One of the best ways to improve your vocabulary is by reading as much as you can, from as many different categories of materials as possible. By exposing yourself to new texts and new information, you’ll learn many new vocabulary words, and also how to use those words in context. If you had taken the same vocabulary words from a list of words unconnected to text, you would miss the opportunity to see how they’re used, and that would slow down your rate of vocabulary acquisition. Naturally, the faster you’re able to read, the more material you’ll be able to cover. That’s why speed reading also helps with vocabulary improvement.

A good vocabulary, on the other hand, will help improve your reading skills. If you don’t have to stop or slow down to try to figure out the meaning of a word, your reading rate will stay high, and your comprehension of the text will not go down. In order to guarantee that your speed reading ability continues to grow, work on improving your vocabulary as well.

An easy way to add even more words to your vocabulary is to have a “word of the day” feature programmed into your computer. The Ultimate Vocabulary software system provides this, but there are also free phone apps that give you new words each day, and even paper calendars you can keep on your desk. Glance over at the calendar every hour or so, and by the end of the day – and with very little effort – you’ll have memorized the word and its definitions.

Here’s a word for you today: omnivorous. You might be able to guess already what it means, as most people know the word carnivorous (“meat-eating”). The Latin roots omni- (“all, everything”) and vorare (“to devour”) combine to make the word omnivorous, or “devouring everything.” We picked this word because that’s the sort of reader you should be in order to develop the large vocabulary and fast reading speed you want. Don’t stick to the types of books that you always read – pick a new category from the library or book store, and you might be surprised at what you end up enjoying. Not only will you find new things to read, you’ll get new information and new vocabulary words. Be hungry for new words, and you’ll always find something to satisfy you.

Cross-posted at The Vocabulary Builder’s Blog.