Increase your vocabulary by using your senses

Whether you're learning English as a second language, or you have been

speaking English since the day you could speak, there's a very strong chance that

you rely on the same bank of words again and again to describe things. Two of the

most common words that we use in this way are: "good" and "bad". And this is

normal; everyone does this. The words "good" and "bad" convey a quick

judgment, and give people a general sense of how we felt about a movie, or a

restaurant we went to, or a travel experience we had. But sometimes we all

get to a point where we say: "How do I expand my vocabulary? I don't just want

to say: 'good', 'bad'." Well, that's when we have to consider things more

carefully, use our senses, and try to find the words we're really looking for.

I'm Alex from engVid; and today, I want to help you to expand your vocabulary by

using your senses. First, I want to address second-language learners. It's

perfectly normal to repeat the same words again, and again, and again. This

is how you store words into your long-term memory — through repetition;

through regular practice, so it's fine. I'm not telling you to stop using those

words, because you're trying to memorize those words. But, of course, there comes

a time in every language-learners' journey — and for first-language

speakers, like if English is your first language — where you don't want to just

use the same words again, and you want to be a little more precise. So, in

those cases... and let me stress: You will not stop using the words: "good"

and "bad", and you will not stop using the words: "amazing", "awesome",

"terrible" to describe things. Our brain creates these quick shortcuts to give

people a quick sense of how we feel about something, and that's totally

fine. And if you want to try to stop people from using those words, you're

probably fighting a losing battle. Okay.

But what about this video? What's...? What am I here for? So, the technique I

want to work on with you guys today is using your senses to expand your

vocabulary. So, if you had an experience at, you know... a restaurant, a movie, a

park, anywhere that you went to, and you want to describe how it made you feel —

you need to consider questions, like: "How did it smell? How did it taste? How

did it look? How did it feel? How did it sound? Or how did it make me feel?" When

we use our senses, we can give people, like, a more accurate sense of how

things actually affected us. So, for example: That burger you had for lunch —

it wasn't just "good"; it was "juicy" and "flavourful". This park, for

example, it isn't just "nice"; it's "spacious", it's "clean", it's

"tranquil" for the most part; when people are not playing basketball over

there. You can hear it, right? So, anyway, try to think about the

experiences that you have recently had in your life. Think about that lunch

that you just ate, or dinner, or breakfast. Was it "good"? Or was it

"pleasant"? Or maybe you want to be a little more extreme, and say it was

"intoxicating". Okay? Because of, like, how flavourful it was, or something like

this. Think about the movie you saw. It wasn't just "bad", right? Why was it

"bad"? Well, it was "boring" and "poorly acted". So, you can say that, for

example. Think about a place that you have travelled to recently. How was your

trip? Was it "good"? Yes, it was "good". Okay, well, what was good about it?

Well, we did a lot of things, so it was "eventful". It really, really "renewed

my energy". So, you can say: "It was rejuvenating", for example, or

"relaxing". So, you can use words, like these, to talk about how things made you

feel, how they affected your senses, how they smelled, or tasted, or looked, and

things like this. Okay?

Now, I know in the heat of conversation, a real one-on-one conversation, this is

difficult to do, because you're saying to me... you're saying: "Alex, you're

just telling me to think of words that I don't know." Well, that's not 100% true.

I'm sure you have some vocabulary that you can think of that is above just:

"good" and "bad", or "amazing" and "awesome". Right? If you really think

about it, you probably have some vocabulary already. Now, if you don't

have that vocabulary, it's okay; you can still acquire it. How? By watching

videos about things that you're interested in, or reading review

articles of restaurants or films, and getting the vocabulary from there. You

can go online and use a website like www.thesaurus.com or www.wordhippo.com

to expand your bank of vocabulary, so you can move beyond just saying: "good"

and "bad". So, now, in this video, what we have done, guys, is told you one

technique you can use to help you expand your vocabulary. So, use your senses.

How did it sound? How did it smell? How did it taste? How did it look? How did

it feel? How did it make you feel? And if you can use this strategy, and I'm

sure you can expand your vocabulary. Now, I want you to go in the comments

and tell me: How did watching this video make you feel? Be honest with me. Was it

"too simplistic"? "Too idealistic"? Was it "motivating"? Be honest. Let me know

in the comments, and I will respond. I'll do my best to respond. I don't want

to promise something, but usually I respond to many, many comments. So,

yeah. Just let me know. Let's keep the conversation going. And tell me: Do you

have any strategies to improve your vocabulary? Is there something specific

that you are doing that I haven't mentioned in this video? I'm open to

hearing it. And I'll see you guys in the comments. If you liked this video, make

sure to give it a thumbs up, subscribe to my channel, turn on notifications.

And until next time, thanks for clicking. I wish you all the best of

success, all the best of luck in your studies.