Vocabulary and understanding How to help your reading

How to improve your reading skills The best way to improve your reading skills is, of course, to read. Read a little everyday; this will help you with vocabulary, grammar and writing skills as well. How? As you read, your brain will start to understand how the English language works; you can see how grammar actually works and is used, and will learn new vocabulary (and also how these words are used).

How to study vocab most effectively It takes many years to learn vocabulary, and English has over a million words. So, you cannot learn all of these words. Native speakers of English do not know all the words in English, so you don’t need to either. Your strategy is to learn the words you need to know.

How to study vocab most effectively Two kind of vocabulary: 1) basic (common) words in English: the ones you will see over and over. 2) technical words: the words that apply to your field of study or major.

Dolch word list (220 words)

Dolch word list websites http://www.dolchword.net/dolch-word- list.htmlhttp://www.k12reader.com/dolch-word-list/ http://bogglesworldesl.com/dolch/sightwords.htm

Academic Word List (570 words) The Academic Word List (AWL) was developed by Averil Coxhead of Victoria University of Wellington, in New Zealand. The list is divided into 10 sublists of word families and contains 570 words selected because they appear with great frequency in a broad range of academic texts.

Academic Word List http://www.esldesk.com/vocabulary/academic http://www.englishvocabularyexercises.com/AWL/

General Service List (2000 words) The General Service List is a list of the 2000 most common words in the English language. Therefore the General Service List plus the Academic Word List cover nearly 90% of academic texts. Again, you don’t need to know all of these words.

General Service List http://www2.elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/generalServiceList .htmhttp://www.uefap.com/vocab/select/selfram.htm

Vocabulary learning strategies There are three stages in learning vocabulary: introduction (you first see it), recognition (you have seen the word, but may not know the definition), and mastery (you know the definition, and can use it in writing/speaking). There are many strategies for learning new vocabulary (and remember, you want to learn the ones you will use a lot, see a lot, and/or are technical words used in your field). Repetition is the key: the more you review words, the quicker you master them.

Vocabulary learning strategies 1. Use flash cards (write the word on one side of a paper, and the definition on the other). Then quiz yourself from time to time. 2. Make your own dictionary: write the word, definition and use in a sentence (see SS handbook for a form you can use). 3. Use online sites for vocabulary quizzes to review. See recommended sites for some of these. 4ESL is a good one.

Vocabulary learning strategies 4. Word family charts: group words according to part of speech (noun, verb), singular/irregular charts, or similarity/synonyms 5. Create sentences of your own for the words you are learning. You need to be able to use your words, not just define them. 6. Write a story that includes all the words you have learned.

Vocabulary learning strategies 7. Say or write the words you are learning — this can help you remember them. 8. Play audiotapes or videotapes repeatedly (e.g. songs or part of a movie) — this is a great way to learn new words 9. Write the words you are learning on pieces of paper and tape them around your room.

Vocabulary learning strategies 10. Play online games: http://www.vocabulary.co.il/ and http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games_voca b.htm are two good sites.

Dictionaries Are easier to use than a print dictionary Many pronounce the word for you. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/learner- english/ dictionary.reference.com http://www.rong-chang.com/dictionaries.htm http://esl-dictionary.com/ http://www.merriam-webster.com/ http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/

Encyclopedias Wikipedia is often the first online encyclopedia students turn to, but the English in these articles is often complicated, and the information is not often updated or complete. Encyclopedias are your first search sites when doing research.

Encyclopedias http://www.encyclopedia.com/ http://www.britannica.com/ http://www.libraryspot.com/encyclopedias.htm (list of online references, hyperlinked) http://www.refseek.com/directory/encyclopedias.htm l (as above, with other information ) http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ http://kids.britannica.com/

Ebooks You can read these online, or download them to a PC or Smartphone. If you copy/paste them onto a Word document, you can use the thesaurus to define words as well.

Ebooks The National Library of Rwanda has free e-books and journals: http://197.243.18.32:8080/jspui/ http://www.openculture.com/free_ebooks list of many free books to read online or download www.ProjectGutenberg.org (classics) http://www.kidsworldfun.com/ebooks.php kids books: fun http://classroom-aid.com/open-educational- resources/free-ebooks/ http://www.textbookrevolution.org/index.php/Main_Pa ge https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page