Why You Need a Foreign Language & How to Learn One

Chapter 12 (Excerpt)

Developing a Love for Words

Focus on Vocabulary

As Miss Kramer said, "You can't get past square one if you don't know the vocabulary." Words are the building blocks of any language. No matter how thoroughly you learn the grammar of a language, your ability to express yourself and understand others using the language will always be limited by your vocabulary. Therefore, the acquisition of vocabulary is one of your primary tasks when learning a new language.

            In the Language Student's Buying Guide section of this book, I describe several commercially available tools that can help you build your vocabulary. (These are primarily the VocabuLearn audio recordings and the flashcards made by Visual Education.) As helpful as these products are, though, they are not sufficient by themselves for building a powerful vocabulary in a language. Early in your language studies, you must develop the habit of collecting words. Your desire for vocabulary should extend to the verge of gluttony. You must learn to look at every new word as a new tool in your arsenal, as an incremental expansion of your powers of comprehension and expression in the language.

            There are four primary sources of new vocabulary: textbooks, authentic reading materials, conversations, and dictionaries..............

 (End of Chapter Excerpt)

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