Tuesday 21 June 2011

10 Tips to improve your vocabulary


Top 10 ways to Improve your Vocabulary:
  1. Get a Smart phone, if you don't have one. Download a dictionary application on your phone. There are several free dictionary applications. Older phones can be equipped with dictionary apps. You can look up any words that might come up on the go.
  2. Subscribe to word of the day: Several websites offer word of the day services, by which you are emailed one word everyday, its definition and sometimes it origins.
  3. Join Facebook pages or groups that help you improve your vocabulary. Participate in the discussion or start discussion. This is very effective way to learn new words and become more knowledgeable.
  4. Joining  forums - This is another way improve your vocabulary and learn interesting information.
  5. Read: You don't have to read a book or anything in particular. Reading newspapers, magazines, novels, short-stories, articles, blogs etc...will improve your vocabulary at a snails pace but is very effective. Both casual reading and immersed reading will have similar effects.
  6. Improving your vocabulary is usually a slow process. To hasten this process use products such DictionUP. This audio tool will teach you to a 1000 words and definitions. You can improve your vocabulary in a month.
  7. Get a screen-saver that has higher level words and definitions.
  8. Utilize the words that you learn on a daily basis. Use these words in you writing, your conversations and in your thought process. This will create strong bridges between words and definitions, in your mind.
  9. The best way to improve your vocabulary is through listening rather than reading. Audible form of vocabulary is associated with old-school teaching and helps you create stronger bridges when you listen to words rather than by reading them.
  10. Keep at it. English has a lot of words, a lot. Don't get discouraged if you don't see an immediate improvement. Organic way (Natural .i.e. reading) of improving vocabulary takes time. Try DictionUP, its in expensive, effective and easy to use.

Saturday 18 June 2011

Improve your vocabulary through audio



There are indirect and direct effects of improving your vocabulary. The direct ones are, Scoring better in competitive exams ( GRE, GMAT, CAT, IELTS etc...), performing well at professional or educational interviews, working with clients and people management, preparing notes, thesis, presentations and writing effectively and having a greater understanding of the English language. The indirect benefits are building self-confidence, attaining recognition and visibility on the professional front, being held in higher regard by your peers and seniors. These are but a few of the outcomes of having a good vocabulary.

One of the best ways to improve your vocabulary is to listen to audio over and over again. Research shows that vocabulary building via listening is faster, even if the listener is exposed to minimal number of new words . A study revealed that students who listened to just 3 lectures demonstrated marked improvement in vocabulary when compared to students that had read the words. This suggests that listening is a better substitute for reading, in regards to improving vocabulary.
DictionUP is an audio tool that utilizes simple audio tracks and simpler format to improve your vocabulary. What it relies on is the ability of the user to create his/her own relationship with each of the thousand words. This is not as hard as it sounds. Our minds are programmed to automatically relate to most of the words we hear.
Take for example:
Gargantuan: This is defined as - of immense size, volume or capacity.

Of immense size: The biggest thing in my mind when I was a kid was Godzilla. For some reason there was nothing bigger in this world, not the tallest skyscraper or the highest mountain. The specials effects in the movie, I guess, did a number on me. So when I first heard the word gargantuan a few years later, the first thing that came to my mind was Godzilla. This is a very simple example, I use it only to demonstrate the automatic connection that my mind made due to a personal experience. You might relate this word to Gulliver, or Mt. Everest or even Andre the Giant. This is what DictionUP exploits, your automatic ability to make connections with the words, resulting in you remembering and utilizing them better. DictionUP exposes you to a deeper understanding of definitions, this will give you an ability to comprehend words as opposed to just identifying them.
Listening to rich quality words while performing chores, driving, exercising or any other activity will serve just as well to improve your vocabulary. Since it is recommended that you repeat these tracks multiple times over the course of a month, you can multitask while using DictionUP. The repetition will reinforce the connections that you make the first time and solidify the connections thereby helping you retain the definitions more efficiently. Another recommendation is to follow no particular order while listening to the tracks, but rather use the shuffle option.

So, go ahead and take this small step for developing your vocabulary which can only benefit you more than any other skill in the future ahead of us and thereby, bridging the gap to your success.

Tuesday 14 June 2011

Theory of Multiple intelligences:
This theory was proposed by Howard Gardner as a model of intelligence that differentiates intelligence into various specific modalities, rather that seeing it as dominated by a single general ability. In other words, each of us is smart in our own way. A mathematician is not smarter than an artist who in turn is not smarter than a biologist.
The multiple intelligences are the following:
  • Spatial:
    Those with the ability to visualize, easily, with the minds eye
  • Linguistic:
    Those with high verbal memory and the ability to recall quickly.
  • Bodily-Kinesthetic:
    Those with the ability to control one's bodily motion to a high degree (think neuro-surgeons). Such individuals have a great sense of timing, a clear sense of the goal and good acquired reflexes.
  • Musical:
    These individuals are sensitive to sounds, rhythms and music and are able to play musical instruments, sing and compose music.
  • Interpersonal:
    Such as extroverts. This intelligence has to do with interaction with others.
  • Intrapersonal:
    Such as introverts. This intelligence is characterized by intuition and a deep understanding of self
  • Naturalistic:
    This area has to do with nurturing an relating information to one's natural surroundings
  • Existential:
    Religious and spiritual intelligence could be another type of intelligence.


So how does this fit into improving vocabulary. Not everybody learns in one particular way. Some of us able to visualize better, some relate better, some memorize better, some understand better and some utilize/recall better.
There are several programs out there that require you to adapt to their style of teaching. For example, the mnemonic way of teaching. Words are assigned a particular sentence and the user is required to relate to that particular sentence to memorize the definition. This is a very narrow approach to improve vocabulary. Other programs show you picture of a bear and say bear. Such a strategy is a serious insult to the collective intelligence of its users.

We at DictionUP believe that each user is unique and that individuals motivated to improve their vocabulary need not be spoon fed but to be guided. This is the thought process behind our product. DictionUP will help you establish a personal relationship with the words and their meanings. This will not only help you memorize the words permanently but also enable you to use them at the right circumstances. 

Improve your English vocabulary and Become more successfull


Yes, this is true. An improved vocabulary portrays you as an intelligent,professional and knowledgeable person among other things. This is turn will improve your career prospects and that will improve your earning potential. Hard to believe??? What if I tell you that there's research to back this up.
Successful people typically have a large and well developed vocabulary. Research has shown that a strong vocabulary is the most noticeable characteristic shared by successful professionals. A study by Earl Nightingale showed that students who scored high on a vocabulary test went onto become very successful, while the students who scored low earned the least 20 years later.
A study by scientist Johnson O’Connor helped quantify a direct correlation between vocabulary and rank on corporate ladder. In the study a vocabulary test was given to executive and supervisory personnel in 39 large manufacturing companies. The test results where conclusive. "Presidents and vice presidents average 236 out of a possible 272 points; managers averaged 168; superintendents, 140; foremen, 114; floor bosses, 86. In virtually every case, vocabulary correlated with executive level and income."
It does not matter if you spend a ton of money on makeover after makeover to appear deserving. If you do not have a higher level vocabulary to back up your appearance, there is little chance you will break that glass ceiling.
Do you already know this? Have you tried to memorize new words before? Have you forgotten those words? Memorizing new words is hard. You need to be able to utilize a few strategies in order to retain their definitions. We have created the perfect tool that will help you memorize the words and retain the definitions.
DictionUP utilizes unique strategies that involve you and require you to participate and be motivated to learn. It employs repetition, visualization and subjective relevance to teach you the words that you should and need to know to break ahead of the race.
You will learn words that are helpful, sophisticated and presentable in your communications with the outside world. Get DictionUP to bridge your communication gaps and reach higher levels of success.