Gerorge Bernard Shaw once said-Words are only postage stamps delivering the object for you to unwrap.
I got many messages as to how to improve our command over the usage of words. I am not an authority on it, not an expert orator too. But I would like to share my ideas that helped me in improving my vocabulary. I suggest you folks to give it a try.
INTEREST:
The first thing that one has to possess is the interest for learning. This interest applies to every thing- be it learning a new language, a new skill, a new hobby or our own professional matters. You see this is not something that can be forced or can be spoon fed. You should have absolute passion for the words, should be keenly involved in the process. If passion is not there, there is no point in proceeding further.
So if any of my friends are of the opinion that it is all a waste of time, I request you not to read further, because you may be wasting your time!!!!
READ:
Yes, you have come to the second step. You got interest, now what to do.
Read buddies, read. But what to read?? Some may have a taste for paper backs, some opt for Dan Brown, some other swear by Chetan Bhagat and still some finds time to go through P.G.Woodhouse and Robin Sharma or Dale Carnegie. All these are best in their genre.
But being students, one hardly finds time to go through all the books. We are blessed with a dense volume of study material. Begin with that!!!
I had found that our study material contains more than enough words and usages that can enrich our vocabulary. In fact it is always advisable to keep a dictionary in hand while going through it.
News papers and magazines: You don’t have to read from the first page to the last page. Just browse through the headlines.
Hit the editorial section, go through it. Skim through the letters and feed back to the editor. Keep a dictionary and thesaurus handy.
In every paper, the editor’s note contains the best words and usages, the current situations.
By giving a look at the letters section, you can have an idea about what others opinions are. So even if tomorrow one of you going to face a GD or interview, we can keep the ball rolling by having awareness about the topic.
I don’t intend to favor any newspaper or criticize others. But I had found The Hindu, The Times of India, The Business Line and The Economic Times outstanding.
If you are still scratching your head as to where can one get hold of the soft copies of these papers, go through this url
/ca_newspaper.asp
In the case of magazines, there is some thing that we always take for granted-The Chartered Accountant Magazine. Majority of the students go through the newsletter leaving the CA magazine far behind. We may find some words and articles difficult to comprehend. We may say that we don’t have time to go through them. But there is an option to play the audio of the articles too if you are going for the soft copy, do we need to ask for more?
And you can always browse other magazines like The Business Today, The Sunday Indian or anything of your choice. It is all a personal choice.
Television:
Although termed as the idiot box, this innovation too is quite useful. You can learn a lot of words and diction if you watch talk shows. You don’t have to watch each and every show aired on air. If your pick of channel is some thing else like music channels Nikhil Chinnappa and Cyrus got an enviable command over the language and excellent presentation skills. If your interest is in the tinsel town, most of the English movie channels offer sub titles in English.
Capitalize the opportunity, folks!!!
And who can forget the gem from our own fraternity, Prannoy Roy, who airs every show with an aura of grace??
If one has a taste for music, English songs can play a part too. It can help in framing pneumonic codes too while studying.
I don’t want to drag the topic, so am moving on to the next tool.
Internet:
For today’s generation, every thing is available at the click of a mouse.
There are lots of sites that deliver a word and its usage daily to your inbox. The top among it is www.awad.org.
One can make use of sites like www.yourdictionary.com
Lots of sites provide us with the blessing of good e books and lots of members here have shared them. Make use of them.
Follow blogs of writers and teachers. Listen to podcasts.
Even some articles posted in this site too are really outstanding, perfect in every aspect, got sumptuous collection of new words. Read them, familiarize with the words you are not aware of.
Social networking sites too contain pages for enriching the vocabulary and usage. It all depends on how you make use of all the resources.
And you can even play Scrabble online.
The kick start:
So we have done all that we can, we have made use of all possible available resource. Now what next?
Put into practice.
Talk with your friends and clients you meet.
Write. You can write into this platform and ask suggestions from fellow mates. You can use them in mails or chat. Net lingo is something very different. I do agree.
Suggest, make corrections and ask doubts: We can always ask for suggestions for improvement and ask doubts. Don’t be ashamed to ask doubts. We all are part of one family-Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. Many veteran stalwarts are always here to help others. So make proper use of the opportunity.
Hope you find my tips useful. If any one got more tips and suggestions, please share it with us so that we all can learn and grow. As some one said-There is always someone who can benefit from knowledge you are willing to share.
Regards,
Lekshmi.
CAclubindia
