Improve teen’s vocabulary

[Anonymous]

Our highly rated public school system does a poor job with writing and vocabulary. They are great at STEM.

I also was shocked when I asked my 13-year old some vocabulary words and he didn’t know the meaning of them. This is a very high score SOL, GT, straight A kid.

We have books all over the house and read to them as kids. They go through books fairly fast.

I think kids in general spend way too much time on electronics and watching YouTube when they could be reading. We had an electronics diet this summer.

We have played a ton of bananagrams and learn a few new words a day.

My 11-year old son does naturally pick up many more words than my older son, excellent speller, better vocabulary. My older son has always been a poor speller. They read similar amounts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a teen and reading didn't do it, it's not going to do it now.

My son is interested in sports and music.

I listen to his music and find words I think he doesn't understand and explain it to him. I also take lyrics I don't understand and he explains them to me... which usually requires a lot of background information since I don't know pop culture stuff.

We read sports articles on line or in the paper (i know we still get a paper) and there is good vocabulary there.

It eventually turned into ... yes mom I know what XXX means... I'm not an idiot, I know who the speaker of the house is... etc. (unfortunately there is a lot of politics in sports)

Newspapers are known for writing to a very basic level.

But they use words that are no in normal everyday language... hence vocabulary. I can pick up the front page of the paper and pick 3 words most teens don't know every single day.

That's interesting (you're responding to me). I'll have to try that. I like your music idea and that it is a two way street. My kids love it when they know something I don't and they get to be the teachers.
A little offtopic, but I know sometimes my kids don't know words simply because they haven't been exposed to the concept. They aren't teens yet, but we were listening to a book on audiotape and the whole premise is based on a puzzle in a will. They didn't know what a will was, an heir, beneficiary, etc.
Similarly, we picked up The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe...mom, what's a wardrobe?

It also happens in sports. My son had to explain to me why (I can't remember his name ... Im so bad with sports) is a journeyman. He had to understand the word and then understand who the person was, his background and explain to me why he was not the "best" in the league but he produced... etc.

Oh don't get me started.. my kids didn't know what a thimble or an ironing boards was.

Also good for geography... especially if you watch soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a teen and reading didn't do it, it's not going to do it now.

My son is interested in sports and music.

I listen to his music and find words I think he doesn't understand and explain it to him. I also take lyrics I don't understand and he explains them to me... which usually requires a lot of background information since I don't know pop culture stuff.

We read sports articles on line or in the paper (i know we still get a paper) and there is good vocabulary there.

It eventually turned into ... yes mom I know what XXX means... I'm not an idiot, I know who the speaker of the house is... etc. (unfortunately there is a lot of politics in sports)

Newspapers are known for writing to a very basic level.

But they use words that are no in normal everyday language... hence vocabulary. I can pick up the front page of the paper and pick 3 words most teens don't know every single day.

That's interesting (you're responding to me). I'll have to try that. I like your music idea and that it is a two way street. My kids love it when they know something I don't and they get to be the teachers.
A little offtopic, but I know sometimes my kids don't know words simply because they haven't been exposed to the concept. They aren't teens yet, but we were listening to a book on audiotape and the whole premise is based on a puzzle in a will. They didn't know what a will was, an heir, beneficiary, etc.
Similarly, we picked up The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe...mom, what's a wardrobe?

It also happens in sports. My son had to explain to me why (I can't remember his name ... Im so bad with sports) is a journeyman. He had to understand the word and then understand who the person was, his background and explain to me why he was not the "best" in the league but he produced... etc.

Oh don't get me started.. my kids didn't know what a thimble or an ironing boards was.

Also good for geography... especially if you watch soccer.

I'm the Ivanhoe PP who suggested reading older books and this is one reason why. There are a lot of words and concepts they might never pick up if they stick to modern literature (which has its merits too, of course!) because they're not part of our everyday world any more. Now, do they need to know words like dirk or jennet or seneschal? Probably not. But pretty cool if they do. And yes, a kid who is not used to reading is unlikely to pick up Tolkien and plow right through because the sentence structure will be daunting. But there are plenty of great books in between to work up to. Historical fiction is great for this because the authors usually incorporate concepts and language from the time period and may try to write in the language structure of the time period as well. Think The Witch of Blackbird Pond, for example. Or contemporary simple books that illustrate a time period, like Anne of Green Gables or anything by EB White or Laura Ingalls Wilder. Even Roald Dahl. And there is value in learning to read different styles. It gives you a sense of language and the rhythms of language and how they have changed. Vocabulary is great but it's nothing without context. Just memorizing words will never be the same as having seen them used naturally as they were meant to be used, even if that is a book from 80 years ago.

Also, as another poster noted, studying Romance languages can be helpful too, though I think reading is most important. I have studied, at various times, French, Latin, Spanish, and Japanese. Studying any foreign language is great for understanding more about one's own language -- I never understood sentence diagramming until I started Latin and saw how it worked for another language -- but it's also neat to see the similarities in vocabulary across languages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our highly rated public school system does a poor job with writing and vocabulary. They are great at STEM.

I also was shocked when I asked my 13-year old some vocabulary words and he didn’t know the meaning of them. This is a very high score SOL, GT, straight A kid.

We have books all over the house and read to them as kids. They go through books fairly fast.

I think kids in general spend way too much time on electronics and watching YouTube when they could be reading. We had an electronics diet this summer.

We have played a ton of bananagrams and learn a few new words a day.

My 11-year old son does naturally pick up many more words than my older son, excellent speller, better vocabulary. My older son has always been a poor speller. They read similar amounts.

This and texting with acronyms does not lend itself to proper grammar and vocabulary.

[Anonymous]

What about reading or rereading Harry Potter? They're fun and engaging. Even if they already read the books at age 10, they can get more out of them as teenagers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a teen and reading didn't do it, it's not going to do it now.

My son is interested in sports and music.

I listen to his music and find words I think he doesn't understand and explain it to him. I also take lyrics I don't understand and he explains them to me... which usually requires a lot of background information since I don't know pop culture stuff.

We read sports articles on line or in the paper (i know we still get a paper) and there is good vocabulary there.

It eventually turned into ... yes mom I know what XXX means... I'm not an idiot, I know who the speaker of the house is... etc. (unfortunately there is a lot of politics in sports)

Oh yea... we pick a word a month and try to use it randomly and we get points and the winner does something lame like make the other ice cream... my son loves anything competitive.

Myopic is the word of the month.

Not trying to be mean, but a word a month isn't tremendously enriching your vocabulary. 12 words a year?
It has to be 10 words a week, at least, to be making a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a teen and reading didn't do it, it's not going to do it now.

My son is interested in sports and music.

I listen to his music and find words I think he doesn't understand and explain it to him. I also take lyrics I don't understand and he explains them to me... which usually requires a lot of background information since I don't know pop culture stuff.

We read sports articles on line or in the paper (i know we still get a paper) and there is good vocabulary there.

It eventually turned into ... yes mom I know what XXX means... I'm not an idiot, I know who the speaker of the house is... etc. (unfortunately there is a lot of politics in sports)

Oh yea... we pick a word a month and try to use it randomly and we get points and the winner does something lame like make the other ice cream... my son loves anything competitive.

Myopic is the word of the month.

Not trying to be mean, but a word a month isn't tremendously enriching your vocabulary. 12 words a year?
It has to be 10 words a week, at least, to be making a difference.

it's one of many things we do. It's just 12 more words and it's a game.

No offense but Ann of Green Gables. Not happening. Sports/songs/games... work for us... you do you.

Monthly is fun because you might not think about it for a few days and then bam... the word.

Also we had a neighbor that did TV interviews weekly and we would give him a word he had to work into his interview for fun. Not a new vocabulary word something odd like "blue bird".

Sometimes life doesn't have to be such a slog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a teen and reading didn't do it, it's not going to do it now.

My son is interested in sports and music.

I listen to his music and find words I think he doesn't understand and explain it to him. I also take lyrics I don't understand and he explains them to me... which usually requires a lot of background information since I don't know pop culture stuff.

We read sports articles on line or in the paper (i know we still get a paper) and there is good vocabulary there.

It eventually turned into ... yes mom I know what XXX means... I'm not an idiot, I know who the speaker of the house is... etc. (unfortunately there is a lot of politics in sports)

Oh yea... we pick a word a month and try to use it randomly and we get points and the winner does something lame like make the other ice cream... my son loves anything competitive.

Myopic is the word of the month.

Not trying to be mean, but a word a month isn't tremendously enriching your vocabulary. 12 words a year?
It has to be 10 words a week, at least, to be making a difference.

it's one of many things we do. It's just 12 more words and it's a game.

No offense but Ann of Green Gables. Not happening. Sports/songs/games... work for us... you do you.

Monthly is fun because you might not think about it for a few days and then bam... the word.

Also we had a neighbor that did TV interviews weekly and we would give him a word he had to work into his interview for fun. Not a new vocabulary word something odd like "blue bird".

Sometimes life doesn't have to be such a slog.

Depends on what you find to be a slog. I love to read, I love to discover new words or think about how current words have changed their meaning over time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a teen and reading didn't do it, it's not going to do it now.

My son is interested in sports and music.

I listen to his music and find words I think he doesn't understand and explain it to him. I also take lyrics I don't understand and he explains them to me... which usually requires a lot of background information since I don't know pop culture stuff.

We read sports articles on line or in the paper (i know we still get a paper) and there is good vocabulary there.

It eventually turned into ... yes mom I know what XXX means... I'm not an idiot, I know who the speaker of the house is... etc. (unfortunately there is a lot of politics in sports)

Oh yea... we pick a word a month and try to use it randomly and we get points and the winner does something lame like make the other ice cream... my son loves anything competitive.

Myopic is the word of the month.

Not trying to be mean, but a word a month isn't tremendously enriching your vocabulary. 12 words a year?
It has to be 10 words a week, at least, to be making a difference.

it's one of many things we do. It's just 12 more words and it's a game.

No offense but Ann of Green Gables. Not happening. Sports/songs/games... work for us... you do you.

Monthly is fun because you might not think about it for a few days and then bam... the word.

Also we had a neighbor that did TV interviews weekly and we would give him a word he had to work into his interview for fun. Not a new vocabulary word something odd like "blue bird".

Sometimes life doesn't have to be such a slog.

Depends on what you find to be a slog. I love to read, I love to discover new words or think about how current words have changed their meaning over time.

NP here. Good for you, but understand not everyone is like you and some people will approach the problem differently. It doesn't have to be 10 words a week. Any new vocabulary is good. I have a dyslexic child. "Love" and "read" are never in the same sentence for her. The methods you looked down your nose at would be much more effective for her. 10 words a week would crush her will to live.

[Anonymous]

Anyone know how to improve conversational vocab? I read voraciously as a kid until I was about 15 so I’ve got a pretty solid vocabulary without conscious effort and I can express myself well in writing if I have a second to think about it. When speaking off the cuff in everyday conversation though my diction is....plain.....at best and downright idiotic at times. I wish I spoke more eloquently/ornately but it’s like it’s impossible for my brain to access anything remotely flowery without some lead time.

[Anonymous]

I agree that reading is key. Another simple thing to add on is a word a day calendar -- that can create a little daily ritual, exposing to a new word

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know how to improve conversational vocab? I read voraciously as a kid until I was about 15 so I’ve got a pretty solid vocabulary without conscious effort and I can express myself well in writing if I have a second to think about it. When speaking off the cuff in everyday conversation though my diction is....plain.....at best and downright idiotic at times. I wish I spoke more eloquently/ornately but it’s like it’s impossible for my brain to access anything remotely flowery without some lead time.

I'm very similar. I do much better at writing than verbally (and still am a voracious reader). My boss speaks so eloquently and throws in words that aren't even "big" words, but just I guess a broader vocabulary, and I'm envious of that. FWIW, her formal education ended with HS, but you'd guess her education is much higher.

It's interesting too because I'm very extroverted and spew out words without a lot of thought, where she's very introverted and usually needs to thinks things over. But these words just flow from her so naturally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know how to improve conversational vocab? I read voraciously as a kid until I was about 15 so I’ve got a pretty solid vocabulary without conscious effort and I can express myself well in writing if I have a second to think about it. When speaking off the cuff in everyday conversation though my diction is....plain.....at best and downright idiotic at times. I wish I spoke more eloquently/ornately but it’s like it’s impossible for my brain to access anything remotely flowery without some lead time.

People always push read, read, read... but you need to watch pop culture to learn conversation.

Americans speak in colloquialisms. I can tell when a non native speaker was taught England English because they don't learn how to have a conversation in English.

How's it going? What's good? What's up?
Let's get crackin
Piece of cake
Scoot over
That's cool or hot or sick or <fill in the newest thing that means good>

[Anonymous]

How about a Word a Day calendar?

You can read the word at breakfast and come up with a sentence for it at dinner or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know how to improve conversational vocab? I read voraciously as a kid until I was about 15 so I’ve got a pretty solid vocabulary without conscious effort and I can express myself well in writing if I have a second to think about it. When speaking off the cuff in everyday conversation though my diction is....plain.....at best and downright idiotic at times. I wish I spoke more eloquently/ornately but it’s like it’s impossible for my brain to access anything remotely flowery without some lead time.

I'm very similar. I do much better at writing than verbally (and still am a voracious reader). My boss speaks so eloquently and throws in words that aren't even "big" words, but just I guess a broader vocabulary, and I'm envious of that. FWIW, her formal education ended with HS, but you'd guess her education is much higher.

It's interesting too because I'm very extroverted and spew out words without a lot of thought, where she's very introverted and usually needs to thinks things over. But these words just flow from her so naturally.

It’s almost like quality matters over quantity.