When I was a young child my teachers often marveled at my expansive vocabulary when my parents went to the Parent-Teacher meetings-- we lived on a farm in rural Canada, but my parents were both voracious readers. Dad read aloud to all of us (including my mother) at bedtime. Early books included "Winnie the Pooh" and "Mill on the Floss". I had very little understanding of George Elliot's "Mill on the Floss" but was delighted when it turned up on my first year English reading list when I went to College.
I do believe that the growth rate of my vocabulary has diminished as I grow older. I play on the computer more and read less, particularly fiction. I have no stats to prove it, but I hunch that reading good fiction-- literature, if you will-- is an organic, osmotic way to go about increasing your vocabulary. Take a look at this video clip and start developing your vocabulary today:
Revisiting the Glass Half-Empty-- Why Do We Stick There?
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Do you struggle with negativity? Do you find that it is easier to be
pessimistic than it is to be sunny and optimistic, even when life has been
relativel...
8 years ago
