A good vocabulary is always an asset, especially when it is to answer questions in the Verbal Ability segment of management entrance exams like CAT, XAT and others. Moreover words can be considered as the instrument by which human beings can understand other’s thoughts. Thus it is absolutely necessary for a man to develop a good stock of words and help his thought process. So what are the steps to be followed to develop a good vocabulary? Here are few tips to do the same.

How to begin

At least 15 minutes a day of dedicated study would be the best possible step to begin with. Regularity of the above process can bring about visible improvement in your vocabulary skills. This will effectively increase the efficiency of your written and spoken English. This would help you gain –at college, and even socially.

Many of the words you already know were picked up as you came across them while reading or perhaps even while watching television. Continuing the process is absolutely essential. If you give it a thought you would understand that, learning a single new word everyday would contribute a thousand new words in the next three years. Thus in the process you would also gain a lasting habit of learning and self improvement. The following can be effective steps to you can take in the process of building your vocabulary.

Read, and be aware

People with low vocabulary levels do not enjoy reading. It’s probably more of a task than a pleasure because they don’t understand many of the words. If this applies to you, try reading easier matter. Newspaper are usually easier than, and a magazine like Reader’s Digest is usually easier to read something like The Economist .Reading Alone may not be enough to help you learn new words. When you read a novel, for instance, you must curb the desire get on with the story and neglect words that are unknown or vaguely known. You must stop and try to find the meaning by looking up in the dictionary. This may slow down your reading speed but this would help you in learning new words.

Use a dictionary

The dictionary should be one of the most used books in your home. Keep it where you can find it readily and use it often. If you do your reading and homework is done in the in the dining room or the drawing room and the dictionary is in the bedroom you are less likely to use it. The home dictionary should be large enough to contain much more than just spelling .It should contain extensive definitions, word origin, and notes on usage along with examples.

Refer to vocabulary building aids

These can effectively supplement the efforts you make through the first two steps discussed above. The advantage of such materials is that they present you with words generally considered important to know, thus saving time. Secondly they use the words in several sentences, so that you can see the words in different contexts. Finally they usually have exercises that test what you have learned. The Roots –Prefix –Suffix method is also an effective method. Knowing the roots of a word and its meaning helps in remembering a word.