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How to extend your vocabulary in english? (1 Viewer)

tanjin

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Re: help?

tambourine said:
oh wow...thank you!! :)
No worries :D

You can relax a bit now. But make sure you understand the techniques.
 

Jachie

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Re: help?

The thing is, an extensive vocabulary alone will not help you. It's "sophistication" that gets you the marks. So yeah, if you think you need to expand your vocab to achieve this then by all means do, but also remember that you need to know how to use these words in their correct context, and be wary of repetition and redundancy (see what I did there? If you didn't, look up 'tautology' and remember to AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE). Don't just throw a bunch of polysyllablic words in there for the sole sake of showing off your newfound smartz, never say in six words what you can say in three. Be succinct, use your vocabulary to help you achieve this. Don't just list synonym after synonym hoping to impress markers with your internal thesaurus, it doesn't work.
 
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Kujah

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Re: help?

Jachie said:
The thing is, an extensive vocabulary alone will not help you. It's "sophistication" that gets you the marks. So yeah, if you think you need to expand your vocab to achieve this then by all means do, but also remember that you need to know how to use these words in their correct context, and be wary of repetition and redundancy (see what I did there? If you didn't, look up 'tautology' and remember to AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE). Don't just throw a bunch of polysyllablic words in there for the sole sake of showing off your newfound smartz, never say in six words what you can say in three. Be succinct and concise, use your vocabulary to help you achieve this.
Definitely agree.
 

tanjin

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Re: help?

Jachie said:
The thing is, an extensive vocabulary alone will not help you. It's "sophistication" that gets you the marks. So yeah, if you think you need to expand your vocab to achieve this then by all means do, but also remember that you need to know how to use these words in their correct context, and be wary of repetition and redundancy (see what I did there? If you didn't, look up 'tautology' and remember to AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE). Don't just throw a bunch of polysyllablic words in there for the sole sake of showing off your newfound smartz, never say in six words what you can say in three. Be succinct, use your vocabulary to help you achieve this. Don't just list synonym after synonym hoping to impress markers with your internal thesaurus, it doesn't work.
Please tell me you do 4unit Engalay.
 

Jachie

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Re: help?

tanjin said:
Please tell me you do 4unit Engalay.
I did.... for about three weeks.

Then I kind of sort of lost my mind and dropped it. :eek:
 

tanjin

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Re: help?

Jachie said:
I did.... for about three weeks.

Then I kind of sort of lost my mind and dropped it. :eek:
OMFG WOMAN! NO!

I didnt have a set idea until midway through term 1. I even dropped EE2 for 2 weeks and after all that crap, I loved it. Seriously Jachie, you must.
 

Jachie

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Re: help?

tanjin said:
OMFG WOMAN! NO!

I didnt have a set idea until midway through term 1. I even dropped EE2 for 2 weeks and after all that crap, I loved it. Seriously Jachie, you must.
I knooooow. :( But by the same token, I'm also incredibly disorganised and unfocused, I was talking to my teacher when I wanted to drop both Extensions (lol) and she was like "yeah I'm glad you're dropping EE2, I was worried about your inability to keep on top of things, I know you're creative but I don't think the whole major thing is going to work for you."

And since I was stressed as fuck at the time and willing to embrace any opportunity that offered me a smaller workload, I dropped it. :(
 

tambourine

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Re: help?

thanks for the advice..yeh i kinda do that..with the syllables and synonyms...as my friend says 'right click, synonyms' :)
but the part about using less words does not always help, right? coz my teacher tends to go for length...my writing is tiny and he is always bugging me to write bigger :(
 

tanjin

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Re: help?

Jachie said:
I'm also incredibly disorganised and unfocused
So am I.

:( You cant drop.

:( You would've done so well.

Edit: tambourine, your teacher wants you to write bigger, so its easier on the eye when marking and if your teacher prefers quantity over quality, change classes.
 
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Shadose

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Re: help?

Don't forget crosswords...with answers of course :D

Read the smh is excellent!
 

S1M0

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Re: help?

tanjin said:
OMFG WOMAN! NO!

I didnt have a set idea until midway through term 1. I even dropped EE2 for 2 weeks and after all that crap, I loved it. Seriously Jachie, you must.
I didn't have a viable idea until....now.

When i did my proposal, i essentially bullshitted an idea. Its a good idea though.
 

champo14

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Re: help?

tambourine said:
thanks for the advice..yeh i kinda do that..with the syllables and synonyms...as my friend says 'right click, synonyms' :)
but the part about using less words does not always help, right? coz my teacher tends to go for length...my writing is tiny and he is always bugging me to write bigger :(
When teachers say they want you to write "more", they mean you need to explain in greater depth the points you are making and also to mention more aspects of your argument. They generally do not mean say the same thing, just longer (e.g. by using "bigger" words or listing synonyms).

To answer your question, others have mentioned exposing yourself to sophisticated writing, which is what I did and it really does work.

What I did before my HSC was if I ever heard or saw a word or phrase that I didn't know the definition of, I would remember it and go home and look it up. Don't be afraid of looking up obvious words in the dictionary (especially since so many people seem to mis-spell words now-a-days.)

Another tip I would give you is that whenever you are writing something (especially on the internet) make it sounds sophisticated, or at least use proper grammar.
 

tambourine

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Re: help?

champo14 said:
When teachers say they want you to write "more", they mean you need to explain in greater depth the points you are making and also to mention more aspects of your argument. They generally do not mean say the same thing, just longer (e.g. by using "bigger" words or listing synonyms).

To answer your question, others have mentioned exposing yourself to sophisticated writing, which is what I did and it really does work.

What I did before my HSC was if I ever heard or saw a word or phrase that I didn't know the definition of, I would remember it and go home and look it up. Don't be afraid of looking up obvious words in the dictionary (especially since so many people seem to mis-spell words now-a-days.)

Another tip I would give you is that whenever you are writing something (especially on the internet) make it sounds sophisticated, or at least use proper grammar.

Thank you :)

I don't know how to quote more than one person so I will say thank you also to the person who posted the free rice website. I heard about it but didn't know that it would be so helpful ^_^
 

tanjin

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Re: help?

tambourine said:
Thank you :)

I don't know how to quote more than one person so I will say thank you also to the person who posted the free rice website. I heard about it but didn't know that it would be so helpful ^_^
Check your grammar.
 

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