In a world where immediacy has become the norm, searching for the right word has become synonymous with wasting time.
By doing this, it is the precision of our language that is reduced and therefore our thinking becomes less sharp.
According to Julien Soulié, member of the Voltaire project and author of numerous spelling manuals, it is possible to progress quickly and take new pleasure in using the French language.
Read more, but not just anyhow
To improve your vocabulary, you must first confront yourself with new words.
Unsurprisingly, reading therefore plays a central role for Julien Soulié.
“You have to read everything: novels, magazines, newspapers... The most important thing is to read the classics because their language is rich”
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Reading literature then, but that's not all.
For the specialist, the challenge is not to be limited to a simple passive reading:
“You have to be able to show curiosity.
To be curious is to force yourself to look up new words in the dictionary, write them down on a sheet of paper or on your bookmark to reread them and ensure that they become familiar.
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Another technique, especially for experienced people, is to subscribe to the lists offered by the dictionaries which send “words of the day” by email every morning.
See also
Grandes écoles and universities impose refresher courses in French
Increasing your vocabulary also means learning to improvise with unknown words.
Professor of classics, Julien Soulié reminds us of the essential role of ancient languages.
“A good technique is to learn very simply the most frequent Greek and Latin roots.
They are often enough to guess the meaning of complicated technical or scientific words that rely on suffixes or prefixes.
For example, we can remember that the syllable ''itis'' always refers to an inflammation”.
"Practice in a fun way and be curious"
Discovering words is not enough, you must then appropriate them.
Here again, the solutions are multiple.
There are a number of games and quizzes to expand your vocabulary in a fun way.
More generally, there are a plethora of applications that offer to play with words.
However, as Julien Soulié explains,
“typing on a keyboard is not as effective for learning as tracing the letters on paper.
These applications are very useful as a complement, to maintain the vocabulary, less to extend it
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According to the expert, nothing like our good old crosswords, crosswords and anagrams to learn new words.
When you write afterwards, the rule must be to always try to find the right word.
Here again, Julien Soulié offers some tips:
"The idea is first in writing, to identify when we reread vague terms like '' faire '', and to use a dictionary of synonyms to find substitutes .
Then, when you are comfortable with the exercise, you can try orally to use the most precise adjectives and verbs possible.
It's extremely educational."
As in all learning, the key with vocabulary is to go gradually to arouse curiosity without the practice becoming academic.
For many, the question of language is a form of trauma, which needs to be played down.
It's up to you to find, among the proposed techniques, those that suit you best!
