Writing vocabulary (words we use when we write)įor younger students who are still learning to read, speaking vocabulary is generally larger than their reading vocabulary.Speaking vocabulary (words we use when we talk).Reading vocabulary (words we can understand when we read).Listening vocabulary (words we can hear and understand).In order from largest to smallest they are: When we talk about vocabulary, we are actually talking about four related vocabularies. This article will show you how to include vocabulary development in your child’s educational plans, as well as some pitfalls to avoid. If a student comes across the word bovine but it’s not in his vocabulary, he may become frustrated.Ī large vocabulary is critical for reading comprehension. Is this a real word? Have I decoded it properly?Ī similar thing can happen with older students, too. When he realizes that he is very familiar with the word dog, he reads it with confidence.īut what if the child comes across the word yak in a story? If he has never heard of a yak, he may try to sound out the word, but may then begin to second guess himself. For example, when a beginning reader sees the word dog in a book, he begins to sound it out. If you tell your reader to take your course because they'll learn a lot of stuff? They're likely to tell you to stuff it.Vocabulary plays an important part in learning to read. If the details of the stuff aren't important enough to be included in the piece? Don't reference it at all. It serves as a placeholder for something better. The only thing you communicate when you include these words is uncertainty. Regardless of the topic, do the legwork, be sure, and write an informed piece. This makes you sound uninformed, unsure of the facts you're presenting. Unless you're using it as a synonym for equitable, fair, even-handed, or impartial, don't use it at all. It's a filler word and it makes your sentence weaker, not stronger. No one actually "waits on pins and needles." How uncomfortable would that be? 11. More often than not, when the term is used, the writer means figuratively. Whatever is happening is being described metaphorically. If you are visiting from 1985? Please bring the birth certificate for my Cabbage Patch Doll on your next visit. And never repeat really, or very for that matter. Pick a different word to make your point. Unless you're a Valley Girl, visiting from 1985, there's no need to use really to modify an adjective. She's 6'3" and it's 13 degrees below freezing? These make your story better while also ensuring the reader understands the point you're making. Very cold and very tall mean different things to different people. Another pitfall of using very as a modifier? It's subjective. Very sad is a lazy way of making your point. If you're very sad, perhaps you're melancholy or depressed. What it does is makes your statement less specific. Very is intended to magnify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. VeryĪccurate adjectives don't need qualifiers. Coincidentally, the definition of essential is absolutely necessary. If you recommend an essential course to your new employees, it's essential. Absolutely necessary doesn't make it more necessary. Something is either necessary, or it isn't. #AwkwardĪdding this word to most sentences is redundant. The problem is, the minute you tell your reader this particular statement is honest, you've implied the rest of your words were not. Don't be lazy and miss the chance to add to your story. There are any number of ways to move from here to there. Instead of went, consider drove, skated, walked, ran, flew. Or the store, or to church, or to a conference, to Vegas, wherever it is you're inclined to go. "I have several friends that live in the neighborhood." No. Also? Don't use that when you refer to people. If the sentence works without it, delete it. Open any document you've got drafted on your desktop and find a sentence with that in it. You want your readers to hear you out, understand your message, and perhaps be entertained, right? Here's a list of words to eliminate in order to help you write more succinctly.
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