Who is this for?

This leaflet is for anyone who wants to learn vocabulary from a prepared wordlist (e.g. a list of the 2,000 most common words of English, or a set of words provided in a chapter of a vocabulary textbook) rather than from normal daily listening or reading.

If you prefer to learn vocabulary from newspapers, TV programmes etc., check out the advice sheet Learning Vocabulary by Reading or Listening (V7).

The aim of this leaflet

The aim of this leaflet is to introduce you to materials that you may find useful if you like learning from wordlists or vocabulary textbooks, and to suggest learning techniques that you may like to try.

Useful materials in the SAC

There are a number of wordlists available that you may find useful. Some people find them boring, but the advantage is that they often list words of a similar frequency or a similar topic together, so that it doesn't take as long to find useful words as it does when you're reading through books or newspapers.

• Wordlists
  The following lists are available in the Vocabulary worksheet boxes (??): the ... (EET), the General Service List (GSL), GRE, the University Word List (UWL), ***



• Textbooks
• There is a wide selection of Vocabulary textbooks for you to browse through on the 'Vocabulary' shelf in the Reading + Writing area. Here are some which you may like to try out:
  A Way with Words, English Vocabulary in Use, More than Words, Wordbuilder, Wordperfect.
• If you are interested in certain topics, you may like to search in the computer catalogue: choose Vocabulary under 'Language skill', and then Vocabulary expansion; you can then select the titles that interest you.


• Dictionaries
  • For examples of how words are used in context:
    COBUILD English Dictionary, Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (in the Reading + Writing area: the latest, 1995, editions are the best ones)
  • To hear the pronunciation of words:
    The American Heritage Dictionary, Longman Interactive Dictionary (on the CD-ROM reference station in the Reading + Writing area)
  • To learn vocabulary to improve your writing or speaking:
    Longman Lexicon, Longman Language Activator (both list similar words together so you can see what the difference is between them)
  
  
  
• Other reference material
  Two reference sources give extra information about what words normally go together with the words you are learning:
  • COBUILD Collocations: on the CD-ROM reference station (see glossary below for 'collocations')
  • Microconcord (see under Text Analyzer) and Monoconc (see under Autolang for Windows) are concordancers (see glossary) that provide a lot of examples of how your word is used (far more than in a dictionary). You can find them on the PCs in the Video/Multimedia area (under Microsoft Windows).
  
  
  
• Simplified readers
  These can be very useful if you are learning words of a certain frequency (see glossary). There are many to choose from in the Reading + Writing area, each with certain frequency levels (e.g. 1,500 words; 3,000 words etc.). You can borrow them for 2 weeks.



• The WWW
  http://lc.ust.hk/~sac/materials/english/matenvocab.htm

Learning tips

Here are some tips for learning vocabulary from lists. You may already have your own method that works well for you. If so, that's great - stick with it. If not, you may like to:

• Find lots of examples of how the words you are learning are used in context (e.g. check dictionaries and concordancers). This is very useful for learning the meaning of words, and vital if you want to learn to use the words in your own writing or speaking.
• Check out the SAC computer catalogue for further techniques: choose Vocabulary under 'Language Skill', then Techniques for Studying Vocabulary.
• Read Chapter 7 of How to Learn a Language ('Learning a Language' shelf in the SAC Audio area).
• For tips about organising your learning so that it's systematic and you don't become overloaded, check out the Advice Sheet Organising Your Vocabulary Learning (V3).
• For tips about remembering words that you have learned, check out the advice sheet Remembering Vocabulary (V4).

N.B. The important thing is to find out what works/does not work for you and why. Do your methods help you learn effectively? If not, what could you do that would help you learn more effectively?

If you do use an effective technique, please contact an Adviser or e-mail lcsac to let us know about it - we would like to hear from you!

Evaluating your progress

Here is a method for checking your progress in learning from lists that you may like to try:

• If you are learning words of a certain frequency range (e.g. the most common 3,000 words, or the University Word List) try reading a book of the same frequency level (e.g. simplified readers or academic textbooks) after a certain period of time - is it easy to read the book now?

For more information, see the leaflet Evaluating your vocabulary learning (V5)

And Now...

If you would like any help or advice, or just a chat about your progress, please get in touch - we are here to support your independent learning! This is how you can contact us:

• see an Adviser, on duty at the SAC Advice Desk (for details of advisers and their availability, please go to http://lc.ust.hk/~sac/sacadviser.html)
• e-mail lcsac (lcsac@ust.hk) with your query;
• ask at the reception counter of the SAC — if the receptionist cannot help you directly, s/he will pass your query on to one of the SAC advisers

Note
The introductory leaflet in this series is the leaflet Learning Vocabulary (V1).

This advice sheet is part of the Vocabulary series of leaflets supporting independent language learning, produced by the HKUST Language Centre SAC team. This leaflet written by Richard Pemberton, 1998. Version 1. If you copy from this leaflet, please acknowledge the source. Thanks.