speech vocabulary meaning

How to Build Vocabulary You Can Actually Use in Speech and Writing?

• Published on Aug 25, 2019

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This post comes from my experience of adding more than 8,000 words and phrases to my vocabulary in a way that I can actually use them on the fly in my speech and writing. Some words, especially those that I haven’t used for long time, may elude me, but overall the recall & use works quite well.

That’s why you build vocabulary, right? To use in speech and writing. There are no prizes for building list of words you can’t use. (The ultimate goal of vocabulary-building is to use words in verbal communication where you’ve to come up with an appropriate word in split second. It’s not to say that it’s easy to come up with words while writing, but in writing you can at least afford to think.)

This post also adopts couple of best practices such as

• Spaced repetition,
• Deliberate Practice,
• Begin with end in mind, and
• Build on what you already know

In this post, you’ll learn how you too can build such vocabulary, the one you can actually use. However, be warned. It’s not easy. It requires consistent work. But the rewards are more than worth the squeeze.

Since building such vocabulary is one of the most challenging aspects of English Language, you’ll stand out in crowd when you use precise words and, the best part, you can use this sub-skill till you’re in this world, long after you retire professionally. (Doesn’t this sound so much better when weighed against today’s reality where most professional skills get outdated in just few years?)

You may have grossly overestimated the size of your vocabulary

Once your understand the difference between active and passive vocabulary, you’ll realize that size of your vocabulary isn’t what you think it to be.

Active vs. Passive vocabulary

Words that you can use in speech and writing constitute your active vocabulary (also called functional vocabulary). You, of course, understand these words while reading and listening as well. Think of words such as eat , sell , drink , see , and cook .

But how about words such as munch , outsmart , salvage , savagery , and skinny ? Do you use these words regularly while speaking and writing? Unlikely. Do you understand meaning of these words while reading and listening? Highly likely. Such words constitute your passive vocabulary (also called recognition vocabulary). You can understand these words while reading and listening, but you can’t use them while speaking and writing.

Your active vocabulary is a tiny subset of your passive vocabulary:

(While the proportion of the two inner circles – active and passive vocabulary – bears some resemblance to reality, the outer rectangle is not proportionate because of paucity of space. In reality, the outer rectangle is much bigger, representing hundreds of thousands of words.)

Note : Feel free to use the above and other images in the post, using the link of this post for reference/attribution.

Many mistakenly believe that they’ve strong vocabulary because they can understand most words when reading and listening. But the real magic, the real use of vocabulary is when you use words in speech and writing. If you evaluate your vocabulary against this yardstick – active vs. passive – your confidence in your vocabulary will be shaken.

Why build vocabulary – a small exercise?

You would be all too aware of cases where people frequently pause while speaking because they can’t think of words for what they want to say. We can easily spot such extreme cases.

What we fail to spot, however, are less extreme, far more common cases where people don’t pause, but they use imprecise words and long-winding explanations to drive their message.

The bridge was destroyed (or broken) by the flooded river.

The bridge was washed away by the flooded river.

Although both convey the message, the second sentence stands out because of use of precise phrase.

What word(s) best describe what’s happening in the picture below?

Image source

Not the best response.

A better word is ‘emptied’. Even ‘dumped’ is great.

A crisp description of the above action would be: “The dumper emptied (or dumped) the stones on the roadside.”

What about this?

‘Took out grapes’.

‘Plucked grapes’ is far better.

If you notice, these words – wash away , empty , dump , and pluck – are simple. We can easily understand them while reading and listening, but rarely use them (with the possible exception of empty ) in speech or writing. Remember, active vs. passive vocabulary?

If you use such precise words in your communication you’ll stand out in crowd.

Little wonder, studies point to a correlation between strength of vocabulary and professional success. Earl Nightingale, a renowned self-help expert and author, in his 20-year study of college graduates found :

Without a single exception, those who had scored highest on the vocabulary test given in college, were in the top income group, while those who had scored the lowest were in the bottom income group.

He also refers to a study by Johnson O’Connor, an American educator and researcher, who gave vocabulary tests to executive and supervisory personnel in 39 large manufacturing companies. According to this study:

Presidents and vice presidents averaged 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.

Though there are plenty of studies linking professional success with fluency in English overall, I haven’t come across any study linking professional success with any individual component – grammar and pronunciation, for example – of English language other than vocabulary.

You can make professional success a motivation to improve your active vocabulary.

Let’s dive into the tactics now.

How to build vocabulary you can use in speech and writing?

(In the spirit of the topic of this section, I’ve highlighted words that I’ve shifted from my passive to active vocabulary in red font . I’ve done this for only this section, lest the red font become too distracting.)

Almost all of us build vocabulary through the following two-step process:

Step 1 : We come across new words while reading and listening. Meanings of many of these words get registered in our brains – sometimes vaguely, sometimes precisely – through the context in which we see these words. John Rupert Firth, a leading figure in British linguistics during the 1950s, rightly said , “You shall know a word by the company it keeps.”

Many of these words then figure repeatedly in our reading and listening and gradually, as if by osmosis , they start taking roots in our passive vocabulary.

Step 2 : We start using some of these words in our speech and writing. (They are, as discussed earlier, just a small fraction of our passive vocabulary.) By and large, we stay in our comfort zones, making do with this limited set of words.

Little wonder, we add to our vocabulary in trickle . In his book Word Power Made Easy , Norman Lewis laments the tortoise-like rate of vocabulary-building among adults:

Educational testing indicates that children of ten who have grown up in families in which English is the native language have recognition [passive] vocabularies of over twenty thousand words. And that these same ten-year-olds have been learning new words at a rate of many hundreds a year since the age of four . In astonishing contrast, studies show that adults who are no longer attending school increase their vocabularies at a pace slower than twenty-five to fifty words annually .

Adults improve passive vocabulary at an astonishingly meagre rate of 25-50 words a year. The chain to acquire active vocabulary is getting broken at the first step itself – failure to read or listen enough (see Step 1 we just covered). Most are not even reaching the second step, which is far tougher than the first. Following statistic from National Spoken English Skills Report by Aspiring Minds (sample of more than 30,000 students from 500+ colleges in India) bears this point:

Only 33 percent know such simple words! They’re not getting enough inputs.

Such vocabulary-acquisition can be schematically represented as:

The problem here is at both the steps of vocabulary acquisition:

• Not enough inputs (represented by funnel filled only little) and
• Not enough exploration and use of words to convert inputs into active vocabulary (represented by few drops coming out of the funnel)

Here is what you can do to dramatically improve your active vocabulary:

1. Get more inputs (reading and listening)

That’s a no-brainer. The more you read,

• the more new words you come across and
• the more earlier-seen words get reinforced

If you’ve to prioritize between reading and listening purely from the perspective of building vocabulary, go for more reading, because it’s easier to read and mark words on paper or screen. Note that listening will be a more helpful input when you’re working on your speaking skills .

So develop the habit to read something 30-60 minutes every day. It has benefits far beyond just vocabulary-building .

If you increase your inputs, your vocabulary-acquisition funnel will look something like:

More inputs but no other steps result in larger active vocabulary.

2. Gather words from your passive vocabulary for deeper exploration

The reading and listening you do, over months and years, increase the size of your passive vocabulary. There are plenty of words, almost inexhaustible, sitting underutilized in your passive vocabulary. Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could move many of them to your active vocabulary? That would be easier too because you don’t have to learn them from scratch. You already understand their meaning and usage, at least to some extent. That’s like plucking – to use the word we’ve already overused – low hanging fruits.

While reading and listening, note down words that you’re already familiar with, but you don’t use them (that is they’re part of your passive vocabulary). We covered few examples of such words earlier in the post – pluck , dump , salvage , munch , etc. If you’re like most, your passive vocabulary is already large, waiting for you to shift some of it to your active vocabulary. You can also note down completely unfamiliar words, but only in exceptional cases.

To put what I said in the previous paragraph in more concrete terms, you may ask following two questions to decide which words to note down for further exploration:

• Do you understand the meaning of the word from the context of your reading or listening?
• Do you use this word while speaking and writing?

If the answer is ‘yes’ to the first question and ‘no’ to the second, you can note down the word.

3. Explore the words in an online dictionary

Time to go a step further than seeing words in context while reading.

You need to explore each word (you’ve noted) further in a dictionary. Know its precise meaning(s). Listen to pronunciation and speak it out loud, first individually and then as part of sentences. (If you’re interested in the topic of pronunciation, refer to the post on pronunciation .) And, equally important, see few sentences where the word has been used.

Preferably, note down the meaning(s) and few example sentences so that you can practice spaced repetition and retain them for long. Those who do not know what spaced repetition is, it is the best way to retain things in your long-term memory . There are number of options these days to note words and other details about them – note-taking apps and good-old word document. I’ve been copying-pasting on word document and taking printouts. For details on how I practiced spaced repetition, refer to my experience of adding more than 8,000 words to my vocabulary.

But why go through the drudgery of noting down – and going through, probably multiple times – example sentences? Why not just construct sentences straight after knowing the meaning of the word?

Blachowicz, Fisher, Ogle, and Watts-Taffe, in their paper , point out the yawning gap between knowing the meaning of words and using them in sentences:

Research suggests that students are able to select correct definitions for unknown words from a dictionary, but they have difficulty then using these words in production tasks such as writing sentences using the new words.

If only it was easy. It’s even more difficult in verbal communication where, unlike in writing, you don’t have the luxury of pausing and recalling appropriate words.

That’s why you need to focus on example sentences.

Majority of those who refer dictionary, however, restrict themselves to meaning of the word. Few bother to check example sentences. But they’re at least as much important as meaning of the word, because they teach you how to use words in sentences, and sentences are the building blocks of speech and writing.

If you regularly explore words in a dictionary, your vocabulary-acquisition funnel will look something like:

More inputs combined with exploration of words result in even larger active vocabulary.

After you absorb the meaning and example sentences of a word, it enters a virtuous cycle of consolidation. The next time you read or listen the word, you’ll take note of it and its use more actively , which will further reinforce it in your memory. In contrast, if you didn’t interact with the word in-depth, it’ll pass unnoticed, like thousands do every day. That’s cascading effect.

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4. Use them

To quote Maxwell Nurnberg and Morris Rosenblum from their book All About Words :

In vocabulary building, the problem is not so much finding new words or even finding out what they mean. The problem is to remember them, to fix them permanently in your mind. For you can see that if you are merely introduced to words, you will forget them as quickly as you forget the names of people you are casually introduced to at a crowded party – unless you meet them again or unless you spend some time with them.

This is the crux. Use it or lose it.

Without using, the words will slowly slip away from your memory.

Without using the words few times, you won’t feel confident using them in situations that matter.

If you use the words you explored in dictionary, your vocabulary-acquisition funnel will look something like:

More inputs combined with exploration of words and use of them result in the largest active vocabulary.

Here is a comparison of the four ways in which people acquire active vocabulary:

The big question though is how to use the words you’re exploring. Here are few exercises to accomplish this most important step in vocabulary-building process.

Vocabulary exercises: how to use words you’re learning

You can practice these vocabulary activities for 10-odd minutes every day, preferably during the time you waste such as commuting or waiting, to shift more and more words you’ve noted down to your active vocabulary. I’ve used these activities extensively, with strong results to boot.

1. Form sentences and speak them out during your reviews

When you review the list of words you’ve compiled, take a word as cue without looking at its meaning and examples, recall its meaning, and, most importantly, speak out 4-5 sentences using the word. It’s nothing but a flashcard in work. If you follow spaced repetition diligently, you’ll go through this process at least few times. I recommend reading my experience of building vocabulary (linked earlier) to know how I did this part.

Why speaking out, though? (If the surroundings don’t permit, it can be whisper as well.)

Speaking out the word as part of few sentences will serve the additional purpose of making your vocal cords accustomed to new words and phrases.

2. Create thematic webs

When reviewing, take a word and think of other words related to that word. Web of words on a particular theme, in short, and hence the name ‘thematic web’. These are five of many, many thematic webs I’ve actually come up in my reviews:

(Note: Name of the theme is in bold. Second, where there are multiple words, I’ve underlined the main word.)

If I come across the word ‘gourmet’ in my review, I’ll also quickly recall all the words related with food: tea strainer, kitchen cabinet, sink, dish cloth, wipe dishes, rinse utensils, immerse beans in water, simmer, steam, gourmet food, sprinkle salt, spread butter, smear butter, sauté, toss vegetables, and garnish the sweet dish

Similarly, for other themes:

Prognosis, recuperate, frail, pass away, resting place, supplemental air, excruciating pain, and salubrious

C. Showing off

Showy, gaudy, extravaganza, over the top, ostentatious, and grandstanding

D. Crowd behavior

Restive, expectant, hysteria, swoon, resounding welcome, rapturous, jeer, and cheer

E. Rainfall

Deluge, cats and dogs, downpour, cloudburst, heavens opened, started pouring , submerged, embankment, inundate, waterlogged, soaked to the skin, take shelter, run for a cover, torrent, and thunderbolt

(If you notice, words in a particular theme are much wider in sweep than just synonyms.)

It takes me under a minute to complete dozen-odd words in a theme. However, in the beginning, when you’re still adding to your active vocabulary in tons, you’ll struggle to go beyond 2-3 simple words when thinking out such thematic lists. That’s absolutely fine.

Why thematic web, though?

Because that’s how we recall words when speaking or writing. (If you flip through Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis, a popular book on improving vocabulary, you’ll realize that each of its chapters represents a particular idea, something similar to a theme.) Besides, building a web also quickly jogs you through many more words.

3. Describe what you see around

In a commute or other time-waster, look around and speak softly an apt word in a split second for whatever you see. Few examples:

• If you see grass on the roadside, you can say verdant or luxurious .
• If you see a vehicle stopping by the roadside, you can say pull over .
• If you see a vehicle speeding away from other vehicles, you can say pull away .
• If you see a person carrying a load on the road side, you can say lug and pavement .

Key is to come up with these words in a flash. Go for speed, not accuracy. (After all, you’ll have similar reaction time when speaking.) If you can’t think of an appropriate word for what you see instantaneously – and there will be plenty in the beginning – skip it.

This vocabulary exercise also serves an unintended, though important, objective of curbing the tendency to first think in the native language and then translating into English as you speak. This happens because the spontaneity in coming up with words forces you to think directly in English.

Last, this exercise also helps you assess your current level of vocabulary (for spoken English). If you struggle to come up with words for too many things/ situations, you’ve job on your hands.

4. Describe what one person or object is doing

Another vocabulary exercise you can practice during time-wasters is to focus on a single person and describe her/ his actions, as they unfold, for few minutes. An example:

He is skimming Facebook on his phone. OK, he is done with it. Now, he is taking out his earphones. He has plugged them into his phone, and now he is watching some video. He is watching and watching. There is something funny there in that video, which makes him giggle . Simultaneously, he is adjusting the bag slung across his shoulder.

The underlined words are few of the new additions to my active vocabulary I used on the fly when focusing on this person.

Feel free to improvise and modify this process to suit your unique conditions, keeping in mind the fundamentals such as spaced repetition, utilizing the time you waste, and putting what you’re learning to use.

To end this section, I must point out that you need to build habit to perform these exercises for few minutes at certain time(s) of the day. They’re effective when done regularly.

Why I learnt English vocabulary this way?

For few reasons:

1. I worked backwards from the end result to prepare for real-world situations

David H. Freedman learnt Italian using Duolingo , a popular language-learning app, for more than 70 hours in the buildup to his trip to Italy. A week before they were to leave for Rome, his wife put him to test. She asked how would he ask for his way from Rome airport to the downtown. And how would he order in a restaurant?

David failed miserably.

He had become a master of multiple-choice questions in Italian, which had little bearing on the real situations he would face.

We make this mistake all the time. We don’t start from the end goal and work backwards to design our lessons and exercises accordingly. David’s goal wasn’t to pass a vocabulary test. It was to strike conversation socially.

Coming back to the topic of vocabulary, learning meanings and examples of words in significant volume is a challenge. But a much bigger challenge is to recall an apt word in split second while speaking. (That’s the holy grail of any vocabulary-building exercise, and that’s the end goal we want to achieve.)

The exercises I described earlier in the post follow the same path – backwards from the end.

2. I used proven scientific methods to increase effectiveness

Looking at just a word and recalling its meaning and coming up with rapid-fire examples where that word can be used introduced elements of deliberate practice, the fastest way to build neural connection and hence any skill. (See the exercises we covered.) For the uninitiated, deliberate practice is the way top performers in any field practice .

Another proven method I used was spaced repetition.

3. I built on what I already knew to progress faster

Covering mainly passive vocabulary has made sure that I’m building on what I already know, which makes for faster progress.

Don’t ignore these when building vocabulary

Keep in mind following while building vocabulary:

1. Use of fancy words in communication make you look dumb, not smart

Don’t pick fancy words to add to your vocabulary. Use of such words doesn’t make you look smart. It makes your communication incomprehensible and it shows lack of empathy for the listeners. So avoid learning words such as soliloquy and twerking . The more the word is used in common parlance, the better it is.

An example of how fancy words can make a piece of writing bad is this review of movie , which is littered with plenty of fancy words such as caper , overlong , tomfoolery , hectoring , and cockney . For the same reason, Shashi Tharoor’s Word of the Week is not a good idea . Don’t add such words to your vocabulary.

2. Verbs are more important than nouns and adjectives

Verbs describe action, tell us what to do. They’re clearer. Let me explain this through an example.

In his book Start with Why , Simon Sinek articulates why verbs are more effective than nouns:

For values or guiding principles to be truly effective they have to be verbs. It’s not ‘integrity’, it’s ‘always do the right thing’. It’s not ‘innovation’, it’s ‘look at the problem from a different angle’. Articulating our values as verbs gives us a clear idea… we have a clear idea of how to act in any situation.

‘Always do the right thing’ is better than ‘integrity’ and ‘look at the problem from a different angle’ is better than ‘innovation’ because the former, a verb, in each case is clearer.

The same (importance of verb) is emphasized by L. Dee Fink in his book Creating Significant Learning Experiences in the context of defining learning goals for college students.

Moreover, most people’s vocabulary is particularly poor in verbs. Remember, the verbs from the three examples at the beginning of the post – wash away , dump , and pluck ? How many use them? And they’re simple.

3. Don’t ignore simple verbs

You wouldn’t bother to note down words such as slip , give , and move because you think you know them inside out, after all you’ve been using them regularly for ages.

I also thought so… until I explored few of them.

I found that majority of simple words have few common usages we rarely use. Use of simple words for such common usages will stand your communication skills out.

An example:

a. To slide suddenly or involuntarily as on a smooth surface: She slipped on the icy ground .

b. To slide out from grasp, etc.: The soap slipped from my hand .

c. To move or start gradually from a place or position: His hat slipped over his eyes .

d. To pass without having been acted upon or used: to let an opportunity slip .

e. To pass quickly (often followed by away or by): The years slipped by .

f. To move or go quietly, cautiously, or unobtrusively: to slip out of a room .

Most use the word in the meaning (a) and (b), but if you use the word for meaning (c) to (f) – which BTW is common – you’ll impress people.

Another example:

a. Without the physical presence of people in control: an unmanned spacecraft .

b.  Hovering near the unmanned iPod resting on the side bar, stands a short, blond man.

c. Political leaders are vocal about the benefits they expect to see from unmanned aircraft.

Most use the word unmanned with a moving object such as an aircraft or a drone, but how about using it with an iPod (see (b) above).

4. Don’t ignore phrasal verbs. Get at least common idioms. Proverbs… maybe

4.1 phrasal verbs.

Phrasal verbs are verbs made from combining a main verb and an adverb or preposition or both. For example, here are few phrasal verbs of verb give :

We use phrasal verbs aplenty:

I went to the airport to see my friend off .

He could see through my carefully-crafted ruse.

I took off my coat.

The new captain took over the reins of the company on June 25.

So, don’t ignore them.

Unfortunately, you can’t predict the meaning of a phrasal verb from the main verb. For example, it’s hard to guess the meaning of take over or take off from take . You’ve to learn each phrasal verb separately.

What about idioms?

Compared to phrasal verbs, idioms are relatively less used, but it’s good to know the common ones. To continue the example of word give , here are few idioms derived from it:

Give and take

Give or take

Give ground

Give rise to

Want a list of common idioms? It’s here: List of 200 common idioms .

4.3 Proverbs

Proverbs are popular sayings that provide nuggets of wisdom. Example: A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

Compared to phrasal verbs and idioms, they’re much less used in common conversation and therefore you can do without them.

For the motivated, here is a list of common proverbs: List of 200 common proverbs .

5. Steal phrases, words, and even sentences you like

If you like phrases and sentences you come across, add them to your list for future use. I do it all the time and have built a decent repository of phrases and sentences. Few examples (underlined part is the key phrase):

The bondholders faced the prospect of losing their trousers .

The economy behaved more like a rollercoaster than a balloon . [Whereas rollercoaster refers to an up and down movement, balloon refers to a continuous expansion. Doesn’t such a short phrase express such a profound meaning?]

Throw enough spaghetti against the wall and some of it sticks .

You need blue collar work ethic to succeed in this industry.

He runs fast. Not quite .

Time to give up scalpel . Bring in hammer .

Note that you would usually not find such phrases in a dictionary, because dictionaries are limited to words, phrasal verbs, idioms, and maybe proverbs.

6. Commonly-used nouns

One of my goals while building vocabulary has been to learn what to call commonly-used objects (or nouns) that most struggle to put a word to.

To give an example, what would you call the following?

Answer: Tea strainer.

You would sound far more impressive when you say, “My tea strainer has turned blackish because of months of filtering tea.”

Than when you say, “The implement that filters tea has turned blackish because of months of filtering tea.”

What do you say?

More examples:

Saucer (We use it every day, but call it ‘plate’.)

Straight/ wavy/ curly hair

Corner shop

I’ll end with a brief reference to the UIDAI project that is providing unique biometric ID to every Indian. This project, launched in 2009, has so far issued a unique ID (popularly called Aadhaar card) to more than 1.1 billion people. The project faced many teething problems and has been a one big grind for the implementers. But once this massive data of billion + people was collected, so many obstinate, long-standing problems are being eased using this data, which otherwise would’ve been difficult to pull off. It has enabled faster delivery of scores of government and private services, checked duplication on many fronts, and brought in more transparency in financial and other transactions, denting parallel economy. There are many more. And many more are being conceived on top of this data.

At some level, vocabulary is somewhat similar. It’ll take effort, but once you’ve sizable active vocabulary, it’ll strengthen arguably the most challenging and the most impressive part of your communication. And because it takes some doing, it’s not easy for others to catch up.

Anil is the person behind this website. He writes on most aspects of English Language Skills. More about him here:

Such a comprehensive guide. Awesome…

I am using the note app and inbuilt dictionary of iPhone. I have accumulated over 1400 words in 1 year. Will definitely implement ideas from this blog.

Krishna, thanks. If you’re building vocabulary for using, then make sure you work it accordingly.

Building solid vocabulary is my new year’s resolution and you’ve perfectly captured the issues I’ve been facing, with emphasis on passive vocabulary building. So many vocab apps are multiple choice and thereby useless for this reason. Thanks so much for the exercises! I plan to put them to use!

It was everything that I need to boost my active vocabulary. Thank you so much for sharing all these precious pieces of information.

Anil sir, I am quiet satisfied the way you laid out everything possible that one needs to know from A-Z. Also, thanks for assuring me from your experience that applying this will work.

This post definitely blew me away…. I am impressed! Thank you so much for sharing such valuable information. It was exactly what I needed!

Amazing post! While reading this post, I am thinking about the person who developed this. I wanna give a big hug and thank you so much.

Comments are closed.

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Losing her speech made her feel isolated from humanity.

Synonyms: communication , conversation , parley , parlance

He expresses himself better in speech than in writing.

We waited for some speech that would indicate her true feelings.

Synonyms: talk , mention , comment , asseveration , assertion , observation

a fiery speech.

Synonyms: discourse , talk

• any single utterance of an actor in the course of a play, motion picture, etc.

Synonyms: patois , tongue

Your slovenly speech is holding back your career.

• a field of study devoted to the theory and practice of oral communication.
• Archaic. rumor .

to have speech with somebody

speech therapy

• that which is spoken; utterance
• a talk or address delivered to an audience
• a person's characteristic manner of speaking
• a national or regional language or dialect
• linguistics another word for parole

Other Words From

• self-speech noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of speech 1

Synonym Study

Example sentences.

Kids are interacting with Alexas that can record their voice data and influence their speech and social development.

The attorney general delivered a controversial speech Wednesday.

For example, my company, Teknicks, is working with an online K-12 speech and occupational therapy provider.

Instead, it would give tech companies a powerful incentive to limit Brazilians’ freedom of speech at a time of political unrest.

However, the president did give a speech in Suresnes, France, the next day during a ceremony hosted by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

Those are troubling numbers, for unfettered speech is not incidental to a flourishing society.

There is no such thing as speech so hateful or offensive it somehow “justifies” or “legitimizes” the use of violence.

We need to recover and grow the idea that the proper answer to bad speech is more and better speech.

Tend to your own garden, to quote the great sage of free speech, Voltaire, and invite people to follow your example.

The simple, awful truth is that free speech has never been particularly popular in America.

Alessandro turned a grateful look on Ramona as he translated this speech, so in unison with Indian modes of thought and feeling.

And so this is why the clever performer cannot reproduce the effect of a speech of Demosthenes or Daniel Webster.

He said no more in words, but his little blue eyes had an eloquence that left nothing to mere speech.

After pondering over Mr. Blackbird's speech for a few moments he raised his head.

Albinia, I have refrained from speech as long as possible; but this is really too much!

Related Words

More about speech, what is speech .

Speech is the ability to express thoughts and emotions through vocal sounds and gestures. The act of doing this is also known as speech .

Speech is something only humans are capable of doing and this ability has contributed greatly to humanity’s ability to develop civilization. Speech allows humans to communicate much more complex information than animals are able to.

Almost all animals make sounds or noises with the intent to communicate with each other, such as mating calls and yelps of danger. However, animals aren’t actually talking to each other. That is, they aren’t forming sentences or sharing complicated information. Instead, they are making simple noises that trigger another animal’s natural instincts.

While speech does involve making noises, there is a lot more going on than simple grunts and growls. First, humans’ vocal machinery, such as our lungs, throat, vocal chords, and tongue, allows for a wide range of intricate sounds. Second, the human brain is incredibly complex, allowing humans to process vocal sounds and understand combinations of them as words and oral communication. The human brain is essential for speech . While chimpanzees and other apes have vocal organs similar to humans’, their brains are much less advanced and they are unable to learn speech .

Why is speech important?

The first records of the word speech come from before the year 900. It ultimately comes from the Old English word sprecan , meaning “to speak.” Scientists debate on the exact date that humanity first learned to speak, with estimates ranging from 50,000 to 2 million years ago.

Related to the concept of speech is the idea of language . A language is the collection of symbols, sounds, gestures, and anything else that a group of people use to communicate with each other, such as English, Swahili, and American Sign Language . Speech is actually using those things to orally communicate with someone else.

Did you know … ?

But what about birds that “talk”? Parrots in particular are famous for their ability to say human words and sentences. Birds are incapable of speech . What they are actually doing is learning common sounds that humans make and mimicking them. They don’t actually understand what anything they are repeating actually means.

What are real-life examples of speech ?

Speech is essential to human communication.

Dutch is just enough like German that I can read text on signs and screens, but not enough that I can understand speech. — Clark Smith Cox III (@clarkcox) September 8, 2009

I can make squirrels so excited, I could almost swear they understand human speech! — Neil Oliver (@thecoastguy) July 20, 2020

What other words are related to speech ?

• communication
• information

Quiz yourself!

True or False?

Humans are the only animals capable of speech .

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Difference between speech, language and communication

• 25 September 2020
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In our day-to-day language, the terms speech, language, and communication are often used interchangeably. However, are these words synonyms? As it turns out, no, they are not! 

Here is how to better distinguish these terms:

Speech refers to the way we produce and perceive the consonants and vowels that form all the languages in the world. It can be considered the perceptual and motor components of oral language. More specifically, it includes the following elements:

• Voice. This refers to the way we use our vocal folds (sometimes called cords), in the larynx, and our respiration (especially the expiration) to produce speech sounds. Our voice varies in intensity and pitch – that is, it can be more or less loud and have a higher or lower pitch. These parameters are determined by the contraction and extension of the vocal folds.
• Articulation. It is the way we use our articulators, including our lips and our tongue, to produce speech sounds. For example, our lips are rounded to produce the vowel /o/, while they are stretched to produce the vowel /i/.
• Resonance. This refers to the modification of the sound generated by the vocal folds as it travels through the cavities formed by the pharynx as well as the inside of our nose and mouth. Resonance influences the quality of speech sounds (a nasal vowel such as “an” vs an oral vowel such as “a”) and depends mostly on our capacity to control the amount of air that is expelled from our nose when we speak. To block air from going through the nose, we lift soft palate (also called velopharynx); to allow air going into the nose, we drop the soft palate (see figure 1). For example, too much airflow through the nose results in a nasal voice (Kummer). It should be noted that damage to resonance or to the respiratory system is likely to make speech less natural and intelligible (ASHA). 
• Fluency. This concerns the rhythm of our speech and is characterized by the number of hesitations and repetitions of sounds when we speak. Non fluent speech is associated with communication disorders such as stuttering.
• Perception. The ability to detect and perceive fine variations in the acoustic signal of speech, including variations in intensity and frequency in a locutor’s voice or variations in their speech rate, are also key elements of speech at the receptive level.

Language refers to the comprehension and production of words and sentences to share ideas or information. Language can be oral, written, or signed (e.g. Quebec Sign Language). Below are the different spheres of language (ASHA; Bishop et al, 2017): 

• Phonology. At the interface between speech and language, phonology refers to the ability to identify and use speech sounds to distinguish the words of a language. For example, in English, it is important to distinguish the sounds associated with the letters “b” and “p” since words such as “bay” and “pay” do not have the same meaning.
• Morphology. This refers to the rules that regulate the use of morphemes, the smallest units of language that carry meaning. For example, in oral and written English, the plural is often indicated by adding the morpheme “-s” to a noun (eg. anemones). Some morphemes can be added at the beginning or at the end of a word to slightly modify the meaning. For example, the morpheme ‘’-est’’ in English is used to express the superlative. For example, when we add “est” to the adjective  tall, we  create the word  tallest , meaning the person who is the most tall.
• Lexicology and semantics. These components refer to vocabulary as well as the knowledge of the word meaning (e.g., knowing the word  anemone  and that it refers not only to a marine animal, but also to a colorful perennial plant).
• Syntax. This refers to the rules to combine words to create sentences in a language. For example, the sentence ‘’I love anemones’’ is composed of a subject (I) and a predicate (formed by the verb  love  and the noun  anemones ); the two obligatory components in an English sentence.
• Pragmatics. This refers to the rules about the use of language in a specific communication context. These rules include the respect of the turn-taking or the adjustment of the language level or content based on the interlocutor. It also includes the ability to detect humour, irony and sarcasm.

Communication

Communication refers to the process of exchanging information, including emotions and thoughts (Bishop and al., 2016), with others using speaking, writing, signs, facial expressions and body language. Communication thus incorporates speech and language, but also prosody (linguistic and emotional). Prosody refers to the ability to vary the intonation, rate and voice intensity to either emphasize certain syllables or words when we speak or to draw the attention of our interlocutor to a particular piece of information (linguistic prosody), or to convey our emotions, voluntarily or not (emotional prosody; Wilson & Wharton, 2005). 

Although the words  speech ,  language  and  communication  are often used interchangeably, these words have distinct meanings when used in scientific or clinical contexts. While  communication  is a broad concept,  speech  and  language  have very specific meaning. This is important because communication difficulties can affect speech and language independently. For example, a person with a speech impairment may have difficulty articulating correctly without having any language difficulty. Likewise, a person with a language disorder may have difficulty understanding the meaning of words, forming grammatically sentences, respecting speaking turns during a conversation, etc., while having no difficulty related to speech (normal voice, normal articulation).

Suggested readings:

• The cocktail party explained
• Comic strip about speech
• Speech perception: a complex ability
• What is the most important element of communication?

Speech analysis

• What is prosody?

References:

American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA). (2020, September 1 rst ). What Is Speech? What Is Language? https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/speech-and-language/

American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA). (2020, September 1 rst ). Language in brief. https://www.asha.org/Practice-Portal/Clinical-Topics/Spoken-Language-Disorders/Language-In–Brief/

American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA). (2020, September 23). Dysarthria in Adults. https://www.asha.org/PRPSpecificTopic.aspx?folderid=8589943481&section=Signs_and_Symptoms

Bishop, D.V.M., Snowling, M.J., Thompson, P.A., Greenhalgh, T., & CATALISE consortium. (2016). CATALISE: A Multinational and Multidisciplinary Delphi Consensus Study. Identifying Language Impairments in Children. PLOS ONE 11 (12): e0168066.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168066

Kummer, A.W. (2020, September 23). Resonance Disorders and Velopharyngeal Dysfunction.  https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/- /media/cincinnati%20childrens/home/service/s/speech/patients/handouts/resonance-disorders-and-vpd.pdf?la=en

Wilson, D., & Wharton, T. (2006). Relevance and prosody. Journal of Pragmatics 38 , 1559–1579. doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2005.04.012

The peripheral auditory system

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Speech in Linguistics

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
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In linguistics , speech is a system of  communication  that uses spoken words  (or sound symbols ). 

The study of speech sounds (or spoken language ) is the branch of linguistics known as phonetics . The study of sound changes in a language is phonology . For a discussion of speeches in rhetoric and oratory , see Speech (Rhetoric) .

Etymology:  From the Old English, "to speak"

Studying Language Without Making Judgements

• "Many people believe that written language is more prestigious than spoken language--its form is likely to be closer to Standard English , it dominates education and is used as the language of public administration. In linguistic terms, however, neither speech nor writing can be seen as superior. Linguists are more interested in observing and describing all forms of language in use than in making social and cultural judgements with no linguistic basis." (Sara Thorne, Mastering Advanced English Language , 2nd ed. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008)

Speech Sounds and Duality

• "The very simplest element of speech --and by 'speech' we shall henceforth mean the auditory system of speech symbolism, the flow of spoken words--is the individual sound, though, . . . the sound is not itself a simple structure but the resultant of a series of independent, yet closely correlated, adjustments in the organs of speech." ( Edward Sapir , Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech , 1921)
• "Human language is organized at two levels or layers simultaneously. This property is called duality (or 'double articulation'). In speech production, we have a physical level at which we can produce individual sounds, like n , b and i . As individual sounds, none of these discrete forms has any intrinsic meaning . In a particular combination such as bin , we have another level producing a meaning that is different from the meaning of the combination in nib . So, at one level, we have distinct sounds, and, at another level, we have distinct meanings. This duality of levels is, in fact, one of the most economical features of human language because, with a limited set of discrete sounds, we are capable of producing a very large number of sound combinations (e.g. words) which are distinct in meaning." (George Yule, The Study of Language , 3rd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2006)

Approaches to Speech

• "Once we decide to begin an analysis of speech , we can approach it on various levels. At one level, speech is a matter of anatomy and physiology: we can study organs such as tongue and larynx in the production of speech. Taking another perspective, we can focus on the speech sounds produced by these organs--the units that we commonly try to identify by letters , such as a 'b-sound' or an 'm-sound.' But speech is also transmitted as sound waves, which means that we can also investigate the properties of the sound waves themselves. Taking yet another approach, the term 'sounds' is a reminder that speech is intended to be heard or perceived and that it is therefore possible to focus on the way in which a listener analyzes or processes a sound wave." (J. E. Clark and C. Yallop, An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology . Wiley-Blackwell, 1995)

Parallel Transmission

• "Because so much of our lives in a literate society has been spent dealing with speech recorded as letters and text in which spaces do separate letters and words, it can be extremely difficult to understand that spoken language simply does not have this characteristic. . . . [A]lthough we write, perceive, and (to a degree) cognitively process speech linearly--one sound followed by another--the actual sensory signal our ear encounters is not composed of discretely separated bits. This is an amazing aspect of our linguistic abilities, but on further thought one can see that it is a very useful one. The fact that speech can encode and transmit information about multiple linguistic events in parallel means that the speech signal is a very efficient and optimized way of encoding and sending information between individuals. This property of speech has been called parallel transmission ." (Dani Byrd and Toben H. Mintz, Discovering Speech, Words, and Mind . Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)

Oliver Goldsmith on the True Nature of Speech

• "It is usually said by grammarians , that the use of language is to express our wants and desires; but men who know the world hold, and I think with some show of reason, that he who best knows how to keep his necessities private is the most likely person to have them redressed; and that the true use of speech is not so much to express our wants, as to conceal them." (Oliver Goldsmith, "On the Use of Language." The Bee , October 20, 1759)

Pronunciation: SPEECH

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• speech (noun)
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• She thanked us in her acceptance speech . [=a speech given by someone receiving an award or prize]
• I was so flustered that I momentarily lost the power of speech .
• She has a mild speech impediment . [=a condition that makes it difficult to speak normally]
• They fought for freedom of speech . = They fought for the right to/of free speech . [=they fought for the legal right to express their opinions freely]
• Slang is used mostly in informal/casual speech .
• Many words are more common in speech than in writing.
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Vocabulary – Meaning, Types, Uses, Learning Strategies and Quizzes

Vocabulary is not just a list of words in a language. It’s a bridge that connects ideas, thoughts and communication. This guide will explore the meaning of vocabulary and its significance in English language learning.

What Is the Definition of Vocabulary?

Vocabulary is a set of familiar words within a person’s language. According to Merriam-Webster , it’s “a list or collection of words or of words and phrases usually alphabetically arranged and explained or defined.”

What Are the Synonyms of Vocabulary?

Can’t get enough of words? Well, here are a few with the same or similar meanings as vocabulary .

• Terminology

And, for the grammarians in the room, vocabularies is the plural form of vocabulary .

What Is the History/Origin of Vocabulary?

Vocabulary came from the Latin word “vocabulum,” which means word, name or noun. The term found its way into English usage via the (Medieval) Latin phrase “vocabularium,” which literally translates to “a list of words.” The term’s first known use in English traces back to the 1500s.

What Are the Four Types of Vocabulary?

The four types of vocabulary are as follows:

• Listening vocabulary: We need to know these words to understand what we hear. If a friend told you, “The dishes served at this new restaurant are delectable,” you’d need to know the meaning of the word delectable to understand the meaning behind the whole sentence.
• Speaking vocabulary: Words we use in speech, aka when talking.
• Reading vocabulary: The words we need to know to understand what we read. This vocabulary type is much larger than speaking or listening vocabulary because writers use a more sophisticated or technical lexicon.
• Writing vocabulary: Words we use when writing.

How Is Vocabulary Used in Sentences?

Understanding vocabulary is so important to effective communication.

• His vocabulary is extensive, covering various topics from politics to sports.
• She’s trying to improve her vocabulary for the SAT.
• The vocabulary used in academic journals can be challenging for a layman.
• He’s always looking for interesting words to add to his vocabulary.

Related Words and Phrases

Just like a rich tapestry, vocabulary is woven with various threads. Here are some related terms you might come across:

• terminology
• abbreviated form
• accommodation
• holophrastic
• inappropriacy
• receptively
• superordinate
• synonymously
• syntagmatic

Words Often Used in Combination With Vocabulary

Vocabulary isn’t a loner; it often mingles with other words to create more nuanced phrases or specific contexts. Let’s look at some collocations with vocabulary and how they’re used.

• Basic vocabulary includes the most common words that everyone should know in a language, like “run,” “eat,” “happy” and “sad.”
• Common vocabulary consists of words that are often used and widely understood, like “information,” “program,” “idea” and “problem.”
• Controlled vocabulary is what you’d call a collection of predefined terms used in indexing and retrieving information like “Subject Headings” in library catalogs.
• Core vocabulary includes essential words around which language skills are built, like “be,” “have,” “do,” “say,” “get” and “make.”
• Expressive vocabulary includes words used to express thoughts, ideas, or emotions, such as “gloomy,” “elated,” “devastated” and “ecstatic.”
• Limited vocabulary is a small collection of words known and used by a person, like a toddler’s first words, such as “mama,” “dada,” “no” or “yes.”
• New vocabulary involves recently learned or coined words like “Blockchain,” “cryptocurrency” and “COVID-19.”
• Overall vocabulary is all the words known or used by a person or within a particular language, like a person’s total word knowledge in English, Spanish, etc.
• Productive vocabulary means words actively used in daily communication.
• Receptive vocabulary includes terms understood when reading or listening.
• Specialized vocabulary includes words like “plasma,” “biodiversity” and “quantum physics” in scientific contexts.
• Technical vocabulary consists of terms like “appellate,” “injunction” and “tort” in legal parlance.
• Vocabulary acquisition is all about learning the meaning of words like “catharsis” after reading a tragedy.
• Vocabulary comprehension involves understanding hard terms like “photosynthesis” in a biological context.
• Vocabulary development is all about expanding your word knowledge, like going from “happy” to “joyful,” “elated” and “content.”
• Vocabulary instruction is teaching words and what they mean.
• Vocabulary learning involves understanding the words that are being taught to you.
• Vocabulary score is simply the number of correct answers on a vocabulary quiz.
• Vocabulary tests are quizzes designed to assess your word knowledge and usage.

What Is the Role of Vocabulary in the English Language and Communication?

Vocabulary is the backbone of communication in any language, and English is no exception. It helps us express our thoughts and ideas and understand what we read and hear. It also allows us to connect with others and participate in social, academic, and even professional activities.

How Many Words Are in the English Vocabulary?

The 2nd Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary has entries for 171,476 words in use and thousands of obsolete words. But, when considering derivatives, English could easily have over a million words!

What Is the Difference Between Formal and Informal English Vocabularies?

Formal and informal vocabularies differ in the level of formality they portray. Formal vocabulary is typically used in professional, academic, or other more serious contexts, often utilizing more complex and sometimes longer words.

Informal vocabulary, including slang, idioms, contractions and colloquialisms, is used in casual conversations.

What Is Academic Vocabulary, and How Does It Differ From Regular Vocabulary?

Academic vocabulary refers to words commonly used in educational or scholarly contexts. These are often multisyllabic, more complex words not typically used in everyday conversation. Regular vocabulary, conversely, includes words that are used in a variety of contexts, both casual and formal.

What Are the Regional Varieties of English Vocabulary?

English vocabulary differs widely from region to region, like how American English vocabulary can vary from the British English vocabulary.

There are also unique vocabularies for other English-speaking areas like Australia, Canada, or various regions of the UK. These differences could be as simple as a cookie (American English) versus a biscuit (British English) or as complex as entirely different words for the same concept.

What Is the Relationship Between Vernacular Language and Standard Vocabulary?

Vernacular language is a dialect or way of speaking specific to a particular region or group. But standard vocabulary is a set of words we accept and use across multiple regions or groups.

Vernacular can significantly influence standard vocabulary as words from dialects often enter the widely accepted lexicon.

How Do Regional and Cultural Factors Influence English Vocabulary?

Regional and cultural factors can greatly influence English vocabulary. The term mate is common in Australia and the UK to refer to someone who’s a friend. However, it is less commonly used in the US that way because it means a romantic partner there.

Similarly, cultural factors can lead to the creation of new words or the adoption of words from other languages. Consider how many Spanish words are now part of the standard English vocabulary in regions of the US with large Hispanic populations.

What Are Examples of Different Regional Varieties of English Vocabulary?

Here are a few examples of regional variations:

• In the UK, you might take a lift to your flat , but in the US, you’d take an elevator to your apartment .
• Australians might put on their thongs to go to the beach. But in the US, they put on their flip-flops .
• In the Southern US, soft drinks are usually referred to as coke. However, in the Northeast, you might call them soda; in the Midwest, you’d likely call them pop .

What Is Vernacular Language and How Does It Relate to Standard Vocabulary?

Vernacular language is the native language and dialects used by people in a specific country or area. It includes colloquial and slang expressions that might not be part of the standard vocabulary.

Despite this, vernacular language often influences the standard vocabulary, leading to the adoption and normalization of certain words and phrases. It is like how y’all is a common vernacular term in the Southern US that has made its way into wider English usage.

What Are the Levels of English Vocabulary?

English vocabulary is categorized into three main levels: high-frequency words, academic words and low-frequency words. High-frequency words are English’s most commonly used words, like the , is  and an .

Academic words are more specialized and used in educational or professional settings, like analyze or theory . Low-frequency words are not used as commonly in daily language and might include words like abode or gossamer .

How Is Vocabulary Used in IELTS and TOEFL?

Vocabulary is crucial in the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) and TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language).

Examiners assess the range and accuracy of vocabulary test-takers use in writing and speaking sections. Students are expected to show a wide variety of vocabulary, including academic words, collocations, idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs.

How Do We Improve English Vocabulary?

We can improve our vocabulary by engaging with English language content regularly. Do things like reading books, newspapers, and magazines, watching English movies or TV shows (perhaps with subtitles), listening to English radio or podcasts, and speaking with native English speakers whenever possible.

Using new words in real-life contexts can also help to cement their meanings and correct usage in your mind.

What Are the Effective Strategies for Improving English Vocabulary?

• Read widely and regularly in English to encounter new words.
• Use a dictionary to look up the meaning of words you don’t understand.
• Keep a vocabulary notebook to record new words and their meanings.
• Make a habit of using new words when speaking and writing.
• Play word games or use language learning apps.

What Are the Techniques to Expand Your Vocabulary?

• Learn a new word every day.
• Use flashcards to review and remember new words.
• Understand the roots of words, prefixes, and suffixes.
• Practice using synonyms and antonyms.
• Engage in conversation with diverse groups of people.

What Are Some Effective Vocabulary Exercises?

• Word association games help us associate new words with words we already know.
• Crossword puzzles or word search games can help you recognize and remember new words.
• Reading comprehension will help you identify and look up any words you didn’t understand after reading something.

How Do Formal and Informal Contexts Influence Vocabulary Use?

The context in which you’re communicating often determines the type of vocabulary you use. You’ll likely use more formal, complex language in formal contexts such as academic papers, business meetings or official documents.

Informal contexts, such as casual conversations with friends, often utilize informal vocabulary, including slang, contractions and colloquial expressions.

How Can You Teach Vocabulary to English Language Learners?

Teaching vocabulary to English language learners requires a multi-faceted approach. First, new words should be presented in a meaningful context, such as within a sentence or a story so that learners can infer meaning.

Next, encourage repetition and review to help cement the words in the learner’s memory. Finally, learners should be allowed to use new words in speaking and writing.

What Books and Apps Can Help Improve English Vocabulary?

There are so many out there, but these are some of the best.

• Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis
• 1100 Words You Need to Know by Murray Bromberg and Melvin Gordon
• The Vocabulary Builder Workbook by Chris Lele
• Vocabulary.com

How Are Vocabulary Tests Constructed, and How Can They Help?

Vocabulary tests assess a person’s understanding of word meanings, usage and synonyms. They usually come in multiple-choice questions, matching exercises or fill-in-the-blanks.

These tests can help by measuring a person’s current vocabulary level, highlighting areas for improvement, and providing a sense of achievement as one’s vocabulary improves.

How Does Understanding Vocabulary Enhance Spoken English Skills?

Understanding vocabulary is fundamental to enhancing spoken English skills. A robust vocabulary allows for more precise and effective communication all around. It enables us to express thoughts, ideas and feelings more accurately.

Also, it boosts your confidence in speaking, enhances comprehension when listening to others, and fosters more engaging and interesting conversations.

How Can Images and Videos Enhance Vocabulary Learning?

The English vocabulary isn’t just about words and definitions. It is a complex network of concepts, associations and even real-world applications.

Images and videos can greatly improve vocabulary learning. Images give us a visual representation of words, making abstract concepts more concrete and easier to understand.

Videos give us contextual learning. They show how words are used in everyday conversations and scenarios, promoting comprehension and retention.

How Can Quizzes and Games Help in Learning Vocabulary?

Quizzes and games are great tools for learning vocabulary. Quizzes help students review and reinforce what they’ve learned while tracking their progress.

Games make learning fun and interactive, promoting engagement and making memorization less tedious. I recommend utilizing both techniques because they offer repetitive exposure to new words, which is important for learning.

What Are Some Popular Vocabulary Quizzes and Games?

• Vocabulary.com: This website offers a ton of vocabulary quizzes and learning activities.
• Freerice.com: A vocabulary game that donates rice for every correct answer. How cool!
• Memrise: This app uses spaced repetition and mnemonic techniques to help you learn and remember words.
• Quizlet: Provides user-generated vocabulary flashcards, quizzes and games.
• Crosswords and Word Search Puzzles: These age-old, classic games are always a hit for vocabulary building.

What Are Some Effective Methods for Teaching Vocabulary?

The English vocabulary can easily be taught with:

• Direct instruction: Teaching specific words, like pre-teaching vocabulary, before reading a text.
• Contextual learning: Learning new words by understanding their usage in a sentence or a text.
• Word association: Linking new words to words that students already know.
• Multimedia tools: Particularly effective today. This involves using images, videos and interactive games to make learning engaging. Great for those with attention deficits or reading disorders.

A Wrap on Vocabulary

The English vocabulary is dynamic and reflects our language’s capacity to evolve and adapt with time.

Whether informal or slang words, formal writing, or academic terminologies, every word adds a unique shade of meaning to our communication.

On the educational side of things, techniques for teaching vocabulary have evolved to engage people in a more interactive and inclusive learning environment. Incorporating strategies like contextual learning, multimedia tools, quizzes and games can make learning less intimidating and more fun.

It’s not just about amassing a ton of words; it’s about understanding their application, appreciating the nuances of their meanings, and using them effectively and confidently.

Interactive Quiz Section

Now you can test your new skills and knowledge with two vocabulary exercises.

Vocabulary Quiz #1

Multiple-Choice Exercise

Vocabulary Quiz #2

True or False Exercise

Enhance your vocabulary by exploring our wide range of educational resources.

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| | | | | | | My Wordlists Legacy activities       Wordsmyth     Standard   Lookup History the faculty of communicating by speaking, or the act of speaking. , , a public address. : a public address.', '', '');"> , something that is communicated by speaking. oral language; utterance. manner of speaking. , , the way of speaking characteristic of a particular country or region; dialect. , a field of study that examines the theory and techniques of oral communication. , , , , , , , , , Subscriber feature See   , , Subscribe for ad-free Wordsmyth and more American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Certification Publications Continuing Education Practice Management Audiologists Speech-Language Pathologists Academic & Faculty Audiology & SLP Assistants What Is Speech? What Is Language? [ en Español ] Jorge is 4 years old. It is hard to understand him when he talks. He is quiet when he speaks, and his sounds are not clear. Vicki is in high school. She has had learning problems since she was young. She has trouble reading and writing and needs extra time to take tests. Maryam had a stroke. She can only say one or two words at a time. She cannot tell her son what she wants and needs. She also has trouble following simple directions. Louis also had a stroke. He is able to understand everything he hears and speaks in full sentences. The problem is that he has slurred speech and is hard to understand. All of these people have trouble communicating. But their problems are different. What Is Speech? Speech is how we say sounds and words. Speech includes: Articulation How we make speech sounds using the mouth, lips, and tongue. For example, we need to be able to say the “r” sound to say "rabbit" instead of "wabbit.” Voice How we use our vocal folds and breath to make sounds. Our voice can be loud or soft or high- or low-pitched. We can hurt our voice by talking too much, yelling, or coughing a lot. Fluency This is the rhythm of our speech. We sometimes repeat sounds or pause while talking. People who do this a lot may stutter. What Is Language? Language refers to the words we use and how we use them to share ideas and get what we want. Language includes: What words mean. Some words have more than one meaning. For example, “star” can be a bright object in the sky or someone famous. How to make new words. For example, we can say “friend,” “friendly,” or “unfriendly” and mean something different. How to put words together. For example, in English we say, “Peg walked to the new store” instead of “Peg walk store new.” What we should say at different times. For example, we might be polite and say, “Would you mind moving your foot?” But, if the person does not move, we may say, “Get off my foot!” Language and Speech Disorders We can have trouble with speech, language, or both. Having trouble understanding what others say is a receptive language disorder. Having problems sharing our thoughts, ideas, and feelings is an expressive language disorder. It is possible to have both a receptive and an expressive language problem. When we have trouble saying sounds, stutter when we speak, or have voice problems, we have a speech disorder . Jorge has a speech disorder that makes him hard to understand. So does Louis. The reason Tommy has trouble is different than the reason Louis does. Maryam has a receptive and expressive language disorder . She does not understand what words mean and has trouble using words to talk to others. Vicki also has a language disorder . Reading and writing are language skills. She could also have problems understanding others and using words well because of her learning disability. Where to Get Help SLPs work with people who have speech and language disorders. SLPs work in schools, hospitals, and clinics, and may be able to come to your home. To find a speech-language pathologist near you, visit ProFind . In the Public Section Hearing & Balance Speech, Language & Swallowing About Health Insurance Adding Speech & Hearing Benefits Advocacy & Outreach Find a Professional Advertising Disclaimer Advertise with us ASHA Corporate Partners Become A Corporate Partner The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for 234,000 members, certificate holders, and affiliates who are audiologists; speech-language pathologists; speech, language, and hearing scientists; audiology and speech-language pathology assistants; and students. All ASHA Websites Work at ASHA Marketing Solutions Information For Get involved. ASHA Community Become a Mentor Become a Volunteer Special Interest Groups (SIGs) Connect With ASHA American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 2200 Research Blvd., Rockville, MD 20850 Members: 800-498-2071 Non-Member: 800-638-8255 MORE WAYS TO CONNECT Media Resources Press Queries Site Help | A–Z Topic Index | Privacy Statement | Terms of Use © 1997- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Dictionaries home American English Collocations German-English Grammar home Practical English Usage Learn & Practise Grammar (Beta) Word Lists home My Word Lists Recent additions Resources home Text Checker Definition of speech noun from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary Definitions on the go Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app. Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Meaning of speech – Learner’s Dictionary Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio speech noun ( SAY WORDS ) The article discusses different types of speech defect . Hearing the speech of others is a good way to learn the language . She is studying children's speech development . Lip reading enables her to understand the speech of another without hearing the words. The phonetic alphabet represents speech sounds symbolically . speech noun ( PUBLIC TALK ) (Definition of speech from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press) Translations of speech Get a quick, free translation! Word of the Day an area of coral, the top of which can sometimes be seen just above the sea Robbing, looting, and embezzling: talking about stealing Learn more with +Plus Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}} Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English English–Dutch Dutch–English English–French French–English English–German German–English English–Indonesian Indonesian–English English–Italian Italian–English English–Japanese Japanese–English English–Norwegian Norwegian–English English–Polish Polish–English English–Portuguese Portuguese–English English–Spanish Spanish–English English–Swedish Swedish–English Dictionary +Plus Word Lists speech (SAY WORDS) speech (PUBLIC TALK) free speech/freedom of speech Translations All translations To add speech to a word list please sign up or log in. Add speech to one of your lists below, or create a new one. {{message}} Something went wrong. There was a problem sending your report. Synonyms of speech as in language More from M-W To save this word, you'll need to log in. Log In Thesaurus Definition of speech Synonyms & Similar Words presentation declamation keynote speech keynote address mother tongue terminology colloquialism regionalism vernacularism provincialism Examples of speech in a Sentence These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'speech.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples. Phrases Containing speech figure of speech Thesaurus Entries Near speech Cite this entry. “Speech.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/speech. Accessed 10 Aug. 2024. More from Merriam-Webster on speech Nglish: Translation of speech for Spanish Speakers Britannica English: Translation of speech for Arabic Speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about speech Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Can you solve 4 words at once? Word of the day. See Definitions and Examples » Get Word of the Day daily email! Popular in Grammar & Usage Plural and possessive names: a guide, commonly misspelled words, how to use em dashes (—), en dashes (–) , and hyphens (-), absent letters that are heard anyway, how to use accents and diacritical marks, popular in wordplay, 8 words for lesser-known musical instruments, it's a scorcher words for the summer heat, 7 shakespearean insults to make life more interesting, plant names that sound like insults, 10 words from taylor swift songs (merriam's version), games & quizzes. Tim Walz Hopes J.D. Vance Will "Get off the Couch" to Debate Him — What Does He Mean? His quip had a double meaning. Published Aug. 7 2024, 10:18 a.m. ET While appearing onstage with Kamala Harris during their first rally as official running mates, Minnesota governor Tim Walz certainly had a lot to say about Republican VP pick J.D. Vance . Now that the two are in opposing positions, Walz has wasted no time in positioning himself against the senator, comparing their experiences as men from "small-town America" and expressing his desire to debate. However, while doing so, Walz made a comment that had the crowd going wild — though some viewers may have been confused. What did he mean when he said he hoped J.D. Vance would "get off the couch" to debate him? Tim Walz wants J.D. Vance to "get off the couch." During the portion of his speech about Vance, Walz said, "I got to tell you, I can't wait to debate the guy ... if he's willing to get off the couch and show up." To this, the crowd went wild, but some weren't sure exactly what he meant. Has Vance expressed hesitation to debate Walz in the past? Is he lazy? Why wouldn't he get off the couch? Well, it turns out that his joke was in reference to a meme surrounding J.D. Vance, which alleges that the senator had an intimate relationship with his couch cushions. It stems from a tweet that claimed Vance wrote a passage in his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy , detailing the experience — which, of course, never happened. At least as far as we know. And don't even get us started with the double entendre of "get off" — we don't think it was Walz's intention, but the joke's X-rated extra layer certainly hasn't been lost on social media users. "Tim Walz really went up there, bragged about taking a high school football team from a winless record to state champs, said he's ready to debate J.D. Vance, and basically called him a couch f--ker. He's locked in," one X user said. What has J.D. Vance said about Tim Walz? Since Harris made her running mate announcement, J.D. Vance has had a few things to say about Tim Walz, as well. After a rally that took place just hours before Harris and Walz's first public appearance, Vance took reporter questions — and, of course, quite a few of them were about the Minnesota governor. When asked about Walz's political record, Vance called it a "joke," saying that he is "one of the most far-left radicals in the entire United States government at any level." Vance has also fired shots at Walz's military record , with some right-leaning constituents saying that he dodged deployment to Iraq: "You know what really bothers me about Tim Walz? When the US Marine Corps asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it," Vance said . "When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, he dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him. I think that's shameful." And in a CNN interview clip that has been widely circulating online, Vance criticized the governor's handling of the BLM riots in Minnesota. "[Walz and Harris] make an interesting tag team because of course Tim Walz allowed rioters to burn down Minneapolis in the summer of 2020, and the few that got caught, Kamala Harris helped bail them out of jail." I'll just say it: Donald Trump and JD Vance are creepy and, yes, weird. We are not going back. — Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) August 6, 2024 So far it seems that Vance isn't holding back, and while Walz's full retaliation has yet to be seen, his couch joke suggests that he'll have plenty more to say about the Republican. Republicans Have Decided on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's Derogatory Nickname: "Tampon Tim" Tim Walz Grew Up in Rural Nebraska — Who Are His Parents? J.D. Vance Is the Subject of Yet Another Meme, and This One Involves a Cookie Latest Politics News and Updates About Distractify Privacy Policy Terms of Use Connect with Distractify Link to Facebook Link to Instagram Contact us by Email Opt-out of personalized ads © Copyright 2024 Engrost, Inc. Distractify is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. 197 IMAGES Parts of Speech Definitions And Examples Parts of Speech in English, Definition and Examples 8 Parts of Speech with Meaning and Examples Parts of SPEECH Table in English Explain the Different Types of Speech Vocabulary Related to SPEAKING COMMENTS 40 Big Words That Make an Impact In Speech and Writing Whether you're writing an essay or speaking in front of a group, there are certain big words you can use to impress your audience. Speech speech: 1 n (language) communication by word of mouth "his speech was garbled" Synonyms: language , oral communication , speech communication , spoken communication , spoken language , voice communication Examples: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks negotiations between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics opened in 1969 ... Speech Definition & Meaning speech: [noun] the communication or expression of thoughts in spoken words. exchange of spoken words : conversation. SPEECH SPEECH definition: 1. the ability to talk, the activity of talking, or a piece of spoken language: 2. the way a…. Learn more. How to Build Vocabulary You Can Actually Use in Speech and Writing Step 2: We start using some of these words in our speech and writing. (They are, as discussed earlier, just a small fraction of our passive vocabulary.) By and large, we stay in our comfort zones, making do with this limited set of words. Little wonder, we add to our vocabulary in trickle. SPEECH Definition & Meaning Speech definition: the faculty or power of speaking; oral communication; ability to express one's thoughts and emotions by speech sounds and gesture. See examples of SPEECH used in a sentence. Difference between speech, language and communication Although the words speech, language and communication are often used interchangeably, these words have distinct meanings when used in scientific or clinical contexts. While communication is a broad concept, speech and language have very specific meaning. This is important because communication difficulties can affect speech and language ... PDF Glossary of commonly used Speech and Language Therapy Terms Speech. Language. Literacy. Communication. Carryover - in speech, the habitual use of newly learned speech or language techniques in everyday situations (outside of therapy). Cause-Effect - performing one behavior in order to achieve a further objective, e.g. hitting a switch to activate a toy. Cluttering - speech that is rapid, speech noun Synonyms speech speech lecture address talk sermon These are all words for a talk given to an audience. speech a formal talk given to an audience:. Several people made speeches at the wedding. lecture a talk given to a group of people to tell them about a particular subject, often as part of a university or college course:. a lecture on the Roman army Speech (Linguistics) Definition and Examples Richard Nordquist. Updated on July 03, 2019. In linguistics, speech is a system of communication that uses spoken words (or sound symbols ). The study of speech sounds (or spoken language) is the branch of linguistics known as phonetics. The study of sound changes in a language is phonology. For a discussion of speeches in rhetoric and oratory ... Speech Definition & Meaning 1. [count] : a spoken expression of ideas, opinions, etc., that is made by someone who is speaking in front of a group of people. She has to make/give/deliver a speech at the convention. a graduation speech about/on embracing future challenges. He kept revising his speech [=the words that he had written for his speech] right up until the last ... Vocabulary This guide will explore the meaning of vocabulary and its significance in English language learning. Learn the intricacies of English vocabulary, its definition, uses, learning strategies, & more in this guide. ... Speaking vocabulary: Words we use in speech, aka when talking. Reading vocabulary: The words we need to know to understand what we ... speech The meaning of speech. Definition of speech. English dictionary and integrated thesaurus for learners, writers, teachers, and students with advanced, intermediate, and beginner levels. ... definition 4: oral language; utterance. The rules of speech are different from those of writing. synonyms: utterance similar words: talk: definition 5: What Is Speech? What Is Language? Speech is how we say sounds and words. Speech includes: How we make speech sounds using the mouth, lips, and tongue. For example, we need to be able to say the "r" sound to say "rabbit" instead of "wabbit.". How we use our vocal folds and breath to make sounds. Our voice can be loud or soft or high- or low-pitched. Vocabulary Lists : Speeches President Trump delivered his first State of the Union Address on January 30, 2018, broadly outlining his agenda for the coming year on matters both foreign and domestic. Here are 20 vocabulary words drawn from the President's speech. The full transcript of the speech can be found here. 20 Words. Speech Definition & Meaning Speech definition: What is spoken or expressed, as in conversation; uttered or written words. speech noun 3 [uncountable] the way in which a particular person speaks Her speech was slurred—she was clearly drunk.; 4 [uncountable] the language used when speaking This expression is used mainly in speech, not in writing. speech sounds; 5 [countable] a group of lines that an actor speaks in a play in the theater She has the longest speech in the play. see figure of speech SPEECH definition and meaning 6 meanings: 1. a. the act or faculty of speaking, esp as possessed by persons b. (as modifier) 2. that which is spoken;.... Click for more definitions. Vocabulary Activities, Goals, and EBP Vocabulary Goals for Speech Therapy. Here are some of vocabulary goals for speech therapy that I use when working with my students: Given a sentence containing an unknown vocabulary word, NAME will use synonym or antonym based context clues as a clue to the meaning of a word and define the word in 70% of opportunities. Words Describing Types of Speech A vocabulary list featuring Words Describing Types of Speech. ... Practice Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Vocabulary Jam Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Spelling Bee Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it! SPEECH SPEECH meaning: 1. the ability to talk, the activity of talking, or a piece of spoken language: 2. the way a…. Learn more. SPEECH SPEECH definition: 1. someone's ability to talk, or an example of someone talking: 2. a formal talk that someone…. Learn more. SPEECH Synonyms: 54 Similar Words Synonyms for SPEECH: talk, lecture, address, oration, sermon, presentation, monologue, declamation, peroration, tribute ... Definition of speech. 1. ... Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! What Does "Get off the Couch" Mean in Tim Walz's Speech? While appearing onstage with Kamala Harris during their first rally as official running mates, Minnesota governor Tim Walz certainly had a lot to say about Republican VP pick J.D. Vance.Now that the two are in opposing positions, Walz has wasted no time in positioning himself against the senator, comparing their experiences as men from "small-town America" and expressing his desire to debate. Trump calls political enemies 'vermin,' echoing dictators Hitler "The language is the language that dictators use to instill fear," said Timothy Naftali, a senior research scholar at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. essay homework paper phd project resume review speech study thesis