Most students write using their existing, and largely surface vocabulary – words that come to you without much thought. This is understandable because, as you write and think, you have to juggle many things in your mind.

Your vocabulary is like an iceberg. You can only see about 20% of an iceberg above the water, but most of it is below the surface. Similarly, you know and recognize many more words than you actively use.

You can improve your writing by upgrading, or improving, your vocabulary. Here’s how:

• Select certain highlight pen or pencil colors for specific vocabulary items. For example, yellow for nouns, green for verbs, and other colors for adjectives, transitions, and so on.
• Go through your writing and highlight or underline all the examples you can find. Then, think: “Is that word the best I can do?” Do the words actually express what you want to convey? Can you find another, superior word?
• Use a thesaurus. This is a book like a dictionary except that it lists words of the same meaning. You can buy print versions, with Roget’s Thesaurus being the most famous, but most electronic dictionaries and computers have them.
• An example of how to use a thesaurus:
  • I thought about many words in this paragraph and put a better word next to them in parentheses (). One of them was the word “say”. The thesaurus on my computer suggested many words instead of “say”: state, speak, remark, utter, express, voice, declare, pronounce.
  • Not all examples in a thesaurus will mean the same thing, so you need to cross-reference with a dictionary to make sure it is the meaning you really want.

There are other ways to improve your vocabulary, but this method is easy and has proved to be successful.

Enjoy your journey to English fluency!