Get rid of your vocabulary books in no time

陳春旭

With English more and more used and tested in process of globalization， English learner tend to seek the “fastest” ways to expand their English vocabularies， not the least of which is vocabulary books.

But actually， it is not only a way that leads to “inflation”---a phony prosperity， but also the the fastest way to cripple ones initiative to learn English as a language. The publishers and writers are so mercenary that they well utilize our drives to learn English fast.

In most of the vocabulary books， the writer only provide the phonetic symbol， Chinese meaning and a sleight besides each words. Even a sentence for instance cant be guaranteed. Even if there are sentences for each individual word， they are separated and hard to establish any relations for us to memorize them. Though we may finally remember them， at least awhile， by repeating them a terrible lot of times， by sticking them in our rooms and on our desks hither and yon， we dont actually know how to use them and how they are used， let alone we will forget them super soon.

The reasons why these words we learn from vocabulary books fade away from our head in defiance our hard work are various.

First， the lack of explanation of how each word is used is the essential reason. We only learn them at face value. If we dont know how to use them， we tend to exclude them from our compositions and dialogues and replace them with something we know. Although it may surely consolidate the words we have already master， it just bypasses the most important way of memorizing new words， which is to use them as often as possible.

Second， the monotony of background stiffens our memory. When we try to recall something we naturally come to the background of it. For instance， if we try to find something we lost， we recall where we were and what we were doing. Recalling a word takes place in the same way. And when we recall different words from vocabulary books， the backgrounds are all the same---we remember that we were trying to remember these words themselves and were bored stiff. The effect of our hard work is foreseeable.

There are also ways for us to master new English words proficiently as if we are native speakers.

First， learn new words from reading. Find out what you are really interested in， and get to know more about it through English. No matter its a strategy on the game you have just got your hands on， or some historical materials that you fancy very much， so long it is captivating for you and able to induce you to sit tight and memorize the new words you encounter in order to understand the article better， it will do. In this way， we put each word in to an article we like， so we can memorize a series of words when we tend to recall them， because they are associated with each other in the article.

Second， movies. Watching a movie is even a better way for us to memorize words included in it. The reasons are as follows. First， when we encounter the words we dont know， we hear them from actors or actresses， see them from subtitles and etch them with the scene and story in our minds.

Then look them up in the Oxford Dictionary for Advanced Learners to get more information on how to use them. Its also very important to find chances to utilize the newly gained words as soon as possible. You can retell the story or information you got with those words to a foreign friend， or just do it yourself. Its also a way to improve our ability to speak English.

In all， burning interest is the key to acquire new words which is too often dampened by vocabulary books. The frequency we use the new words determine how well we master them， and vocabulary books set handicaps to it. The backgrounds of each word etch the new words in our head， and the vocabulary books make it miniature，etc..

English is a language rather than a mere subject.

So get rid of your vocabulary books and do learn English more steadily， and save your money to buy something your really fancy！