A language is created with the collection of thousands of words. Hence, the majority of the process of learning a language is just learning the words and their meanings. You might have the grammar within your grasp, but without owning a large vocabulary, there is no scope for applying that grammar. However, keeping so many words in your mind is difficult, which is why making a diary to collect the words is a good idea. Every time you come across a new word, just jot it down in the diary. And to make the most out of it, here are some tips you can follow-
Categorize the words
This method can work wonders in helping you memorize the new words you learn. How will you categorize? Dedicate a page to the names of fruits, dedicate another to the names of vehicles, and another to the names of colors. Fill some pages with words and phrases used in regular everyday life, and keep some pages for those used in formal ones.
You can even hit two birds with one stone and use some pages to note down only adjective words and some other pages to note down only verbs. Even better, dedicate a whole diary to adjectives, another to nouns, and another to verbs. The tip within the tip is to write the words in alphabetical order. For example, positive words starting with letter T. This is not only to make them easy to find when you need them, but also because the more organized everything is, the faster your brain will be able to process them.
Write the meanings in both your native language and English
Of course, simply knowing the words is of no use; you must also know their meanings. The meanings of some words will require explanations. In your diary, after writing the word, you can write the meaning of it in your native language. But don’t leave it at that, write the English explanation as well. Even better if you translate it by yourself from the native language instead of relying on a dictionary. This is so that you don’t learn English by being entirely dependent on a different language. You can take some help from your language, but not fully rely on it.
Keep the diary with you at all times
If you are truly dedicated to learning English, then wherever you go, the vocabulary diary should go with you! You might be on the road and see a billboard or a signboard, or a poster with words written in English, and one of those words is unfamiliar to you. Take out the diary and note the word down, then find out the meaning when you have time.
Another reason why you should do this is so that you can study in your free time. If you are on the bus, sitting in traffic, then take five minutes to gaze over the words on some of the pages. You don’t have to memorize them, just look at them and try forming sentences in your head. This is a great pastime when you’re bored!
Make sentences out of the words
So you know the word and its meaning, but what use is it if you don’t know how to utilize it? Learning a language is not only about “learning” it but also applying it. And so, below every word and its meaning, write 1-2 sentences where you use that word at least once. You can get an idea of how the word is used in a sentence from Google, but don’t copy the sentences from there. Make your own, using your own understanding of the language.
Of course, this is not easy, so you don’t have to do this from the very beginning. Once you have learned the grammar to an extent, you can start making sentences. Until then, leave 3-5 line gaps after every word in the diary. You also have to make sure the sentence you make is grammatically correct. For that, you can show the sentences to your teacher or someone fluent, or just use an online grammar-checking tool.
Write something bigger
Once you have gained a bit more proficiency, then instead of mere sentences, try writing paragraphs, maybe even essays. If you know the trick, it’s possible to write essays in a very short time. Select a bunch of words from a specific category that you will use in the essay while also keeping it relevant to the topic. For example, you might write an essay about the animals you saw in the safari park and use the names of all the animals in your diary.
