25. Increased Vocabulary - Increased Wit

By now you probably know I'm a fan of reading. I'm also a fan of most all media - especially if it contains well written dialogue. This is why I enjoy television shows such as House and Psych, just to name two. How many times have you been in a situation where you wished you knew just the perfect, witty thing to say? Unfortunately we don't have a team of writers to script our lines [if we do, mine have been on strike for much longer than one season]. What we do have is the ability to do just what those writers have for ourselves - master the English language. To do that, increased vocabulary is a must.

Ok, the truth is, there are many more benefits to having an increased vocabulary than just being able to insult someone with a witty quip. Having a mastery of words commands the attention of others, and gets them to listen. This is not because they don't understand the words you're using - if you overwhelm people with unfamiliar terms their minds will disengage quicker than you can complete your sentence. Rather, it is because of an ability to wield your vocabulary, as any tool, most effectively. But that is a post for a later date. Today, I'm going to share some tips that I'm implementing to improve my vocabulary.

• READ - This is simple. Reading increases vocabulary, and your ability to use it. Besides, who would actively be anti-reading? [watch the video above, if you haven't] Try to read books that challenge you. While Cat in the Hat is great mischief, you won't be learning much from it.
• Dictionary.com - Subscribe to their word of the day. Try to implement it into your everyday conversation. You can search for other word of the day sites, too. Also, follow Dictionary.com on Twitter - I discovered this today and found they give quick interesting tips on the English language and how it works!
• Write more - Whether it is a journal, a blog, correspondence, or even a note to yourself. Writing will give you more opportunities to craft sentences from the words you learn. The more you write, you will find yourself looking for the perfect word, which leads to my next point:
• Use a thesaurus - Thesaurus.com is my favorite website. I'm not even kidding. It is a quick and easy tool that allows me to expand my vocabulary in a practical way. What's best is that it allows you to use more words while you are still learning them. This is, perhaps, one of the easiest ways to learn words because you already know the general meaning - you're only learning the word. Note that the art of a thesaurus is learning the uses and nuances of different synonyms.
• Play word games - Scrabble, Crossword Puzzles, whatever - play them. They'll keep you sharp and introduce words you haven't known. Google "word games". There are hundreds to play online. My preference is Scrabble, as it causes you to use what letters you have available to come up with words, and lets you interact with others while doing so.
• FreeRice.com - This is another word game, but I feel it deserves it's own bullet point. I've talked about FreeRice before. You can see that here.
• Use a Dictionary App - Many people now have smart phones. So find a dictionary app for it! Whenever you come across a word you don't know, look it up. This is great when reading, as you'll probably have your phone right there, but not necessarily a dictionary. To my dismay, my app mysteriously quit working over a month ago - but I can still use the internet on my phone to look stuff up!

This is what I'm starting with - what have you done to increase your vocabulary?

Today's gift was inspired (& partially stolen) from a friend's post that she sent me earlier. Thanks to her for that!