Vocabulary is something everybody says is very important.
I'm sure you've heard this before:
"Good vocabulary is so important!"
"You need to learn vocabulary."
But if people understand what you say using the words you already know,
why should you learn new words?
Well, your vocabulary has more of an impact than you realize on how you communicate
and on reading comprehension.
So, how does your vocabulary help
or get in the way of communication and reading?
How many words do most people know, anyhow?
5,000?...
50,000!?
That sounds like a lot!
Stick around and you'll know the answers.
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Hi, I'm Marc Franco.
Welcome to Snap Language!
So, how important is it, really, to have good vocabulary?
I can give you three main reasons:
to communicate effectively,
to navigate the social environment,
and of course, to read effectively.
Of course, you need words to communicate.
You may think you know enough words, though, because you can communicate in everyday life,
but what happens when other people use vocabulary you might not know?
This can happen, for example,
when you first go to college or in a new professional setting.
You'll need vocabulary you don't normally use
at home or in everyday life.
Unless you learn the appropriate words for that particular setting,
you may not be able to communicate or read as well as you should.
If you have poor vocabulary
or use words incorrectly,
you'll understand less and come across as not very knowledgeable
or even a bit out of place.
And of course, you also want to be accurately.
You can "sort of" say what you mean or you can
say it more accurately and avoid confusion.
Who wouldn't want to do that?
The language gives you word choice.
For example, you could say,
"Maria and John argued often."
But does that truly describe the situation?
Word choice gives you, for example,
"Maria and John bickered often" or
"Maria and John brawled often."
If you have good vocabulary and
happen to know not only "argue"
but also "bicker" and "brawl,"
you know that choosing between these words actually gives you different information.
"To bicker" does mean to argue but to argue about things that are unimportant,
and "to brawl" communicates a sense of an angry, loud argument.
So, the more words you know, the more precisely you can communicate
and, of course, you can also understand others better
what other people are saying when they use rich vocabulary.
Is that it!?
You also need good vocabulary to navigate social environments effectively.
People use different vocabulary and even grammar in different social environments.
The way you speak to a child is different from the way you speak to an adult.
The way you speak to a sibling or or send a text message to a close friend
is less formal than the way you speak to a stranger
or write a college essay.
In linguistics, the study of how language works,
we call this "register."
A register is a variety of the same language that we use for a specific purpose
or in a specific social setting.
We switch registers--meaning,
we adjust the variety of language we use-- to be appropriate to the situation.
But we need good knowledge of the language to be able to do that.
And vocabulary is an important tool to be able to switch registers.
Using the wrong register makes you sound
well... kind of weird sometimes...
And that's not all...
In Part 2 of this video, we'll focus on how vocabulary affects reading comprehension
and how you can improve your vocabulary.
Hey!
We also need to answer this:
How many words do most people know?
So far in this video we saw a few things you may not have thought about
when it comes to vocabulary.
A rich vocabulary, helps you communicate effectively,
understand others better, and
express yourself accurately through word choice.
You can also navigate different social environments and switch registers to be appropriate
to the situation, time, and place.
Before you go to Part 2 of this video, don't forget to like this video and
subscribe to Snap Language
YouTube channel.
And in the comments, let us know this:
What do you do when you find a new word (that you don't understand)
right in the middle of reading?
Until the next video, thanks for stopping by and watching this video.