hey what's up Stefanie the English coach here from EnglishFullTime.com in this video I'm going to
answer the question will reading the dictionary help me improve my vocabulary now this is a
question I've been wanting to answer on my YouTube channel for a long time because I've gotten it
enough times to make me want to answer the question and I've even got messages from people
um telling me hey I'm reading the dictionary like from front to back because I want to improve my
vocabulary and I'm just like ah what okay so we are gonna put this method to the test I have a
dictionary a physical dictionary here the American heritage college dictionary okay the first word in
the dictionary is A the first letter of the modern English alphabet then there's um a the second
version a the third version a the fourth version a the fifth version a that I didn't even know we had
this many versions of a next we have A1C this is an abbreviation airman first class I didn't know
that okay then we have a a this is an abbreviation alcoholics anonymous I did know this one a
a this is different because the first a a was just a a the second one is a dot a dot okay and this
is associate in arts the next one is AAA this is agricultural adjustment administration
I didn't know that next we have AAAL this is an abbreviation American academy of arts and letters
I didn't know that either AAAS American association for the advancement of science
I didn't know that and then we have um Aachen I think that's how you pronounce
it also Aix-la-chapelle and then they're using the phonetic alphabet but they're using symbols
actually I don't think it's the phonetic alphabet because they're using symbols that I am not
aware of that are not in the phonetic alphabet I know the phonetic alphabet but
this is a different alphabet okay because they're trying to like explain how to pronounce it and
I'm trying to read the pronunciation phonetically but it's not the actual phonetic alphabet so now I
don't even know how to pronounce this word anyhow that's a city of west Germany near the Belgian
and Dutch borders I don't know why the name of a German city is in an English dictionary that is
strange next we have Aah this is an interjection used to express express pleasure satisfaction
surprise or great joy next we have Aalborg and then it says see Alborg next we have Aalst also
Alost a city of west central Belgium of Brussels we have more foreign cities in the English
dictionary I didn't even know what to expect you guys I've never read a dictionary like this in my
life I've only used dictionaries as a tool to look up words because that's what they're for okay and
I've never had to look any of this up next we have Aalto Finnish architect and furniture designer
noted for his use of contrasting materials not even going to say anything about that A and R
artists and repertory AAPSS American academy of political and social science AAR this means
against all risks next aardvark a burrowing mammal okay the first word that is an actual word not an
acronym um like that I know and that is normal and aardvark it's an animal I do know this one then we
have an aardwolf okay I knew about aardvarks I did not know about aardwolves a mammal native to
southern and eastern Africa that resembles the hyena and feeds mainly on termites next we have
words that I'm not going to read because I think I think I've made my point first of all does
this seem enjoyable to you because this is not enjoyable to me in fact this is tedious and boring
and frustrating because I don't know half of this stuff and the other half I don't care about
pretty much this is going to be even harder for you even more difficult than it is for me and
I'm looking at this and I can't even tell how to pronounce half the stuff in here so if I'm
struggling to pronounce it I mean you're probably gonna struggle to pronounce it let's give benefit
of the doubt right let's look in another section maybe another section will be better I just
flipped open to a random section here we go all right we're in the c section the first word I saw
is couch a sofa a sofa on which a patient lies while undergoing psychoanalysis or psychiatric
treatment I think that's hilarious that that's their definition I mean that's the definition b
the first definition was just a sofa but now we're talking about very specific use for the couch
anyhow quick note of the word couch a lot of people misspell coach when they write to me they
say hey coach and they call me hey couch and one time I made a like a little meme about this like
me not me basically I'm not a couch I'm a coach next word is couch couchant okay this means lying
down with the head raised or co-chant I don't know I have never used this word in my life
next is couchette a couchette see I'm the way I'm saying these words it's like you can tell
you can hear the hesitation in my voice because I don't know how to pronounce them I've never
heard them before a compartment on a European passenger train equipped with four to six berths
for sleeping I don't know what a berth is we're gonna have to look that up you know what we have
a dictionary right here why don't we go look it up berth one sufficient space for a ship to maneuver
sea room oh you know what come to think of it I think I went over this word in the daily English
program if you guys have not heard of this program I will leave a link to it in the description
so I knew berth I know that definition of berth but I don't know how they're using it here let's
carry on and see what what they're going to say next a space for a ship to dock or anchor
or employment on a ship a job anyways let's get back to the question will reading a dictionary
help you improve your vocabulary what do you think what do you guys think i think in a way maybe
if you don't mind not understanding 99.9 of it and like really digging through it but this is
not the kind of language learner that I am I would never crack open a dictionary like this in
my life and just be like I think I'm gonna learn some new words today there are some ways maybe
of doing this that are more enjoyable like for example using a bilingual dictionary right because
bilingual dictionaries they often have words that are like more common that people actually
use and so you can open a bilingual dictionary and go hey I'm going to test myself and see you know
you know if i know the words on this page sure go for it you might learn something new or maybe you
can subscribe to a website like dictionary.com and they'll send you daily emails with word of the day
and if you are the kind of learner who likes reading stuff like that then sure knock yourself
out that will be very fun I'm not really that kind of learner so let me tell you guys how I like to
improve my vocabulary um in English Spanish any language and my strategies and I guarantee this
is going to be much more effective than what we just did here what I like doing is I like
reading and reading is actually one of the most effective ways to build your vocabulary
and not reading the dictionary okay but like just actual reading reading stuff that interests you
articles books newspapers etc. I can't quote a study on this I just know that it's a fact
people who read more have a much better vocabulary and a much higher vocabulary anyways what you need
to do use articles use online articles from good websites where they have well-written articles you
can google just like 20 best blogging websites or something like that anyways choose a website
choose an article that you like print out your article and then read it okay but analyze it okay
underline circle highlight words and phrases that you don't know that you've never heard before or
um ones that you have heard but you're not sure of their meaning and finally ones that you have
heard and you know right you know the definition of them you know how they're used but you don't
use them in your vocabulary anyways so yeah just dig through the vocabulary look through everything
find words that you don't know that you don't use etc. look up their definitions and get interactive
with the content this is why I recommend printing stuff and highlighting circling etc. because
doing this will make it more memorable and then try to use some of those new words immediately
if you can or within a day or two and then review that article like a week later or a
month later or whatever it is and pretty soon you'll start seeing these words over and over
again you know language repeats itself and you will slowly but surely build your vocabulary
in an effective and memorable way right the amount of time you spend with one article
a hundred percent of that time is going to be well spent okay however the amount of time you
spend with a dictionary honestly most of that is a waste of time all right so that is it you
guys this question that I could have answered in 30 seconds I made a long video about I hope you
enjoyed it if you are still here the two viewers who are still watching this hi guys um let me know
in the comments what you think about this have you ever tried reading the dictionary did you fall
asleep reading the dictionary if this video was helpful give it a thumbs up no the baby woke up
okay so this is Arlo he was hungry but you're better now right baby right
um he's tired so he's stretching he's getting ready to take another nap yeah look at you
you're a big boy you're making your debut on my YouTube channel before your dad
what should we tell everybody what would you actually what would you like to tell
everybody what would you like to say oh i agree yep yep anything else you want to say
you want to say goodbye
all right that's it you guys take care and I will see you in another video bye
here we go my goodness page one is not where page one actually starts
let's just let's you know let's give benefit of the doubt because I don't know how to pronounce
them I've never heard them before and the freaking wannabe IPA is not helpful either
okay lying down with the head oh I already did that one let's carry on and I'm pretty sure 99
of the people already left this video because they're like all right I get it I get the point
and they they're gone man I'm just here alone suffering by myself through this dictionary
and then there were other like asides I don't remember what they were so words that you've
never heard before words that I already forgot my list however the amount of time you spend with
the dictionary honestly most of that most of that is a waste of time in my book dictionary book huh
okay no I'm bad at puns I try but I'm not good at them all right that's it if this
video was helpful give it a thumbs up if it was entertaining give it a thumbs up a thumbs up