"Have you noticed how many words English has that have the same meaning?
article written by Laura Capps on November 5th, 2021English has been a global language for a long time, and approximately 80% of English is borrowed from other languages, mainly Latin ones. Because of this, it can be one of the most difficult languages to learn because of how many loanwords there are.
Here are two tips for how to learn and practice using synonyms, or words that have the same meaning.
Use a Thesaurus
A thesaurus is like a dictionary, but instead of telling you what words mean, it gives you words that have the same or similar meaning to the word you look up. Sometimes the words can replace each other in a sentence without changing anything, but sometimes synonyms can be used a little bit differently, so make sure you double check how each word is used. You can buy a Thesaurus, use it online or get an app.
Join Conversation Alive
Conversation Alive is a 1 hour conversation workshop that focuses on giving English students the opportunity to practice their English. Each session intorduces about 6 vocabulary words that are related to the topic, and many times the vocabulary words are sets of synonyms. This gives you both the opportunity to learn synonyms and practice using them!
If you want to improve your Enlgish fluency skills, the best way is to practice speaking and using the language. The more you speak, the more you will improve!