Before you get into the idioms, I would give you a tip if you want to use them (versus just know the meaning).
It’s relatively easier to remember words than to remember idioms (and proverbs), because idioms typically contain 3-4 or more words. Remembering a string of words in the correct sequence and recalling them in a flash while speaking isn’t easy.
I’ve extensively used online dictionaries, mainly dictionary.com (~ 80 percent) and Cambridge English Dictionary (~ 20 percent), to improve my pronunciation of more than 3,400 words and transfer more than 7,500 words from passive to active vocabulary.
I started with dictionary.com. Much later, when I tried Cambridge English Dictionary, I realized that dictionary.com, but for pronunciation, wasn’t the best overall option. It struck me then that many more users of online dictionaries may not be using the best dictionary and I decided to write a review of main dictionary brands at some point in future. And here it is.
In this post, I’ve reviewed (with ratings out of 10) well-known online dictionary brands on parameters that are usually the most valuable to users.
In this post, I’ve presented names of different family relationships (in English) in an easy-to-understand way. My approach has been to start with a key member of a family (father, mother, brother, sister, etc.) and mention all relationships that converge into her/ him.
(This post comes from my experience of adding 5,000+ 7,500+ words to my vocabulary that I can actually use when speaking and writing. What’s the point if you can’t put it to use, right? In this post, you’ll see decent dose of scientific principles and vocabulary exercises I adopted to accomplish this.)
Don’t you get impressed when a news anchor or other proficient speaker uses just the perfect word, and not a long-winded explanation, to describe a situation without a pause?
Those apt words are a result of a large active vocabulary.
We’ll learn more on what active vocabulary is later in the post, but in short it means vocabulary you can actually use when speaking and writing, the holy grail of any vocabulary-building exercise. If you introspect, you’ll realize that although you can understand lots of words when reading or listening (called passive vocabulary), you can use only a minuscule fraction of that in speaking and writing (called active vocabulary).
This post focuses on, first, building active vocabulary and, second, making this process efficient by
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