Best way to broaden your vocabulary.... (meaning, sentence, grammar, British)

[MrDezi]

I want to expand my vocabulary what do you recommend?

The best advice I've gotten was to take note of any word that I was unfamiliar with and latter look it up in the dictionary and learn its meaning and synonyms. This seems like a very good idea; however, I am sure there are other "practical" ways to increasing your word knowledge.

Suggestions?

[j_k_k]

Read good books by people who use highly educated vocabulary, and don't hesitate to look up the words you don't know.

[Mary Ann789]

I always liked the idea of picking a word out of the dictionary that you don't know every day and trying to use it.

[PeachyMJ]

I used to get the Reader's Digest and took the word exam (for lack of a better term).

[Maine Writer]

You can have a word delivered via email each day.

[Rocky Raab]

Pick up any of the 20-book Aubrey/Maturin series on British naval stories by Patrick O'Brian. You can hardly go a page without reaching for a dictionary. Many of the more esoteric words are long obsolete or refer to maritime trivia - but there are many, many golden nuggets in there, also.

Those books are where I first learned vaticinatory, adumbration, nugatory, captious, meretricious, termagant, ratiocination, finical, asperity and my all-time favorite sesquipedalian! And many more to boot.

[MrDezi]

Originally Posted by Rocky Raab

Pick up any of the 20-book Aubrey/Maturin series on British naval stories by Patrick O'Brian. You can hardly go a page without reaching for a dictionary. Many of the more esoteric words are long obsolete or refer to maritime trivia - but there are many, many golden nuggets in there, also.

Those books are where I first learned vaticinatory, adumbration, nugatory, captious, meretricious, termagant, ratiocination, finical, asperity and my all-time favorite sesquipedalian! And many more to boot.

Those are some very nasty words!!

[kinkytoes]

reede

[Sgoldie]

As a kid growing up in the country I would spend hours reading the dictionary. That's what I recommend. Say the words outloud, make a sentence out of them, write them down.

I keep one of those four inch monster dictionaries near me at all times when reading. I've also found that older books were written with so much more superior language than what you find today.

[MrDezi]

Originally Posted by Sgoldie

As a kid growing up in the country I would spend hours reading the dictionary. That's what I recommend. Say the words outloud, make a sentence out of them, write them down.

I keep one of those four inch monster dictionaries near me at all times when reading. I've also found that older books were written with so much more superior language than what you find today.

Thats true! Older books use a more advanced vocabulary than the recent ones even from the same authors.