Words are celebrities to me.

A well written article is my People magazine and a brilliant book is my Rolling Stone. A finely crafted sentence is a rock star, and I think the world would be a better place if we adored words as much as Hollywood hotties.

I recently revisited my list of favorite words, my literary look book. I wondered how could I craft this into a blog post? What’s so interesting about my favorite words, I wondered? How on earth are words topical?

Words are not topical per se, but vocabulary is. I, like many people, complain about the decline in communication skills and quality. Young people are becoming less articulate and even lack basic conversational skills.

Being a social science lover, I wondered what the studies say. Not being currently matriculated anywhere, I found the studies to say, “I’m playing hide and seek in academic databases to which you have no access.”

Decline in Vocabulary, Decline in Success

Test scores and General Social Survey aside, I did find this UCLA study showing the decline of critical thinking and analytical ability to be correlated to technology usage, not to mention a decline in reading. This Wall Street Journal editorial (based on this essay) by noted humanities professor E.D. Hirsch asserts very clearly, “…vocabulary size is a convenient proxy for a whole range of educational attainments and abilities—not just skill in reading, writing, listening, and speaking but also general knowledge of science, history, and the arts.”

You may not agree with E.D. Hirsch’s educational philosophy (the essay is broad ranging), but I do think we can agree: vocabularees r not to gr8 theez days. What’s the big deal? We’re not all writers. We’re not all geniuses. Times change. Why do we need to develop our vocabulary, even into adulthood, or when an app can do it for me? In this great article over at the Art of Manliness blog, Brett McKay covers not only why words are important, but how to build your vocabulary. You should read the whole article, but he explains that it’s important not only to know words, but to use them well. Using them well gives you the ability to understand more of what you read, to be able to express yourself, persuade others, and make a good impression. Who doesn’t want to be better at all of those things?

5 Steps to a Better Vocabulary

McKay recommends five basics steps to improving your vocabulary:

1. Read – Anything, really, will give you exposure to new words. (I’m working on this.)

2. Listen – Surround yourself with intelligent people, listen to articulate people’s words.

3. Write down words you hear that you don’t know,

4. Look up the words that you don’t know and write down the definition.

5. Use those words soon thereafter in conversation.*

My word journal – a simple notebook with small flags to mark each letter’s section.

*McKay cautions us to match our vocabulary practice to the context. The chatty guy at your local dollar store possibly doesn’t care how loquacious you think he is.

Introducing a new blog feature

Taking to heart my desire to read and write more, I’m creating a regular feature on my blog to hold me to this and keep me inspired. I love alliteration, so every Wednesday will be Word Wednesday. I’ll share my favorite words, their meanings, and where I discovered them (if I remember). I’ll write a phrase with it and invite you to write a sentence with it, too, in the combox so you can work on your vocabulary and increase your influence, too!

More Vocabulary Tools

Here are some of my favorite word resources–old and new. What are yours?

• Vocab apps: Advanced English Dictionary & Thesaurus (iOS), Professor Word (browser & iOS), & Vocab PRO (android)

• Words I Love – great little blog to with words and fun commentary and description

• Anthony Esolen’s Grammar Lesson of the Day and Word of the Day – English professor Anthony Esolen does a bang up job schooling us on words and how to use them.

• Word Up – What’s the best dictionary? A writer takes a close look.

• Online Etymolygy Dictionary