How To Learn Vocabulary in English

HOW TO LEARN VOCABULARY IN ENGLISH
FAVA - Formacin en Ambientes Virtuales de Aprendizaje SENA - Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje

INTRODUCCIN
In order to learn and being able to

communicate in English, there are two
fundamental aspects to be considered:
vocabulary and grammar through which
the four skills are developed. Therefore,
you should study the specific meaning
of each unknown word, so that the context
can be evident for an overall point of view
to understand the whole message.
The next explanations will be of help for

you to know how to learn vocabulary,
according to each learning style and
individual preferences; since this
knowledge depends on your personal
characteristics, context, past experiences
and contact with the language.
Although there are many ways in

which vocabulary can be learned, some
main considerations will be taking into
account in this material, to facilitate the
beginners acquisition of elements as well
as intermediate to develop the proposed
tasks in each activity.
There have been presented different

examples about each characteristic and
topic taught that let you know the best
and easiest way to get the meaning of a
word or phrases applying it in the required
context.

ESTRUCTURA DE CONTENIDOS
Introduccin ................................................................................ 2
Mapa Conceptual .......................................................................... 4
1. WAYS TO LEARN AND GUESS THE MEANING OF A WORD OR

PHRASE IN CONTEXT ......................................................... 5
1.1 Lexical Relations .................................................................. 6
1.2 Word formation .................................................................... 9
1.3 Knowing a word from its categories of meaning ....................... 10
1.4 Selective level of words ....................................................... 11
1.5 Words in contexts ............................................................... 12
1.5 Idioms .............................................................................. 13
1.5 Direct translation ................................................................ 14
Bibliografa ................................................................................ 15
Glosario ..................................................................................... 16
Control de Documentos ................................................................ 18
Creative Commons y Marca Registrada ........................................... 18

MAPA CONCEPTUAL

1. WAYS TO LEARN AND GUESS THE MEANING OF A

WORD OR PHRASE IN CONTEXT
The learning of any language starts with the vocabulary, which plays a
fundamental role in getting not only the meaning but also the form, and
their relationship with the whole message.
According to Thornbury (2002), to produce and use an intended word in

a context, the learner needs to:
Acquire a critical mass of w ords for u se i n both

understanding and producing language.
Remember words over time, and be able to recall

them readily.
Develop strategies for coping w ith gaps i n word

knowledge, including coping with unknown words,
or unfamiliar uses of known words.
To get these challenges it must be defined and understood what a word

is. Through the next explanations you will be familiar with the terms,
definitions, lexical relations, and in general, grammar implications of a
word itself as well as specific use in different contexts.

1.1. Lexical Relations
To learn vocabulary, you can use one of the following strategies to skim or
scan the meaning of a word in specific texts or contexts.
Same Word class: Classifying them grammatically, like:
- Adjectives: They qualify the noun.

- Verbs: Indicate the action in the sentence.
- Nouns: They are a part of speech typically denoting a person,
place, thing, animal or idea.
Examples:
Same word family and its derivate: In general they have the
same root, and its derivate which differentiates the meaning.
Examples:

Feminine Feminity Feminist Feminism
Synonym/Antonym: When there are words or phrases which

have the same meaning or the opposite one.
Examples:
Good/bad Light/dark Tall/short
Co-hyponym: Identifying the way in which words are related. It is a

kind of relationship among them, and share the same ranking
in a hierarchy.
For example: The goldfish, the trout and the shark are all Fish, they are
related because they are aquatic.
Goldfish Shark Trout

Homonyms: Same sound, different meaning.
Examples:
Sun / Son / /
Co-Hyponym and superordinate term: Words used to

designate a member of a superordinate term. For example: apple and
banana are hyponyms of fruits.
Example: In this example, material, metal and art are superordinate

terms and wood, bronze and sculpture are hyponyms.
Wood/material Bronze/metal Sculpture/Art
Another example:

Same lexical field: In the next example there are some words
connected to the idea or topic about Systems: PCs, software, hardware,
monitor, download, security. It means all the words related with that
field.
Examples:
PCs
Security Software
SYSTEMS
Download Hardware
Monitor
1.2. Word formation
In linguistics, word formation is the creation of a new word.
Two words derived from the same root. this is useful when you want
to get the meaning without using the dictionary, of course, If you know
the roots meaning.
Example:
Sculpt: Sculpture, Sculptor.
Hard: Harden,
hardener.

Blending: When two words are being concise getting just one
as a result.
Example:
Internaut: Habitual user of

the Internet- a blend of Internet
and astronaut.
Canyoning: Sport that involves
descending mountain streams athigh
speed. Formed by canyon + ing.
Twigloo: A tree-house made

of branches- a blend of twig
and igloo.
Shareware: Freely distributed

computer software. Formed by
share and ware (by analogy with
hardware, software).
Trainspotter: A collector of information

about train movements-formed by
compounding of train + splotter.
1.3. Knowing a word from its categories of meaning

(dictionary meaning)
The use of dictionary is a very valuable source of words, and of information

about words. It must be handling whenever you want to go deeper in
the meaning to find out the best translation of the word, according to
the studied text or context. The dictionary, most of the times, has the
following descriptions to help the learner skim and scan the meaning.
10

Meaning: According to the text or context.

Spoken form: Pronunciation.
Grammar: Word class, verb, adverb, noun, article, etc.
Derived forms: Present, past, future.
Collocations: The place where the word goes in a sentence.
Register: Formal, informal, colloquial.
Frequency: It is ranked according to the times the term is used
when writing or speaking the language. For example, the words:
sick, unwell and ill, are ordinarily more used in the following order:
sick, ill, unwell.
phonetic transcriptions
example
sentences
prepositions useful expressions
1.4. Selective level of words
You can choose and create a three level vocabulary list, according to your
understanding of each word.
Develop an efficient means of storing vocabulary which you can easily

refer to later. Experiment with the following:
Alphabetical card indexes with definitions or translations of words.
A special note-book which you can keep with you at all times.
An alphabetical list on your home computer.
11

Upper I ntermediate:
Available, g room,
thunder, carving
Intermediate:
p.e. I nformation, detail, past,
determiner
Elementary:
P.e. House, Architecture, beauty room, cell
phone
1.5. Words in contexts
This strategy of learning vocabulary helps a lot to students when they

discover the meaning in practical ways.
Short texts: The best way to understand and guess the meaning
of a word or word is following the next step.
- First, write the general topic of the reading.
- Second, make a list of the unknown vocabulary.
- Third, look for the meaning in your own

language, pay attention to pronunciation too.
- Next, try to get the whole meaning of the text

without translating word by word.
- Then, make the reading comprehension or

answers the questions indicated, if there are
some.
12

Literary texts: Remember that the main idea

most of the times goes at the very beginning of the
reading, in the middle or at the end. When the reading
is too long, make the analysis of the vocabulary by
sections, titles, subtitles or paragraphs.
Remember to have available a good dictionary,
bilingual but also monolingual if you want to improve
your knowledge and lexical meaning.
Corpora (Corpus data): This means a

collection of texts that has been assembled for the
purpose of language study. Modern corpora are stored
electronically and consist of many millions of words
of text, both spoken and written. The benefit for
learners is that it provides them with easily accessible
information about real language use, frequency
and collocation. It includes American, British, and
Australian English.
1.6 Idioms
Many phrasal verbs are idiomatic and their meaning is not easily detected,
since most of them are used in certain contexts or situations. Therefore
to study and understand them, it is better to do it as soon as they arise
in the text, according to the topic. To get their specific meaning you can
use the www, to be sure about what of its equivalent can be applied for
that theme.
They are expressions of the language that do not follow the rules of the
grammar, which summarize an idea briefly and they her transmit to all
those persons who have the same language.
Examples:
13

1.7 Direct Translation
This resource to learn vocabulary should be the last but not the least to
be used. It is very useful when the learner cannot guess, nor discover
the meaning according to the context, topic or theme. To be efficient,
the skills to manage the use of monolingual and bilingual dictionary, is
compulsory.
It is impossible to obtain a good translation without considering in

what scene we move, the one who is directed, objectives, etc.
It is not the same thing to translate a patent or a manual, a web

page, a scientific article or an informed assent.
It is key to have knowledge on the subject matter to translate,

using already published material or other documents of reference
There must be had dictionaries and glossaries (printed, on-line in

Internet) on the topics to treating.
To realize a previous glossary with the most important terms will be

of great help.
14

BIBLIOGRAFA
Nation ISP. (2001). Learning Vocabulary in another Language. Cambridge

University Press.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (3rd Edition). (1995).
Longman.
Schmitt N. (2000). Vocabulary in Language Teaching. Cambridge
Unversity Press.
Schmitt N and McCarthy M. (1997). Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition

and Pedagogy. Cambridge University Press.
Thornbury, S. (2002). How to teach vocabulary. Pearson Education

Limited.
15

GLOSARIO
Antonym: Antnimo
Applied: Aplicar
Bad: Malo
Blending: Mezcla
Bronze: Bronce
Canyoning: Descender por barrancos
Compulsory: Obligatorio
Connotation: Connotacin
Contemporary: Actual
Context: Contexto
Corpora: Informacin official en internet
Dear: Querido
Deer: Ciervo
Elementary: Sencillo
Eye: Ojo
Feminine: Femenina
Feminism: Feminismo
Feminist: Feminista
Feminity: Feminidad
Field: Campo
Further: Adems
Grammar: Gramtica
Golfish: Pez dorado
Good: Bueno
Guess: Descubrir
Hard: Duro
Harden: Endurecido
Hardener: Endureced
Hyponym: Hipnimo
Index: Indice
Intermediate: Intermedio
Internaut: Navegador en la web
Later: Ms tarde
Learned: Aprendido
Lexical: Lxico
Meaning: Significado
Paragraph: Prrafo
16

Punctuation: Puntuacin
Refer: Referirse
Remind: Recordar
Resource: Recurso
Sculpt: Esculpir
Sculptor: Escultor
Sculpture: Escultura
Shareware: Programa compartido
Shark: Tiburn
Short: Bajo
Should: Debera
Son: Hijo
Sun: Sol
Spelling: Deletrear
Stomach ache: Dolor de estmago
Store: Almacenar
Style: Estilo
Synonym: Sinnimo
Tall: Alto
Trainspotter: Informacin de movimiento del tren
Translation: Traduccin
Trout: Trucha
Twigloo: Igl en rbol
Wood: Madera
17

Control de documento
Construccin Objeto de Aprendizaje
Desarrollador de contenido Alba Nury Cardona Yepez
Experto temtico
Asesor pedaggico Claudia Milena Hernandez
Naranjo
Produccin Multimedia Julio Cesar Orduz Tarazona
Martha Lucia Chaves Nio
Programador Daniel Eduardo Martnez Daz
Lder expertos temticos Ana Yaqueline Chavarro Parra
Lder lnea de produccin Santiago Lozada Garcs
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, son marcas registradas propiedades de

Microsoft Office. Copyright
18

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HOW TO LEARN VOCABULARY IN ENGLISH

FAVA - Formacin en Ambientes Virtuales de Aprendizaje SENA - Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje

In order to learn and being able to

The next explanations will be of help for

Although there are many ways in

There have been presented different

FAVA - Formacin en Ambientes Virtuales de Aprendizaje SENA - Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje

Mapa Conceptual .......................................................................... 4

1. WAYS TO LEARN AND GUESS THE MEANING OF A WORD OR

1.1 Lexical Relations .................................................................. 6

1.2 Word formation .................................................................... 9

1.3 Knowing a word from its categories of meaning ....................... 10

1.4 Selective level of words ....................................................... 11

1.5 Words in contexts ............................................................... 12

1.5 Idioms .............................................................................. 13

1.5 Direct translation ................................................................ 14

Control de Documentos ................................................................ 18

Creative Commons y Marca Registrada ........................................... 18

FAVA - Formacin en Ambientes Virtuales de Aprendizaje SENA - Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje

FAVA - Formacin en Ambientes Virtuales de Aprendizaje SENA - Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje

1. WAYS TO LEARN AND GUESS THE MEANING OF A

According to Thornbury (2002), to produce and use an intended word in

Acquire a critical mass of w ords for u se i n both

Remember words over time, and be able to recall

Develop strategies for coping w ith gaps i n word

To get these challenges it must be defined and understood what a word

FAVA - Formacin en Ambientes Virtuales de Aprendizaje SENA - Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje

1.1. Lexical Relations

Same Word class: Classifying them grammatically, like:

- Adjectives: They qualify the noun.

FAVA - Formacin en Ambientes Virtuales de Aprendizaje SENA - Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje

Feminine Feminity Feminist Feminism

Synonym/Antonym: When there are words or phrases which

Good/bad Light/dark Tall/short

Co-hyponym: Identifying the way in which words are related. It is a

Goldfish Shark Trout

FAVA - Formacin en Ambientes Virtuales de Aprendizaje SENA - Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje

Homonyms: Same sound, different meaning.

Co-Hyponym and superordinate term: Words used to

Example: In this example, material, metal and art are superordinate

Wood/material Bronze/metal Sculpture/Art

FAVA - Formacin en Ambientes Virtuales de Aprendizaje SENA - Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje

1.2. Word formation

In linguistics, word formation is the creation of a new word.

Sculpt: Sculpture, Sculptor.

FAVA - Formacin en Ambientes Virtuales de Aprendizaje SENA - Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje

Internaut: Habitual user of

Twigloo: A tree-house made

Shareware: Freely distributed

Trainspotter: A collector of information

1.3. Knowing a word from its categories of meaning

The use of dictionary is a very valuable source of words, and of information

FAVA - Formacin en Ambientes Virtuales de Aprendizaje SENA - Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje

Meaning: According to the text or context.

prepositions useful expressions

1.4. Selective level of words

Develop an efficient means of storing vocabulary which you can easily

Alphabetical card indexes with definitions or translations of words.

An alphabetical list on your home computer.