” sound, and realized that the reactions were the same. Even though the participants in the study couldn’t remember hearing or smelling anything while they were asleep, their bodies and brains remembered that one tone was associated with something they didn’t like, and automatically took shorter breaths on hearing it.

Like any other level of learning at this stage (often called “conditioning”) which operates on a subconscious basis, it’s difficult to see a practical aspect right now, but the results of this test do open up possibilities for future research. With the right stimuli, a “sleep while you learn” program might be a part of your vocabulary study in the future!

Cross-posted at the Ultimate Memory blog.

Monthly Progress Reports Keep You Moving Forward

August 30, 2012

One of the useful tools in the Ultimate Vocabulary software system is the tracking function. You can see how well you’re doing with your goals to be able to define, use, and spell vocabulary words correctly, and seeing your progress mapped out on an ever-upward curve is one of the best ways to keep motivated in your vocabulary improvement program. If you don’t use this feature regularly, we recommend you check it at least once a month – and if you’re not an Ultimate Vocabulary client yet, you can still keep track of your progress by making a note of the words you’ve learned. A quick and handy way to do that is to take the flash cards you make to help you study words and bundle them together at the end of the month (the ones you’re finished with, anyway). A growing stack of “done!” cards is a visual marker that you can glance at if you’re feeling stuck later that will give you the confidence to keep at your work.

Speaking of time tracking, do you know where the English names for the days of the week came from? Take a look at this vocabulary improvement post for a reminder of those word origins, as well as some hints on how to maximize your study time. The English names for months have similar origins, with many of them tracing their roots back to ancient Greek and Roman gods. For example, January is named after the Roman god Janus, June from the Roman goddess Juno, May for the Greek goddess Maia, and March after Mars, the Roman god of war. The first Roman calendar only had ten months, which is why we have the months of September, October, November, and December (from the Latin numbers for 7, 8, 9, and 10). The calendar we use today was instituted around 45 BCE by the Roman emperor Julius Caesar, and his name was given to the month of July; Augustus Caesar took the next month for his own.

Some names of the month are also useful vocabulary words. The adjective august means “awe-inspiring” or “of high birth or social standing.” The verb march means “to walk steadily and rhythmically” and may is generally used as what linguists refer to as a “modal auxiliary verb” to indicate permission or possibility (as in “May I come in?” or “She may be arriving soon”). And there’s a phrase, “to have an April face,” which used to be fairly common when describing a happy, sunny expression. The English composer Thomas Morley wrote a lovely madrigal titled “April is in My Mistress’ Face” back in 1594. Listen to it here, and get ready for another month of vocabulary study!

April is in my mistress’ face,
And July in her eyes hath place;
Within her bosom is September,
But in her heart a cold December.

Why it’s Good to be a Drama Queen (or King)

August 24, 2012

Actors and actresses often have a reputation for being emotional and flamboyant; we’re sure you can call up a mental image of one stalking across a set or stage, waving their arms about, and possibly shouting at the top of their voice. If your child were acting like that, you’d probably decide that it was time for a “time out” session and send them to their room. However, some of these dramatic behaviors can be channeled into productive study techniques, which will help your child (or you) improve their vocabulary and memorization skills. Remember, actresses and actors also have a reputation – and a well-deserved one – for being able to quickly memorize pages and pages of scripts, often containing unfamiliar words. Wouldn’t that be useful when it’s examination time at school?

Studies have shown that incorporating some aspects of drama into language learning has a higher success rate than memorization alone. There are two main reasons for this: first, you’re likely to be less bored; second, you’re using more of your body, and therefore your brain. If you’re not bored, you’ll be more focused, which will improve your ability to accurately store information. And if you’re using multiple areas of your brain in the learning process, you’ll be able to retrieve that information later more easily, because you will have created more “triggers” associated with the memory. Here are three ways you can use drama to help increase vocabulary and hone memory skills at the same time:

Read, write, and recite. When you’re trying to learn a new word, or any bit of information, it’s helpful to use many mental muscles at the same time to reinforce your ability to memorize it. Use your eyes to scan the words, use your hands to write them out on a piece of paper, and then use your mouth to read them out loud. In this way you’ll activate several different areas of your brain, and that will create firm connections between the information you’re memorizing and the short- and long-term memory storage where you’ll keep that information.

Act it out. While not all words are easy to incorporate into a game of Charades (where you’re not allowed to talk), if you add a spoken element to the game, you can act out any word. The only rule is that you can’t use the word itself, or any derivation of it. That is, if your target word is aviation, you couldn’t say something like “I’m the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh.” This is a good group activity, but it’s also useful to practice on your own. The process of thinking about how you’d describe a word without actually using that word is a great way to get a deeper understanding of its meaning, and that will help you memorize it.

Learn to improvise. In this exercise, you are allowed to use the word – in fact that’s the whole point. Again, this is a good game for groups or individuals (though it will be more fun in a group!). Using one or more of the vocabulary words you’re memorizing, improvise a scene in which you have to use those words at least once. If you can find different ways to use the same words in the same scene, that’s even better. For example, you might come up with a line about “the beauty of the sky on a clear summer evening” as well as one like “after we finished evening up the number of players on each side, the basketball game was much more fun.”

References: Drama activities for language learning, J. Dougill, Macmillan (1987); Reexamining memorization, A.G. Osburne, CTESOL (1993)

Cross-posted at the Ultimate Memory blog.

Heads or Tails: Is it a Noun or a Verb?

August 22, 2012

One of the best things about the English language is its flexibility.

One of the worst things about the English language is its flexibility.

Flip a coin to select one of these statements, and do a survey of people to see whether or not they agree with it – then do the same survey using the other one. We’ll bet that you get approximately the same results from both. It’s easy to appreciate the richness and variety of English vocabulary, but there are times when life (and vocabulary improvement) would be easier if there were only one way each word could be used and defined.

One of the ways one word can take two roles is by the process called verbification or verbing, where a noun is converted into a verb without being changed in any other way. This isn’t a new process in English, of course. Think about the fact that you have a head, but that you can also be headed in the right direction; that a cat has a tail but that a private detective can spend hours tailing a suspect; or that standing at the foot of a mountain is quite different from footing the bill at a restaurant. There are many common verbs that started out as nouns, and in general we don’t think too much about the shift, unless there’s some confusion because the new meaning is so different. In the last example above, it’s a bit hard to see why “to foot” equals “to pay,” and the origin of the phrase is somewhat unclear, though it’s probably related to the fact that the total of a bill is shown at the bottom, or foot, of the page.

Verbification has gotten more notoriety in the last few years because of its increasing popularity, and words that once would never have been verbified are now in common use – though some are still being disputed by linguists as to their grammatical accuracy. Here are some examples of verbs that started out as nouns:

to calendar
Make sure the program secretary calendars all those meeting dates on the website so that every participant stays informed.

to chair
Because the head of the board was ill last night, I ended up chairing the entire meeting.

to medal
Although he’s one of the fastest runners on a short track, he’s not expected to medal in any of the long-distance events.

to microwave
Everyone knows about the urban legend of the woman who accidentally microwaved her poodle.

to parent
I can’t believe how many books and magazines there are these days on parenting techniques!

to source
All of the top chefs make sure to source the best ingredients for their dishes.

There are lots of other noun-to-verb English vocabulary words out there to learn – all you have to do is google “verbification” and you’ll find the information you need.