The fact that the dictionary of a language contains approximately 300,000 words is only of theoretical interest to a beginner in learning that language. Perhaps the main principle for the reasonable organization of their studies, especially at initial stage is the economy of words. You need to learn to memorize as few words as possible, but do it as best as possible.
We emphasize that our approach is directly opposite to the leading principle of "suggestopedia", with its emphasis on the abundance of words presented to the student. As you know, in accordance with its canons, a beginner needs to be literally "showered with words." It is best to ask him or her 200 new words every day.
Is there any doubt that any normal person will forget all those numerous words that he was "showered" by such, so to speak, method - and most likely very soon, in just a few days.
It will be much better if, at the end of a certain stage of the lesson, you know 500 or 1000 words very well than 3000 - but poorly. Don't be fooled by educators who will tell you what you need to learn first. a certain amount of words in order to "get in the know." Only you yourself can and should decide whether the vocabulary you have mastered is sufficient for your goals and interests.
The experience of learning languages shows that about 400 correctly chosen words can cover up to 90 percent of the vocabulary that you need for the purposes of everyday communication. In order to read, more words are needed, but many of them are only passive. Therefore, with the knowledge of 1500 words, you can already understand quite meaningful texts.
It is better to master the most necessary and important words for you than to constantly rush to learn new ones. "He who chases too much runs the risk of missing everything," says a Swedish proverb. “If you chase two hares, you won’t catch one,” a Russian proverb answers her.
Speaking very approximately, about 40 well-chosen, high-frequency words will cover approximately 50% of everyday speech usage in any language;
Thus, a well-chosen vocabulary helps to understand quite a lot with very modest effort spent on cramming.
Example: if a total of 1000 words are spoken in everyday conversation, then 500 of them, that is, 50%, will be covered by 40 most common high-frequency words.
We emphasize that these percentages, of course, are not the result of exact calculations. They just give the most general concept about how many words you need approximately to feel confident when entering into the simplest dialogue with a native speaker. In any case, there is no doubt that by choosing correctly from 400 to 800 words and remembering them well, you can feel confident in a simple conversation, since they will cover almost all 100% of those words that you can’t do without. Of course, under other, less favorable conditions, 400 words will cover only 80% of what you need to know - instead of 90 or 100%.
When reading, by correctly choosing and remembering well about 80 of the most common, most frequent words, you will understand about 50% of a simple text;
Example: if you have a text of about 10 thousand words in front of you (this is about 40 printed pages), then, having learned the most necessary 400 words in advance, you will understand about 7000 words that are used in this text.
Note again that the figures we give are indicative only. Depending on various additional conditions, 50 words will cover up to 50 percent of the written text, but in other cases you will need to learn at least 150 words to get the same result.
It should be noted that the stock of words by itself does not yet ensure free communication. However, by mastering 1,500 well-chosen words, with some extra practice, you will be able to communicate almost fluently.
As for professional terms, they usually do not present any particular difficulties, since in most cases this is an international vocabulary that is easy enough to master.
When you already know about 1500 words, you can start reading at a fairly decent level. With a passive knowledge of 3,000 to 4,000 words, you will be fluent in literature in your specialty, at least in those areas where you are confidently oriented. In conclusion, we note that, according to calculations carried out by linguists on the material of a number of languages, the average educated European actively uses about 20,000 words (and half of them - quite rarely). At the same time, the passive vocabulary is at least 50,000 words. But it's all about mother tongue.
In the pedagogical literature, one can find the terminological combination "basic vocabulary". From my point of view, at the maximum level, the vocabulary is about 8000 words. It seems to me that learning more words, except perhaps for some special purpose, is hardly necessary. Eight thousand words will be enough for full communication in any conditions.
When starting to learn a language, it would be wise to make do with shorter lists. Here are three levels that I have found in practice to give a good guide to the beginner:
400-500 words. They are enough to cover about 90% of all word usage in everyday oral communication, or about 70% of a simple written text;
800-1000 words. They are enough to cover about 95% of all word usage in everyday oral communication, or about 80-85% of written text;
1500-2000 words. They are enough to cover approximately 95-100% of all word usage in everyday oral communication, or about 90% of written text.
An example of a good dictionary of the main vocabulary can be considered a dictionary published by E. Klett in Stuttgart, 1971, called "Grundwortschatz Deutsch" ("Basic Vocabulary Fund German language"). It provides 2000 essential words in each of the selected six languages: German, English, French, Spanish, Italian and Russian.
Eric W. Gunnemark, Swedish polyglot
« Lexicon William Shakespeare, according to researchers, is 12,000 words. The vocabulary of a Negro from the cannibalistic tribe "Mumbo Yumbo" is 300 words. Ellochka Shchukina easily and freely managed thirty ... "
Are you short of words to properly express your thoughts? If you are faced with the question "?", This article will be useful to you.
IN modern world, a beautiful and rich speech speaks of culture and a good education. Rich Russian vocabulary indicates the level of intellectual development of a person. Society perceives a person with a rich vocabulary as an intelligent and creative person. People with a rich vocabulary get jobs faster, move up the ladder more successfully. career ladder, they are generally listened to more often and more attentively. The more human vocabulary the more likely he is to succeed in life.
The following recommendations will help you to replenish the vocabulary of the Russian language:
Ways to memorize new words
Of course, this article does not contain all the methods and techniques increase and development of vocabulary. But they are quite sufficient for the appearance of new words in your vocabulary and enrichment of your vocabulary.
If deprivation, frisson, equivocations and maxims lead you to frustration - it's time to expand your vocabulary. Ozhegov's dictionary contains about 70 thousand words, Pushkin used 31 thousand words in his works, Shakespeare - about 15 thousand. But in the lexicon of the average young man about 32 thousand words.
But he still gets lost in a conversation with a well-read and educated person, simply not understanding the meaning of some phrases. All due to the fact that he knows too many "garbage" and "duplicate" words. Let's talk about how to increase your vocabulary and present the most effective ways to help fill your vocabulary with the right words.
The lexicon is our vocabulary. It can be active, passive or external. Active implies a list of words that we use daily in speech and writing without much effort (we don’t look at the meaning in the dictionary, we don’t remember for a long time). Passive vocabulary is understandable words, the meaning of which we know, but we rarely use, and therefore we make an effort to remember. External is understood as terms that relate to a certain field of knowledge and are related to your profession, to communication in certain circles.
Scientists are convinced that the less often we use certain words in everyday, business and professional communication, the faster we forget them.
Of the 32,000 words that, according to sociologists, the average young person uses, more than 16 are incorrect forms, borrowings, and part of the "language of subcultures." In general, most of us have a vocabulary of about 10-15 thousand words. Hence the frequent inability to understand a more well-read, developed and erudite interlocutor.
In fact, there is only one way to increase your vocabulary - you must learn the spelling, pronunciation and meaning of new words, and then use them regularly in speech. Therefore, we will rather talk about ways to search and remember, as well as filtering. Agree, you will hardly call anxiety a flash, and infantry infantry - many outdated words are simply not relevant. Therefore, let's talk about how to expand the vocabulary and fill the vocabulary with really important elements.
1. Read selectively
Reading a priori expands your vocabulary, but it is important to pay attention to the author's vocabulary. If you want to get a literary, even somewhat sublime vocabulary - read Pushkin, Bunin and Blok, more simple and charismatic - Yesenin's poetry and Tolstoy's novels are perfect for you, non-trivial and even somewhat shocking, pay attention to Mayakovsky and shocking dystopias like Anthony Burgess' "A Clockwork Orange" .
You probably subscribe to a lot of communities on social networks - add to them pages of reputable media like Meduza, popular science groups like Naked Science, and public excerpts from classical and modern literature. Do not read everything in a row: the vocabulary of articles and works should be somewhat difficult for you.
2. Listen and watch smart shows
On the way to work, during a lonely walk, and even while preparing dinner, try to avoid watching entertainment programs on TV and give preference to educational programs on TV and radio. These can be programs and talk shows with topics other than banal everyday situations. The following channels and radio stations will be useful:
It is best if the presenters discuss some scientific discoveries, historical events, art and other topics in which you are not strong. From the context, you can understand the meaning of many unfamiliar words. Remember that erudite people always have a large vocabulary - expand your horizons.
3. Play with words
Here it is proposed to translate words from a passive to an active lexicon: to remember and start using those terms and definitions that you already know, but rarely use and therefore do not immediately remember. For this, a word game is suitable, lasting 30-40 minutes, but it is quite tiring. So try to make up stories about your day or life using the words of one part of speech. For example:
And so with all parts of speech - with adverbs, adjectives, participles and participles. You can even try with pronouns and numerals. It is in your best interest to use words that are as rare and original as possible. You can offer to play such stories to a friend or relative - the one who uses the maximum of words unfamiliar to the opponent in his story will win.
4. Be interested in the language
This will help not only to expand vocabulary, but also to gain additional motivation. The Russian language (and any other, frankly speaking), keeps the history and culture of the peoples speaking it. Do you know, for example, that "scientist" and "educated" are far from the same thing? Many scientists believe that it comes from the word "image" as "God", that is, an "educated" person carries God in himself.
Or the word love - “lu” (“people”) + “bo” (“gods”) + “vy” (“know”) = people know the gods. It's beautiful, isn't it. Or August, which came into Russian from Old Slavonic, in which this word, in turn, was borrowed from Late Greek. In ancient Russian, the eighth month of the year, by the way, was called “glow”, and in Ukrainian, Czech and Polish “sickle” (from the word “sickle”, since it was harvest time in August). Immerse yourself in the history of borrowings and the formation of words, in their etymology - then expanding your vocabulary will be much more interesting.
5. Change people
Meet and chat with new people. And the more erudite they are, the better. From people in your usual social circle, you have already adopted the elements of the lexicon - it's time to move on. This does not mean that you have to look for new friends, but regular correspondence with people of new professions and new interests will definitely expand your vocabulary. To help social media, Internet chat rooms, communities of interest and thematic clubs in your city.
6. Broaden your horizons
Get out of your comfort zone and look for new hobbies, discover new areas of knowledge. Why not start getting interested in literature, art, psychology, medicine, sports and everything that you have not yet discovered for yourself. With new knowledge, unfamiliar words will surely enter your vocabulary. They will take root very well, since you will meet each term more than once - it will be repeated over and over again, used in new contexts and used by you.
7. Get Good Habits
One more good habit These are crossword puzzles and crossword puzzles. They not only open up new words for you, but also help you remember them. In addition, it is worth studying foreign languages, best of all Slavic or Indo-European (if you want to increase the vocabulary of the Russian language).
Vocabulary is a set of words of a person's native language, understandable to him in meaning and used in communication. It consists of words that are constantly used in oral and written speech, as well as words that are understandable in meaning during a conversation or reading literature.
There are two types of vocabulary:
Active and passive vocabulary contain unequal indicators of the volume of words. The active vocabulary of an adult greatly exceeds the passive one. The volumes of words in both dictionaries tend to change constantly. They are able to increase if a person learns new terms, reads, develops or decreases.
The active and passive vocabulary may decrease due to the age when words are forgotten or when they stop using them in communication. In this case, the words will disappear from the vocabulary of a person or be replaced by new ones.
Assessing the exact amount of vocabulary the average person has is a difficult task. No one knows specifically what it should be in terms of content and number of words. The reference point in this matter is the dictionary of the Russian language by V. I. Dal, which contains about two hundred thousand words and the explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov, with a volume of 70 thousand Russian words.
Of course, it is clear that such a volume of words is beyond the power of even the most intelligent person. Human memory is not able to contain such an amount of information without harm to health.
An interesting study was recently conducted to determine the volume of words among native Russian speakers. It was carried out in the form of testing, where those who wished to mark in the provided list the words they understood and used. Words were noted only in case of full understanding of the definition.
To improve the quality of testing and sort out false information, non-existent designations were present in the lists. The presence in the questionnaire of the subject of at least one word from non-existent and marked as familiar to him was considered unreliable information and was not taken into account.
In the course of the work, the following data were obtained:
The study assessed the level of education of the subjects, obtaining interesting conclusions. It turns out that the possession of the largest amount of words in people occurs at an unequal moment in life. Secondary special education implies the end of the growth of words at the age of 40, and higher education a little later - after 50 years. Such a gap of 10 years is explained by the discrepancy between the work performed and the position held by people with different education. Some people at the age of 50 read scientific books and gain new knowledge due to the specifics of the work or at their own request for self-education.
It was also identified interesting fact, which showed that the subjects who completed their studies in educational institution and those who did not complete it for personal reasons have the same passive vocabulary in terms of volume.
Vocabulary of adults with different levels of education:
The education received, of course, affects the vocabulary of a person, but not 100%. A person himself makes a huge contribution to the development of the lexicon, constantly improving himself and engaging in self-education. Therefore, it is easy to meet a person who graduated only from school with a vocabulary several times larger than that of a graduate. The main role in this matter is played by sociability, occupation and lifestyle of a person.
The conducted research does not give a complete picture of the vocabulary of an average Russian person, as it contains small errors. But despite this, it helps to determine the relationship of vocabulary with age and level of education.
There are no universal ways to increase words in the vocabulary of the native language. Each person chooses what suits only him. To replenish vocabulary, several methods developed by polyglots for learning a foreign language will help.
To increase passive vocabulary:
The more and more often a person reads books, the richer and more interesting his speech sounds. It is pleasant to communicate and spend time with well-read people. This is a universal way to enrich the stock of new words. The quality of the selected literature is not the last value. It is better to give preference in choosing to popular science books, classical literature, avoiding modern “soap” novels or detective stories in them, you definitely won’t find new words in the correct application.
Always be interested in the meaning of incomprehensible words or new terms from the interlocutor, do not let them pass by your ears. In the course of communication, new information is much easier to assimilate and can be quickly restored if necessary in memory. If a new interesting word was heard from the announcers on the radio, then its meaning can be peeped in a special dictionary.
Every literate person should have a set of dictionaries at home that need to be used periodically. This is the explanatory dictionary of V. I. Dahl, Ozhegov, as well as the Dictionary of Accents for Radio and Television Workers. It will help restore gaps in stress and contains many interesting words.
The Stress Dictionary for Radio and Television Workers has been published since 1960. Its authors are M. V. Zarva and F. L. Ageenko. The history of creating a stress dictionary for radio and television workers began with the release of an announcer's guide in 1951, and after 3 years the Dictionary of Stress was released. To help the announcer.
The basis of all dictionaries for radio and television workers was the stock of "heavy" words accumulated in the card file during the formation of the first radio in the era of the USSR. The replenishment of the card file of radio and television took place constantly. Many words never made it into dictionaries. The "Dictionary of Radio and Television" contains the name of geographical names, the names of works of art, surnames and names of people.
To increase vocabulary, you will need the ability of a person to translate words from a passive dictionary into an active one. The following methods will help you with this:
Write down new words on pieces of paper along with the meaning and stick them around the house in those places where they will often catch your eye. This method will help you remember information more efficiently and quickly without memorization.
To memorize a word, build a suitable association for it. It can be directed to smell, taste, motor, tactile characteristics or tied to color scheme. The result depends on the imagination of the person, and the desire to consolidate the information received. Associative series helps to remember difficult words and easier to remember at the right time.
There are also exercises to develop vocabulary. One of the most effective is the oral storytelling exercise. To do this, you need to try to tell a little story, using only nouns, then only verbs or adjectives. This is not an easy exercise. It helps to use the available vocabulary, while refreshing them in a person’s memory.
Undoubtedly, a rich vocabulary is an indicator of a person's high intellectual development. If you have a beautiful speech, then in the modern world you will be perceived as a person with a good education and culture, a creative person. People who own an extensive vocabulary, in society, as a rule, cause more respect than those who cannot “connect a couple of words”. Even if you are already out of childhood, this does not mean at all that you cannot enrich your speech - this is possible at any age.
You probably know that reading books is beneficial for many reasons. This process can help improve memory, diction, and, of course, can positively affect the quality of your vocabulary. Start with those writers whose work is close and understandable to you. Over time, move on to more complex pieces. Pay attention to text containing interesting expressions that you would like to remember and use later. Reread these expressions by ear - so you better remember them. The most interesting of them can be written in a separate notebook.
Expand your vocabulary with smart people
If you want to replenish your vocabulary with interesting adverbial phrases or just clever words, then, of course, you should not neglect communication with intellectuals. If you notice that the speech of the people who surround you is very poor, then, of course, you should understand that you will not gain the necessary skills from communicating with them. Moreover, you yourself can lose the acquired vocabulary.
Don't be afraid to sound stupid by hanging out with people who know a lot. interesting information- is one of the most effective ways increase your intellectual level, and it was unwise not to take advantage of it.
Improve your speech and vocabulary by learning new words
When you hear or notice a new word while reading, in no case try to “skip” it - look up the definition in the dictionary. In addition, it is important to note for yourself in which turn of speech this word is used. After that, try to mentally replace it with a suitable synonym. Subsequently, having fully understood the meaning of a previously unfamiliar word, you will be able to replenish your vocabulary with it. To make it easier to remember, try to visualize it in your mind by adding images related to this word. Let the picture in your imagination be as saturated as possible.
For our time, the reference can be called the speech of the middle of the twentieth century - it is as close as possible to modern, but has not yet absorbed various jargon and barbarisms that appeared later. Therefore, it is desirable to give preference to literature predominantly of this period. The books of Russian and English classics will be most effective.
It is also worth noting that there are special books that help in the development of speech. Let's name some of them. First of all, pay attention to the "Mastery of the on-air performance" by B. D., Gaymakova. First of all, the book will be of interest to people who plan to work on television and radio. However, this work will be useful to everyone else. Includes three parts that tell about the rules public speaking, technique and culture of speech.
We advise you not to ignore the book by N. Gal "The Word Living and Dead". The author is a well-known translator, but her work will be of interest not only to her colleagues. The work will help you find your own style, avoiding the "dead" language.
Learn a new word every day
If you enrich your vocabulary with a new word every day, then, of course, after a while you will be able to show off your new knowledge very effectively. There are many apps and websites on the web that offer to learn new words. Also, communities with this focus exist in VK. It is important to remember that you do not just need to learn unfamiliar words - they should be used in everyday life. In the evening, learn some new concept for yourself, and the next day try to apply it in a conversation with someone. So memorization will be much more efficient.
Hearing an unfamiliar word, be sure to “google” its meaning
As soon as you happen to hear a word whose meaning you do not know or is rather vague for you, remember it. To be sure, you can write it down on a piece of paper. Subsequently, at the first opportunity, look on the Internet for the meaning of this word.
Read aloud, retell, learn poetry
Reading aloud, as well as memorizing verses, is doubly useful. Thus, you not only develop your memory, but also learn vocabulary and syntax. In Russian, the word order in a sentence can be called quite free, but not everyone uses this freedom to the fullest. Almost every one of us has familiar syntactic constructions at the ready, thereby limiting the lexical range. If you have a task to expand this range, then when constructing phrases, you should use creativity. For example, if you are used to using the phrase "I want", then try to replace it with others - "I wish", "I would like" and the like. Of course, reading certain works will help you easily replace previously chosen phrases.
However, quite often, when we start reading, we plunge into the plot, with little or no focus on vocabulary. As a result, the linguistic abundance of a work often passes us by. To avoid this, use this psychological trick: read books that the author wrote in the first person. When you study them slowly and thoughtfully, ready-made phrases will be stored in your memory, which you can later use when talking about yourself.
Replace simple words with complex ones that broaden your horizons
Try to use more complex words in your speech, replacing them with those simple words, which you used to use before. To do this, for any words that you regularly use, look for synonyms. So you will significantly enrich and diversify your vocabulary. Do not treat this task as something very difficult and requiring serious energy costs is a natural process that can continue until the end of life.
Solve crossword puzzles
Solving crossword puzzles is not just fun, but also a great way to increase vocabulary. Do not neglect this opportunity on vacation, at home, on the road. Pay attention to crossword puzzles that are published in well-known, well-established publications.
Listen to audiobooks
If you spend a lot of time driving and don't have much free time to read fiction and study dictionaries, then listen to audiobooks. Also, this technique is useful for those people who perceive information better by ear. Do not even doubt that if you pass the time in traffic to the sound of a good audiobook, these minutes will do you good.
Watch the video
Sometimes, vocabulary enrichment can occur while watching a variety of videos. We are talking about all kinds of quizzes, intellectual talk shows, documentary projects. Also, do not discount the special courses that contribute to the replenishment of the lexicon. Thus, you can not only have a good time, but also benefit your own self-development. Of course, it is important to distinguish worthwhile materials from unnecessary ones. For example, if you see on a TV program that the next youth reality show or a stupid action movie of the 90s with a corresponding translation is approaching, then it is better to devote time to something else, because such viewing will not only not benefit you, but can also harm .
Note method
You may find it very difficult for you to memorize new terms. In this situation, the already mentioned "note method" will help. Get a pack of stickers, then write a new word on one side of the piece of paper, and its meaning on the other. Now paste the stickers around the apartment. Now "difficult" words will constantly catch your eye, and you will be able to reread their meanings again and again until they are fully learned and included in your usual vocabulary.
Write
You will quickly learn the correct use of new expressions if you engage in writing activities. For this, of course, it is not necessary to be a writer - just set aside at least half an hour a day to write some small text. It can be a simple statement of your own thoughts on a particular occasion.
For example, you can write what you dream about, what kind of people you dislike, what you can admire in another person, and the like. You can even write a multi-page article on a topic that interests you. When you start writing any text, you will have some time to think about your thoughts, thanks to which you will have the opportunity to learn how to correctly use new phrases, briefly inserting them into the text in the right place. Writing is definitely one of the creative activities that activates your mental potential. Naturally, this trains the brain remarkably, allowing you to recall words that you had practically never used in speech before.
