Interesting and competent - you don’t have to be a philologist or linguist. Sometimes it's enough to read a good story from time to time fiction, which in itself instills the skills of beautiful and rich speech. However, this process is slow and should be regular, and read a large number of books don't always work out. So if you want to give yourself an “intensive course” on improving your speech skills and not get bored, then you can turn to specialized books. I wish I could school books would be just as educational and varied.
1. “The Word is Living and Dead” - Nora Gal
The book by translator Nora Gal was written more than 40 years ago, but over the past ten years it has been republished just a dozen times. It has not become outdated at all and even gained new breath with the advent of the Internet, because all the principles of the “living word” have become relevant again.
To become a good translator, it is not enough to know a foreign language well; you also need to have a brilliant sense of all the subtleties of your native one. Nora Gal is an excellent translator, so all her advice on enriching your own speech was priceless 40 years ago, now, and in 40 years will also come in handy (if we don’t all start speaking Chinese).
2. “From Adam’s apple to the apple of discord” - Vadim Khrappa
Etymology studies the origin of words and expressions, and reading a regular etymological dictionary is quite boring. Vadim Khrappa kindly studied it for us and wrote many interesting notes about how the most incomprehensible and tricky set expressions and phraseological units appeared. In addition, he devotes a lot of time to telling how to use them correctly and what mistakes can be made. If you accidentally change the preposition or ending, you will blurt out something completely different.
3. “The Russian language is on the verge of a nervous breakdown” - Maxim Krongauz
Maxim Krongauz, being a linguist, closely monitors changes in the Russian language and tries to reconcile Internet language and literate speech according to all the rules. Unfortunately, his book “Albany Self-Teacher” was somewhat late. It was published when Albany slang was already a thing of history. But “The Russian language is on the verge nervous breakdown"will remain relevant for a long time, as it talks about fundamental changes in modern language, about the most common mistakes that appear even in the media, as well as how to prevent the depletion of vocabulary in the era of simplification and speed of presentation of information.
4. “Alive as life” - Korney Chukovsky
The Soviet writer Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky wrote not only famous poetic fairy tales for children, but also “popular non-fiction,” although he himself would have condemned this term. “Alive as life” appeared at a time when the Russian language began to be dominated by clerk (the language of bureaucratic conversations and papers), and Russian analogues began to actively replace it. Now the situation with foreign words is exactly the same, but clerical and memorized phrases are still taught at school. So Chukovsky’s book, even at an older age, will help you get rid of bad language habits.
5. “Russian with a dictionary” - Irina Levontina
Irina Levontina wrote her observations about changes in the Russian language for several years in the form of separate articles, and then published them separate collection. The book immediately became a bibliographic rarity and only the reprint can be purchased at affordable price. This alone can speak about the quality and necessity of such notes. Irina, with humor and even some joy, welcomes the fact that language does not stand still, but lives and changes. Unlike linguists of the old school, who are sad and claim every year that the language is becoming poorer, Irina Levontina is convinced of the opposite. The main thing is to understand how to use all these phrases, she argues, then the speech will remain lively and rich.
6. “How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere” - Larry King
This book is not about the Russian language and not about speech as a linguistic phenomenon. And not even about speech technique or oratory. This unique experience a person who wants to teach us to speak, and not to be silent, not to be shy and not to be shy - at the same time to speak beautifully, intelligently and well. For the Russian reader, the examples from the book are somewhat Americanized, but much can be taken into account.
7. “Do we know Russian?” — Maria Aksenova
In fact, Maria Aksenova has a whole series of three books entitled “Do We Know Russian?”, but if you like the first one, then you’ll pay attention to the other two. The author takes a thread from the world and writes about all the interesting things from linguistics, philology, spelling and even journalism that are associated with the correct or incorrect use of language norms. As the name suggests, the main emphasis is on mistakes, and mistakes that are most often funny or unexpected. The only negative that is often attributed to the author is the abundance of exclamation marks. What can you do about errors in your favorite native language?
8. “The Oddities of Our Language” - Nigel Brown
The book is called “Oddities of Our Language” and was written by an English-speaking author, but it is not about English at all. However, it’s not about Russian either. Nigel Brown explores the appearance of , and they almost always coincide in both Russian and English. So in “Weird Things of Our Language” we act as citizens of the world, and at the same time we learn where a huge number of words come from and whether they have changed their meaning over time.
9. “A Word about Words” - Lev Uspensky
Lev Uspensky wrote popular linguistic books for children and teenagers, but adults can also read him without feeling awkward or age-inappropriate. “A Word about Words” is not his only educational book, so if it interests you, you can also pay attention to his works, in which he studies the appearance of names of streets, cities and nationalities, where he talks about first and last names - that is, about unusual words. This same work can be taken as universal, since it takes a little from different areas and gives the broadest picture.
If deprivation, frisson, equivocation and maxims lead you to frustration, it’s time to expand lexicon. Ozhegov’s dictionary contains about 70 thousand words, Pushkin used 31 thousand words in his works, Shakespeare - about 15 thousand. But in the vocabulary 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 because he knows too many “junk” and “duplicate” words. Let's talk about how to increase your vocabulary and give the most effective ways, which will help fill your vocabulary with the right words.
What you need to know about our vocabulary
Lexicon is our vocabulary. It can be active, passive or external. Active implies a list of words that we use every day verbally and writing without special effort(we don’t look up the meaning in the dictionary, we don’t remember it for a long time). Passive vocabulary is understandable words, the meaning of which we know, but we use extremely rarely, and therefore we make an effort to remember. By external we mean terms that relate to a specific area of knowledge and are relevant to your profession, to communication in certain circles.
Scientists are convinced: the less often we use certain words in everyday, business and professional communication, the faster we forget them.
Of the 32 thousand words that, according to sociologists, the average young person uses, over 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.
How to increase your vocabulary: 10 effective ways
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 speech will go sooner about search and memorization methods, as well as filtering. Agree, you are unlikely to call alarm a flash, and infantry infantry - many outdated words are simply not relevant. Therefore, let's talk about how to expand your vocabulary and fill the lexicon 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 lofty vocabulary - read Pushkin, Bunin and Blok; more simple and charismatic - Yesenin’s poetry and Tolstoy’s novels are perfect for you; non-trivial and somewhat even shocking, pay attention to Mayakovsky and shocking dystopias like “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess .
You are probably subscribed to many communities on social networks - add to them the pages of authoritative media like Meduza, popular science groups like Naked Science, as well as public pages with excerpts from classical and modern literature. Don’t read everything: the vocabulary of articles and works should be somewhat difficult for you.
2. Listen and watch smart programs
On the way to work, while walking alone, 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 different from banal everyday situations. The following channels and radio stations will be useful:
- Culture.
- Silver Rain.
- Discovery.
- The science.
It is best if the presenters discuss certain 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 word games
Here it is proposed to translate words from passive to active vocabulary: remember and start using those terms and definitions that you already know, but rarely use and therefore do not immediately remember. A word game lasting 30-40 minutes is suitable for this, but it is quite tedious. So try writing stories about your day or life using words from one part of speech. For example:
- Nouns – “Morning”, “Washbasin”, “Breakfast”, “Road”, “Work”, “Lunch”, “Meeting”, “Shame”, “Cafe”, “Cinema”, “Conversation”, “Trip”, “ Home", "Dinner", "Cinema", "Sleep".
- Verbs – “Wake up”, “Wash”, “Have breakfast”, “Work”, “Dine”, “Meet”, “Be ashamed”, “Have fun”, “Watch”, “Talk”, “Drive”, “Come”.
And so with all parts of speech - with adverbs, adjectives, participles and gerunds. You can even try with pronouns and numerals. It is in your interest that the words used 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 expand your vocabulary, but also gain additional motivation. The Russian language (and any other, frankly speaking) contains the history and culture of the peoples who speak it. Did you know, for example, that “scientist” and “educated” are not the same thing? Many scientists believe that it comes from the word “image” as “God”, that is, an “educated” person carries God within himself.
Or the word love - “lu” (“people”) + “bo” (“gods”) + “v” (“know”) = people know the gods. It's beautiful, isn't it. Or August, which came to the Russian language from Old Church Slavonic, in which this word, in turn, was borrowed from Late Greek. In Old 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 August was the time of harvest). Immerse yourself in the history of borrowing and the formation of words, in their etymology - then expanding your vocabulary will be much more interesting.
5. Change your interlocutors
Meet and communicate with new people. And the more erudite they are, the better. You have already adopted elements of the vocabulary from people in your usual social circle - it’s time to move on. This does not mean that you will have to look for new friends, but regular correspondence with people of new professions and new interests will certainly expand your vocabulary. To help social media, Internet chats, communities of interest and thematic clubs in your city.
6. Expand your horizons
Get out of your comfort zone and look for new hobbies, discover new areas of knowledge. Why not start being interested in literature, art, psychology, medicine, sports and everything that you have not yet discovered for yourself. With new knowledge, unfamiliar words will definitely enter your vocabulary. They will take root well, since you will encounter each term more than once - it will be repeated over and over again, used in new contexts and used by you.
7. Learn good habits
Another one good habit– these are crosswords and scanwords. They not only open up new words for you, but also help you remember them. In addition, it is worth studying foreign languages, Slavic or Indo-European are best (if you want to increase your Russian vocabulary).
HOW TO INCREASE YOUR VOCABULARY
How much do you think Total words in Russian? I guess no one knows the exact answer. Even experts can only name the order, but not the exact number. According to some of them, about five hundred thousand words (three exclamation marks suggest themselves here).
Some foreigners - philosophers and writers who were fluent in our language - argued that the Russian language is one of the most expressive among European languages. “The Russian language, as far as I can judge about it, is the richest of all European dialects and seems deliberately created to express the subtlest shades. Gifted with wonderful conciseness, combined with clarity, it is content with one word to convey a thought, when another language would require whole phrases,” noted Prosper Merimee. If the Russian language is the most expressive in Europe, then it is quite possible that it is the same throughout the world.
We can say that we are lucky in that from birth we have at our disposal such a powerful means of expression, like the Russian language. We can be pleased that we are able to describe our thoughts more accurately than other foreigners.
However, friends, even if you and I had in our vocabulary all half a million words of our great and powerful language, and even if we could manipulate them with extraordinary ease, then even in this case we would not be able to adequately reflect our thoughts in his speech. Why? Because thought is primary, and language is secondary. A thought can have millions of shades, but only a few of them can be conveyed through language. In one second you can think about something that requires many minutes of presentation. Therefore, no matter how rich the language is, it is not able to fully reflect all the subtleties of human thinking.
And if you consider that the average citizen has not five hundred thousand words, but, according to some accountants, about three thousand words, then you can see the limitations of his expressive capabilities. The more words we have in stock, the more accurately and easily we will be able to express our thoughts in speech.
As you understand, the vocabulary of each of us is divided into passive(words we know but don’t use) and active(words we use in colloquial speech). Moreover, the passive vocabulary is an order of magnitude greater than the active one.
Our active vocabulary is very flexible - on the one hand it is growing, and on the other hand it is slowly melting. If a person sat in solitary confinement for a long time and did not communicate with anyone, then after his release he will find that during a conversation he began to move his hands more actively, because. the developed tongue-tiedness forces him to insert additional gestures instead of forgotten words. If you have studied a foreign language, you may have noticed that if the language is not practiced, it is quickly forgotten. Therefore, to increase your vocabulary, it is necessary not only to speed up the arrival of new ones, but also to slow down the process of forgetting words already in your vocabulary (by forgetting we do not mean the disappearance of words from memory forever, but the transition from active to passive).
The growth of our vocabulary occurs throughout our lives. average speed- one word per week. Not very fast. How to speed up this slow process?
Some methods for increasing active vocabulary:Communication(during a conversation, each participant replenishes his vocabulary from the arsenal of his interlocutor - word exchange occurs between them);
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Living in a society in which communication is an integral part, every day we are faced with the need to talk with other people. We like to talk with people whose vocabulary is rich and colorful - it encourages us to expand our own vocabulary. Beautiful and rich speech will help in any field of activity: in school - to get an excellent grade, and in work it contributes to career advancement. The Russian language has a considerable vocabulary that can enrich the everyday speech of any adult.
Lexicon or vocabulary is the set of words that a person knows special person. There are two types of vocabulary: active and passive.
Active vocabulary contains words that a person constantly uses in everyday life. oral speech and letter. Passive vocabulary includes words that a person learns by reading or listening, but does not use them himself. For most people, it is several times more active.
According to research, Russian literary language has about 500 thousand roots and dozens of words derived from them. According to V.I. Dahl's explanatory dictionary - about 200 thousand words. The most common are about 30 thousand, and the highest frequency is just over 6 thousand words.
What to do first
Most resort to unnecessary words when thought does not keep up with speech.
- pronouns are just like him;
- particles - yes, well, sort of, perhaps, like this;
- introductory words - in short, so to speak, listen, in fact, you understand, in general, let’s say, probably, in general, etc.
Learn to replace familiar words and phrases with a pause, short or long. Pausing while you speak will allow your interlocutors to absorb what you have already said.
You don’t have to completely get rid of unnecessary words; it’s enough to eliminate about 90% of your vocabulary. The rest will help you maintain an informal conversation with friends or colleagues.
How to properly replenish your vocabulary
There is no single correct way to increase your vocabulary - it is individual for each person. Some people like to read paper books, others like to watch educational videos or listen to audio versions of interesting publications. For intensive development, use several options simultaneously. Main - devote at least 10-15 minutes to studying every day.
Talk more to smart people
Communication skills help in many things, including expanding your personal vocabulary. However, not every conversation can enrich you. Try to talk with smart and educated people from different fields of activity.
We unconsciously copy the manners and speech of people who have been close to us for a long time. So be aware of your surroundings if you want to expand your vocabulary.
Use audio materials
If you don't have enough time to watch videos or read books, use their audio options. Nowadays it is easy to find resources containing audio collections of famous printed publications. Replace your usual listening to music on the way to work or home, while playing sports, with an interesting lecture or story. The basic rule for choosing audio material- it must be of high quality, the lecturer’s speech is clear and understandable, and the material itself is useful for development.
Watching your favorite TV series does not enrich you in any way; in most cases, on the contrary, slang and unnecessary words appear in your vocabulary. Try to watch science programs (Discovery, BBC), speeches successful people and educational videos (TED). Avoid mediocre films, programs, TV shows or reduce their viewing to a minimum.
Use unfamiliar words
The words you learn need to be used. Read explanatory dictionaries and try to replace familiar phrases with something new. Gradually, your brain will get used to the update and will itself look for ways to replace unnecessary words.
Study foreign languages - it develops mental abilities and increases your vocabulary.
In addition, there are many words and expressions that are present only in a certain language. Using vocabulary that is unfamiliar to you stimulates your brain to further develop.
read books
Reading books is the oldest and most proven way to enrich speech. Read a variety of literature, avoiding books like pulp novels. In each genre you can find several authors whose writing style is pleasant to you, and whose works contain Clever words and phrases. Try to read every day. In this way, you can easily master a medium-thick publication in 1-2 weeks; in a year it will be about 20-40 books, plus an extensive stock of new words.
Read aloud
Try to read out loud, this way you will more carefully perceive the incoming information. Reading aloud allows you to catch inaccuracies in speech (“swallowing” endings), realize your speech mistakes, and tune your voice to clearly present the material. By reading aloud, we “kill two birds with one stone” - we enrich our speech with new expressions and correct errors in our own pronunciation.
Solve crosswords
Crossword puzzle is a great exercise for brain development. This could be a page from the morning newspaper, a collection of crossword puzzles, or a smartphone app. Through simple entertainment, we simultaneously learn new information, develop analytical skills and expand our vocabulary.
Learn poetry
Memorizing texts comprehensively develops the brain. Unlike the option of reading a book, poetry makes it easy to memorize not only individual words, but entire phrases and phrases. In the process of memorization, we train our memory and activate most of the processes of brain activity. Poems teach us to express ourselves competently, to clearly express our thoughts, using a variety of lexical expressions.
Take up writing
Try to write a story or a whole book, not necessarily for publication, just for yourself. If you are ready to share your creations, start a blog. You will learn something new as you write.
By studying speech transferred to paper, we can more easily see our own mistakes.
If all of the above is impossible for you, use simple notes. Even such a small thing can gradually correct your vocabulary.
Learn a new word or words every day
The basic rule of any training is daily practice. If you miss one or more days, this will not significantly reduce your results, but if you study occasionally, you can’t expect much progress. Even if you study only one word a day, in a year your vocabulary will be expanded by more than 300 words, which will significantly change your everyday speech for the better.Games for vocabulary development
The most popular representative among games that develop vocabulary is Scrabble. This board game known and loved all over the world for many decades. Today, based on it, many online options and phone apps so you can play and learn anywhere. It is advisable to play in a company, but it will be no less interesting to come up with new words yourself.
To expand your child’s vocabulary, use the technique of describing objects. During the game, ask the children to describe in detail everything that is around them. The most interesting thing is to play on the street, while moving, when new objects appear to be described.
If you want to increase your child’s vocabulary, download the applications “Young Erudite”, “ First words for children», « Riddles for children».
The game “I See” will be interesting at any age. Invite your child to choose any object in his field of vision and try to describe it so that you can guess what it is about we're talking about. Then switch roles. The game forces the brain to look for new words to describe objects or phenomena, increasing vocabulary.
For the development of young children, use the exercise “How to say more.” Name the word, and then ask the child to find synonyms, while helping him, since children draw new information primarily from their parents.
Sources
- Asmolov A.G. Principles of organizing human memory: Educational and methodological manual.-M., 1985.
- Aine, C. J., Sanfratello, L., Adair, J. C., Knoefel, J. E., Caprihan, A., & Stephen, J. M. (2011). Development and decline of memory functions in normal, pathological and healthy successful aging. Brain Topography, 24, 323-339.
- Granovskaya R.M. Perception and memory models. -JL, 1975.
Expert consultant on speech technique and rhetoric, radio host
When there are no differences in the quality and brand of the suit, when the behavior and reactions are typical and adequate, when the product and marketing are the same, how to stand out among other professionals and experts? Voice - perfect solution. He delights, inspires, makes you take off. It can break, disarm, frighten. They say that a person uses 10% of his brain capacity. Even less goes to voice capabilities.
The editors of the site rabota.ua continue the special project “The Power of Voice,” which will open up the unique capabilities of your voice, help you develop the power of persuasion, teach you how to breathe correctly and have fun during long speeches and the speaking process itself.
Our expert - , expert consultant on speech technique and rhetoric, author and presenter of talk projects for radio “Kiev 98 FM”, will talk about how to deal with the main problems of the voice, breathing and speech, how to increase your vocabulary, how to produce all sounds, a sore throat, working with a microphone and preparing for public speaking.
Previous issues of the special project:
Sometimes we are faced with the fact that we do not have enough words to carry on a conversation, conduct a discussion, negotiate, or simply to explain our position. It seems to us that we are not able to give definitions or come up with associations on our own. But in fact, we can do everything, provided that we use our vocabulary in full.
Lexicon sources
Some neurolinguists are confident that if all the information contained in the brain of one person were run as a movie, it would be enough to watch continuously for 200 years. We unconsciously remember all the words that we have ever heard on the street, in the family, on TV or radio, or read in books and magazines. We do not use many of the words we hear or read in our speech. But sometimes the brain opens the door slightly, and strange phrases or phrases that came from out of nowhere pop out. This is how passive vocabulary manifests itself in certain situations that are inextricably linked with a specific word, because we remember words through images.
In those moments when we need to look more educated, smarter, more intelligent, we ask ourselves: “How can I bring what is in my passive vocabulary to the forefront, i.e. active vocabulary? Simple exercises come to the rescue. Some of which we have been familiar with since childhood: we either played word games with friends, not realizing how useful they are, or we were unobtrusively involved in educational games by good teachers and parents.
Exercises to develop vocabulary
1. Alphabet
Quickly name in alphabetical order noun words in the nominative case, in the singular (except for those that are used only in the plural - trousers, scissors). Names and city names cannot be used. The pause between words should be no more than 5 seconds. After a few attempts, you will begin to remember words that you didn’t even suspect existed in your head: “A - watermelon, B - drum, C - mitten, D - nail, D - ....”
Do the same, first naming only adjectives and then only verbs. The exercise can be complicated if you immediately name three unrelated words starting with the same letter: “Agitate peanut watermelon”, “Bomb mad ram”...
2. Ten
Ten short sentences is the approximate amount of commentary for radio or press, lasting 30-40 seconds. Take any topic. Write 10 sentences on this topic. Each sentence should contain no more than 7 words.
The first sentence begins with a topic statement. Each next sentence begins with the word that ended the previous phrase. When choosing phrases, stick to the chosen topic as much as possible. If the topic is “Autumn,” then the sentences can be structured like this: “Autumn is the most colorful time of the year. A year that begins in January. The first of January is the beginning of winter, when the bright leaves fall. They fall because...”
3. Associations
The exercise activates your vocabulary, activates your imagination, and stimulates you to think more broadly.
Each person has his own association for each thing. So, for one person, a telephone is a tool for making calls, for another it is pleasant entertainment, for a third it is a bustle of work. Choose any concept, object, phenomenon, and without hesitation, name the first 10 associations that come to your mind: “A light bulb is light, evening, blinking, electric meter, energy efficiency, paying utility bills, Lenin, Tesla’s experiments, an anecdote about “ How many humanitarians does it take to unscrew a light bulb?", a reminder of repairs."
One more exercise. It “pulls” words from the passive stock and teaches you to look at objects and phenomena more broadly. Take any object that is in front of your eyes and name 10 of its definitions: “Pen: ballpoint, white, plastic, lightweight, writing, eco-friendly, inconvenient, memorable, gift, funny.”
4. Game “I know 5 names”
This is one of the popular children's ball games. It trains memory, expands vocabulary, synchronizes gestures and speaking. While kicking the ball, we named 5 names of girls, boys, cities, trees, vegetables, countries. As an adult, you can eliminate the ball from the game and make it more difficult by naming 5 European capitals, the names of American presidents, scientific terms etc.
5. Remember everything
The exercise perfectly “pulls out” words from distant corners of memory. Choose any letter and name 25 words that start with it. You cannot use the same root words, for example, “beat” and “battle”. Try to remember words that are as unrelated as possible. For the first time, chaotic work occurs in the brain to search for words, and it seems that so many words do not exist. But already from the third letter (the third approach to the game) you will understand that your vocabulary of words per letter is very, very large. Practice at least three letters in one workout.
6. Three-liter jar
The exercise activates your vocabulary well and trains your memory regarding words denoting material objects. Choose any letter and name all the words starting with it (nouns, singular, not abstract concepts, not names or names of cities), which can be placed in a three-liter jar. To add spice to the game, the named objects can be bent or crushed, if this helps to place the thing in the jar. So, tangerine or toy car will pass through the neck of the can, but the machine operator will not.
7. Lists
Exercise-game to activate memory. Choose a letter, write down as many words as possible that start with that letter and correspond to one category. You can write car brands, city names, animal names or other categories of objects or phenomena with a given letter. You can choose categories and time limits yourself, depending on what exactly you need to upgrade.
