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Years ago I was standing in a line at a bank in El Salvador waiting for a teller. The customer at the teller’s window was an American. There was a man behind him. I was third in line. The American, obviously upset about something, was brutally berating the teller.

As this went on, the man standing between the abusive customer and me turned to me, cocked one eyebrow, and in an English accent whispered, “A decidedly unpleasant individual!”

I’ll never forget how effective his comment was. It had much more impact on me than if he had said, “What a jerk!”

Yesterday Michelle posted a comment asking, “What would be one way that a person could increase their vocabulary? Since I have no formal training as a writer (but love to write) and am a busy parent right now with no time for school, is there something that I might do? I feel like if I had more words to use, my writing would be better.”

Good question. Having a strong vocabulary is definitely important to your writing, no matter what sort of writing you do. It’s wonderful to be able to come up with just the right word at just the right time. It’s frustrating and time-consuming when you can’t. Plus, it interrupts the flow of your writing.

Here are a few good ways to build your vocabulary:

1. Keep a small notebook with you at all times. Whenever you hear or read a word you don’t know, write it down. Then, when you are home or at the office, pull out your dictionary (or bring it up on your computer) and write down the meaning of the word. It will also help to jot down a sentence that uses the word properly. Review your list of words regularly. Use them in your writing and speech when appropriate. When you are sure you have mastered a particular word, place an “x” by it.
2. Go online. There are many Web sites for vocabulary building (such as www.vocabulary.com) that offer interactive learning experiences.
3. Buy a vocabulary calendar – the kind with a new word for each day of the year – and be disciplined enough to use it.
4. Buy any of the number of “30 Days to a New Vocabulary”-type books. Again, use it.

Of these four methods of building vocabulary, I think the first is the most effective because it helps you learn the words that are actually being used. (If you ran into them once, you’ll likely run into them again.) There’s nothing wrong with learning tons of new words that you may never again hear or read, but learning vocabulary that is actually being used will be a more profitable use of your time.

One last tip: Learn the common roots of words. This will help you understand their meanings. I once read that at least half the words in the English language are derived from Latin and Greek roots. Learn these roots and you can often guess the meanings of words you don’t know. Here are a few examples of these roots to show you what I mean:

• audi = to hear (audience, audible)
• bene = good, well (beneficial, benevolent)
• bio = life (biology, biography)
• dic, dict = to speak (dictate, dictator)
• graph = to write (graphic, pictograph, epigraph)
• log, logue = word, speech, thought (dialog, monolog)
• logy = study of (psychology, biology)
• manu = hand (manufacture, manuscript)
• phil = love (philosophy, philanthropy)
• sopho, sophy = knowledge (theosophy, sophist)
• theo = god, divinity (theology, theocracy)

One word of caution: As you build your vocabulary, beware of using “big, fancy” words just to show off your knowledge. In my next article, I’ll discuss this common writing mistake.

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