Sparky: Hello Mr.Maru!

Mr.Maru: Hi.

Sparky: How are you?

Mr.Maru: Great.

Sparky: You are being laconic today. Is something wrong?

Mr.Maru: Laconic? That's a big word.

Sparky: I've been reading the dictionary recently.

Mr.Maru: Where is it now?

Sparky: I was tired of reading the dictionary, so I defenestrated it.

Mr.Maru: That's interesting.

Sparky: I think it was calling for help. It susurrated all the way down.

How can you study English? How do you learn difficult vocabulary? Where can you find the meanings to these words? Let's talk about some important websites and tools.

Learner's Dictionaries

Learner's dictionaries can be incredibly useful for learning the meaning of new words. Learner's dictionaries are English to English dictionaries, but they are written in simple English. Usually the definitions user the first 2000 most used words in the English language.

If you are an intermediate or above learner of English, you shouldn't be translating your English into your language. Translating in your head is a bad habit. If you think only in English, your fluency will go up. You will be a faster and smoother speaker. So try an English-to-English dictionary to help you think in only English.

You can buy a hard copy of a learner's dictionary at most big bookstores or online. You can also use learner's dictionaries online for free. The Merriam-Webster's Learner's dictionary is online and also has some pronunciation exercises as well as a list of the 3000 most used words in English.

Other Ways to Look at Words

It can be useful to also look at words differently. For example, you can look up the antonyms (words with opposite meaning) or synonyms (words with a similar meaning) of a word. If you know the opposite and similar words that will help you remember the word better.

A great website that helps you see a word in a variety of different ways is Wordnick at http://www.wordnik.com There you can see the synonyms, antonyms, Tweets with the word, pictures from Flickr.com tagged with the word and more. This can really help you get an idea of how the word is used and the feeling of the word.

Another great site is Vocabahead.com If you are studying more difficult vocabulary this is a great site. There are several videos illustrating difficult to learn vocabulary. The videos are very professional and easy to understand and there is a study room to help you learn the words. I definitely recommend it for advanced students.

Another thing that is important when you first learn a word is to know how you pronounce the word. Forvo.com is a dictionary with multiple examples of pronunciation of words. It will even help you with difficult place names and people names. If it is important for you to get the pronunciation right, be sure to check out Forvo.

How to Remember Vocabulary Words

You looked up the words in a dictionary. You know their meanings and you know their pronunciation. Now you need to remember what they are so you can use them easily. It can be difficult to remember words, but there are a few tricks and tips for helping you remember.

First, do you need to remember this word? This is a weird question, but some words are more useful than others. You know a word is useful if it is used often. Merriam-Webster's 3000 most used words can help you discover words that are used more often. If a new word you see is one of those words, it is definitely useful.

Second, when you first see a new word and look up the definition in the dictionary, say it out loud many times. While you are saying the word, try to imagine the situation. It's good to act out or imagine the situation as much as possible. The funnier or stranger the situation you imagine the better.

Third, practice the words every few days until you can remember them clearly. This is called spaced repetition. For an easy way to do this without scheduling or working with vocabulary cards, I recommend Anki.

Anki is a free piece of software that can help you remember vocabulary. The software shows you the cards more often if you get them wrong and less often if you get them right. You will see more difficult cards more often. You will see easier cards less often. This can help you remember more vocabulary easier.

This is just the beginning for tips on how to learn English. I hope this helps you build your vocabulary. If you have anymore tools to add to this please add them in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

If you have a question about grammar or learning English, please email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it