There was a time, when I started preparing for my Graduate Record Examination, it was challenging to learn the meanings of three thousand five hundred words. That’s what the recommended book has. Till then, I barely read any non-text-books and was very bad with vocabulary or english in general. So, the whole idea of learning the synonyms and meanings of that many words freaked me out. But, one word that I learned in the process was “Overwhelm” and I used it in almost every sentence, or at every opportunity. It did not matter to me whether it was appropriate or not.
Some of my friends went overboard, with using the new vocabulary in creating their personal email id’s and passwords. It was easy to remember that way. After I started working in mid-west with not much activities to do, my friend, thought I need to keep myself busy, instead of being lost. She introduced me to public libraries and wealth of knowledge. I got started with Harry Potter Series (she was a fan), the first book took me little over 6 months to finish and then subsequent books took much less time. Ever since, I am hooked and surprisingly my vocabulary and usage of sentences were turning out pretty good without any additional effort. Initially, I started with dictionary right next to me to understand those complicated words. Gradually, I was able to derive the meaning of the words based on the context. During that harry potter series, my vocabulary was pretty much similar to how some of my favorite characters spoke.. sounds funny isn’t? At some point, my interests changed to variety of subjects and my usage of sentences or words will change depending on the book that I am currently reading.
Later, I was so influenced by Ayn Rand’s writings, and wanted to read all of her books, but they were so big, that did not hold my interest very much for too long, then I stuck with an interesting book called “Catch -22” that I had give it 3 attempts to read it. The more I read, the easy my writing becomes, the better my mind thinks and of course my vocabulary improves as well. I haven’t read any book in a long while. My attempts at reading non-fiction are not that successful yet. I read few, but I keep going back to fictional one’s.
What about you folks? what’s your buzz word that you use it frequently? Do you read and use the words in your conversations and writings consciously?
Hidden Passions 