Should You READ The Dictionary To Build Your Vocabulary?

hey what's up Stefanie the English coach here from  EnglishFullTime.com in this video I'm going to  

answer the question will reading the dictionary  help me improve my vocabulary now this is a  

question I've been wanting to answer on my YouTube  channel for a long time because I've gotten it  

enough times to make me want to answer the  question and I've even got messages from people  

um telling me hey I'm reading the dictionary like  from front to back because I want to improve my  

vocabulary and I'm just like ah what okay so we  are gonna put this method to the test I have a  

dictionary a physical dictionary here the American  heritage college dictionary okay the first word in  

the dictionary is A the first letter of the modern  English alphabet then there's um a the second  

version a the third version a the fourth version a  the fifth version a that I didn't even know we had  

this many versions of a next we have A1C this is  an abbreviation airman first class I didn't know  

that okay then we have a a this is an abbreviation  alcoholics anonymous I did know this one a  

a this is different because the first a a was just  a a the second one is a dot a dot okay and this  

is associate in arts the next one is AAA this  is agricultural adjustment administration  

I didn't know that next we have AAAL this is an  abbreviation American academy of arts and letters  

I didn't know that either AAAS American  association for the advancement of science  

I didn't know that and then we have um  Aachen I think that's how you pronounce  

it also Aix-la-chapelle and then they're using  the phonetic alphabet but they're using symbols  

actually I don't think it's the phonetic alphabet  because they're using symbols that I am not  

aware of that are not in the phonetic  alphabet I know the phonetic alphabet but  

this is a different alphabet okay because they're  trying to like explain how to pronounce it and  

I'm trying to read the pronunciation phonetically  but it's not the actual phonetic alphabet so now I  

don't even know how to pronounce this word anyhow  that's a city of west Germany near the Belgian  

and Dutch borders I don't know why the name of a  German city is in an English dictionary that is  

strange next we have Aah this is an interjection  used to express express pleasure satisfaction  

surprise or great joy next we have Aalborg and  then it says see Alborg next we have Aalst also  

Alost a city of west central Belgium of Brussels  we have more foreign cities in the English  

dictionary I didn't even know what to expect you  guys I've never read a dictionary like this in my  

life I've only used dictionaries as a tool to look  up words because that's what they're for okay and  

I've never had to look any of this up next we have  Aalto Finnish architect and furniture designer  

noted for his use of contrasting materials not  even going to say anything about that A and R  

artists and repertory AAPSS American academy  of political and social science AAR this means  

against all risks next aardvark a burrowing mammal  okay the first word that is an actual word not an  

acronym um like that I know and that is normal and  aardvark it's an animal I do know this one then we  

have an aardwolf okay I knew about aardvarks I  did not know about aardwolves a mammal native to  

southern and eastern Africa that resembles the  hyena and feeds mainly on termites next we have  

words that I'm not going to read because I think  I think I've made my point first of all does  

this seem enjoyable to you because this is not  enjoyable to me in fact this is tedious and boring  

and frustrating because I don't know half of  this stuff and the other half I don't care about  

pretty much this is going to be even harder for  you even more difficult than it is for me and  

I'm looking at this and I can't even tell how  to pronounce half the stuff in here so if I'm  

struggling to pronounce it I mean you're probably  gonna struggle to pronounce it let's give benefit  

of the doubt right let's look in another section  maybe another section will be better I just  

flipped open to a random section here we go all  right we're in the c section the first word I saw  

is couch a sofa a sofa on which a patient lies  while undergoing psychoanalysis or psychiatric  

treatment I think that's hilarious that that's  their definition I mean that's the definition b  

the first definition was just a sofa but now we're  talking about very specific use for the couch  

anyhow quick note of the word couch a lot of  people misspell coach when they write to me they  

say hey coach and they call me hey couch and one  time I made a like a little meme about this like  

me not me basically I'm not a couch I'm a coach  next word is couch couchant okay this means lying  

down with the head raised or co-chant I don't  know I have never used this word in my life  

next is couchette a couchette see I'm the way  I'm saying these words it's like you can tell  

you can hear the hesitation in my voice because  I don't know how to pronounce them I've never  

heard them before a compartment on a European  passenger train equipped with four to six berths  

for sleeping I don't know what a berth is we're  gonna have to look that up you know what we have  

a dictionary right here why don't we go look it up  berth one sufficient space for a ship to maneuver  

sea room oh you know what come to think of it I  think I went over this word in the daily English  

program if you guys have not heard of this program  I will leave a link to it in the description  

so I knew berth I know that definition of berth  but I don't know how they're using it here let's  

carry on and see what what they're going to  say next a space for a ship to dock or anchor  

or employment on a ship a job anyways let's get  back to the question will reading a dictionary  

help you improve your vocabulary what do you think  what do you guys think i think in a way maybe  

if you don't mind not understanding 99.9 of it  and like really digging through it but this is  

not the kind of language learner that I am I  would never crack open a dictionary like this in  

my life and just be like I think I'm gonna learn  some new words today there are some ways maybe  

of doing this that are more enjoyable like for  example using a bilingual dictionary right because  

bilingual dictionaries they often have words  that are like more common that people actually  

use and so you can open a bilingual dictionary and  go hey I'm going to test myself and see you know  

you know if i know the words on this page sure go  for it you might learn something new or maybe you  

can subscribe to a website like dictionary.com and  they'll send you daily emails with word of the day  

and if you are the kind of learner who likes  reading stuff like that then sure knock yourself  

out that will be very fun I'm not really that kind  of learner so let me tell you guys how I like to  

improve my vocabulary um in English Spanish any  language and my strategies and I guarantee this  

is going to be much more effective than what  we just did here what I like doing is I like  

reading and reading is actually one of the  most effective ways to build your vocabulary  

and not reading the dictionary okay but like just  actual reading reading stuff that interests you  

articles books newspapers etc. I can't quote  a study on this I just know that it's a fact  

people who read more have a much better vocabulary  and a much higher vocabulary anyways what you need  

to do use articles use online articles from good  websites where they have well-written articles you  

can google just like 20 best blogging websites  or something like that anyways choose a website  

choose an article that you like print out your  article and then read it okay but analyze it okay  

underline circle highlight words and phrases that  you don't know that you've never heard before or  

um ones that you have heard but you're not sure  of their meaning and finally ones that you have  

heard and you know right you know the definition  of them you know how they're used but you don't  

use them in your vocabulary anyways so yeah just  dig through the vocabulary look through everything  

find words that you don't know that you don't use  etc. look up their definitions and get interactive  

with the content this is why I recommend printing  stuff and highlighting circling etc. because  

doing this will make it more memorable and then  try to use some of those new words immediately  

if you can or within a day or two and then  review that article like a week later or a  

month later or whatever it is and pretty soon  you'll start seeing these words over and over  

again you know language repeats itself and you  will slowly but surely build your vocabulary  

in an effective and memorable way right the  amount of time you spend with one article  

a hundred percent of that time is going to be  well spent okay however the amount of time you  

spend with a dictionary honestly most of that  is a waste of time all right so that is it you  

guys this question that I could have answered in  30 seconds I made a long video about I hope you  

enjoyed it if you are still here the two viewers  who are still watching this hi guys um let me know  

in the comments what you think about this have  you ever tried reading the dictionary did you fall  

asleep reading the dictionary if this video was  helpful give it a thumbs up no the baby woke up  

okay so this is Arlo he was hungry  but you're better now right baby right  

um he's tired so he's stretching he's getting  ready to take another nap yeah look at you  

you're a big boy you're making your debut  on my YouTube channel before your dad

what should we tell everybody what would  you actually what would you like to tell  

everybody what would you like to say oh i  agree yep yep anything else you want to say

you want to say goodbye  

all right that's it you guys take care  and I will see you in another video bye  

here we go my goodness page one is  not where page one actually starts  

let's just let's you know let's give benefit of  the doubt because I don't know how to pronounce  

them I've never heard them before and the  freaking wannabe IPA is not helpful either  

okay lying down with the head oh I already did  that one let's carry on and I'm pretty sure 99  

of the people already left this video because  they're like all right I get it I get the point  

and they they're gone man I'm just here alone  suffering by myself through this dictionary

and then there were other like asides I don't  remember what they were so words that you've  

never heard before words that I already forgot  my list however the amount of time you spend with  

the dictionary honestly most of that most of that  is a waste of time in my book dictionary book huh  

okay no I'm bad at puns I try but I'm not  good at them all right that's it if this  

video was helpful give it a thumbs up if it was  entertaining give it a thumbs up a thumbs up