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What is the best way to improve your vocabulary?
If you ask this question to English teachers
or other English learners, they will tell
you the same thing.
They'll tell you that the best way to build
your vocabulary is to learn vocabulary in
context by listening and reading a lot.
And I completely agree with that.
That is the best way to increase your vocabulary.
So this is common sense, right?
Everybody knows that.
This topic is so boring.
But there's a problem.
Common sense is not common action.
Everybody knows how to improve their vocabulary,
but most people don't do it.
Because they spend too much time on things
like social media and funny cat videos.
Now, if regular listening and reading is a
common practice for you, then congratulations.
You don't need to watch this video.
But if it's not a common practice for you
yet, let me convince you to start listening
and reading on a regular basis.
I'm going to share with you two other benefits
you'll get from applying this habit.
I'm also going to share with you some listening
and reading materials at the end of this video.
So let's get stared.
The first benefit you'll get is "intuition."
What is intuition?
Well, let's say that you come across a multiple
choice question about English grammar.
You look at the choices and you know immediately
what the correct answer is.
You don't know the grammar rule that explains
it.
There's no reasoning behind it.
It just feels right.
That's intuition.
It comes from taking in a lot of input by
listening and reading.
Unfortunately, some people don't appreciate
the power of intuition.
They learn vocabulary in a very strange way.
They don't learn words in context.
Instead, they find a list of words and memorize
the meaning of each word one by one.
This seems like a good idea.
They're learning a lot of new words in a short
period of time.
There's only one problem with this.
It's stupid.
Just because we know the meaning of a word
doesn't mean that we can use it.
It's not enough.
We also need to know how the word is used.
Now, I'm sure that you already know this,
right?
You're not one of those people.
You already know that it's much better to
learn vocabulary by listening and reading.
Because when you do that, you're not only
improving your vocabulary but also grammar,
sentence structure, and so on.
Over time, you will become an independent
learner.
It means that you'll have the ability to improve
your English without help from other people.
And that's really cool.
Let's talk about the second benefit of this
habit.
The second benefit is an increase in brain
power.
Just like how a muscle needs physical exercise
to become stronger, your brain needs mental
exercise to grow as well.
Regular listening and reading is a great mental
exercise.
It improves so many functions of the brain.
When you listen to someone speaking, you have
to stay focused.
This improves your attention.
And if they're speaking really fast, you're
also training your brain to process information
faster, which leads to better comprehension.
Reading is great too.
It improves your memory.
When you read a novel, you need to remember
lots of details like the names of the characters,
their backgrounds, the plot, and so on.
Some books even increase your intelligence.
Reading certain types of books improves the
way you think.
And these are just a few benefits.
There are so many other benefits that I didn't
even mention here.
Now you might be thinking, "Why should I care
about my brain power?"
Well, because it will play a huge role in
your English language development.
Especially if you're trying to improve your
spoken English.
For non-native English speakers like you and
I, speaking English requires a lot of effort.
It places great demands on so many cognitive
functions like memory, attention, auditory
processing, reasoning, and so on.
So if you want to speak English well, you're
going to need to have a strong, healthy brain
with lots of power.
And by the way, if you're not living in an
English-speaking country, this habit is a
must.
And I'm speaking from my personal experience
here because I've never been to an English-speaking
country.
If you're in the same situation, the only
way for you to immerse yourself in the English
language is by applying this simple but powerful
habit.
I guarantee that you'll love the results.
So do yourself a favor by start exercising
your brain today.
Click here to get some listening materials.
Or if you feel like reading, click here for
my reading recommendations.
You can also find these links in the description
below.
Please play the YouTube video first
very good!