The Big-Bang Vocabulary Theory

Writing about unfamiliar or initially less riveting topics can be challenging but addressed from the right angle can tell an interesting story.

“The limits of our language are the limits of our world.” – Ludwig Wittgenstein

There is no meaning that can be shared and experienced without language. Every idea or element is mediated, interpreted, understood, and only makes sense in relation to language.

Improving your vocabulary, adding a new word to your personal glossary, is virtually out of this world. Synapses are firing, molecules are spontaneously combusting, and your physical realm, powered by communication, expands. With dictionaries, lexica, and thesauruses, we quite literally have the whole world at our fingertips.

While some may prefer studying printed material and prefer reading paperbacks to using a kindle, when it comes to language related research and vocabulary self-study, looking to digital platforms for guidance can be helpful, especially since Ctrl+f opened the gates to a world of quick-search wonder. Tried and trusted online resources on your personal journey to C2, should include Cambridge Dictionary and Lexico .

The widely known Cambridge Dictionary (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/) combines the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary, and the Cambridge Business English Dictionary in one easy-to-use search engine. It provides definitions of words, idioms, and phrases, with the added feature of definitions being adapted to different stages of language competency (B2, C1, C2…). Furthermore, the online Cambridge English Dictionary provides British and American English audio recordings to help with pronunciation.

If you optate to go one step further and learn more about pronunciation (apart from British and American English), Forvo (https://de.forvo.com) highly recommendable. For an avid English as a second language learner, it can be both helpful and interesting to hear how certain words are pronounced with an Irish, Australian or South-African accent, and Forvo satisfies these curiosities.

The online platform, Lexico (https://www.lexico.com/grammar/usage), powered by Oxford, offers a multitude of helpful tools on the quest to improve one’s academic writing. Features include: Dictionary, Thesaurus, and a section dedicated to clearing up the most common usage mistakes. Additionally, for a website geared towards academic writing, it is also particularly aesthetically pleasing. Lexicos’ layout is clear and the dropdown bar at the top makes navigating the different tools easy.

Present day events have shown once again that relying on a single method of gleaning information for academic work can be hindered all too easily. Research is of prime importance. Researchgate (https://www.researchgate.net/) is an online platform that offers access to over 135 million publication pages in various fields of study. Initial sign up is free and you can research and collaborate socially distanced with peers from the comfort of your own home.

Change is the golden rule in pronunciation, grammar, and word usage in any language. The world never stops turning and similarly, we are never finished learning. Just remember: language opened the doors for math, science, history, for unravelling the mysteries and it all started with a Big-Bang!