It is essential to stop using boring English vocabulary and start using energetic vocabulary in both IELTS and TOEFL to raise your scores. Using a range of vocabulary not only helps you to express your ideas in a more sophisticated way but also gives the examiner a reason to give you a better score. Moreover, lexical resource is one of the four criteria on which you will be tested. Learning synonyms is vital when you are learning English vocabulary. This helps you to avoid repeating the same word. Brainstorm synonyms for the words in the question and use them throughout your essays. Also, learn word combinations instead of learning a single word at a time. For example, making a crime would be a wrong combination; the right collocation would be to commit a crime. Remember, you are not scored for the creativity of words you use but on the way you demonstrate your ability to express and develop ideas precisely and effectively.
For instance, a student who says it was a good lecture’ could score higher if he says ‘it was an informative lecture.’ Instead of saying ‘I had a boring week or a tiring week’, you could say ‘I had astrenuous week.’ Try not to use good and bad in your writing and speaking as they are overly used words that are rather boring and not very descriptive. These words don’t tell us anything explicit; they are very vague and quite general. However, words like informative and exhausting are more descriptive, more dynamic, and more energetic. This one alteration will make a remarkable change in the way that you speak and write.
Let’s look at some more examples of how to avoid using clichéd words and begin using more innovative words instead that reflect an individual writing style. Some of the common phrases are: a good meal, a nice evening, good meeting, nice holiday, bad journey, bad experience, bad day, bad song, bad weather etc. As you can see, these phrases are quite uninteresting. We can replace these words by using more gripping vocabulary such as delicious meal, enjoyable evening, productive meeting, relaxing holiday, problematic journey, traumatic experience, stressful day, depressing song and freezing weather. These are a few examples to help you to start using more productive and energetic English. Try to use better words everyday and after a while it will become your second nature to use such words.
At Option Training Institute we not only train our students with exam tips and techniques but also help them to improve their vocabulary to achieve a high score.