Journal #25: "My Vocabulary History"

1) Assess your own vocabulary. What are your strong points; what are your weak points when it comes to the trait of Word Choice in your writing and reading?
When it comes to Word Choice, I don't have that many strong points. However, whenever I learn a new vocabulary word, I tend to use it more often so that I am able to familiarize myself with its meaning. On the other hand, I tend to always go on Thesaurus whenever I am writing an essay or anything related to that. I try to find alternative words for common and simple words such as ran, difficult, etc. When it comes to reading and I happen to come across a word that I have no idea exists, I tend to read the same sentence over and over again. I try to use context clues, but sometimes that doesn't help at all. I ask those around me what it means and if they don't know, I would go to the nearest dictionary I could find, whether it be on the internet or a handheld, and try to find the definition of the word. All in all, I am not that good or talented when it comes to word choice.

2) Describe how you have studied vocabulary in the past. What kinds of class activities and assignments have you experienced to work on your word choice?
In elementary school, we would have spelling tests. They would give us random words and just throw it at us. We were graded strictly because we didn't know that many vocabulary words and we would blank out whenever we wrote a short story. We had very limited knowledge. We also were given about 20 new vocabulary words everyday and were told to define them and use them in a sentence.

3) Describe how you, personally, learn new words. Give a specific example of how you have learned a new word recently.
Well, I learn new words just by listening to my friend Jordie. She has a very wide knowledge and she can turn her intelligence on and off. She likes to challenge us. Another way I learn is by reading other people's essays, reading a book, or listening to the teacher. Whenever I learn a new word, I would usually search up what it means in the dictionary. If I still don't understand I would go to the Thesaurus. If I wanted a second opinion, I would ask those around me about how they interpret the meaning of the word. I will only listen to them if a majority of people agree on the same meaning. After learning a new word, I tend to use it in my every day language and use it in the things that I write just so that I can gain a better understanding of the word.

4) What are your specific vocabulary/word choice goals? How many new words would you like to learn this semester? What will be your evidence that you “own them” and can use them in your speaking and writing?
For my goals, I would like to expand my knowledge of my vocabulary. That way I will be able to become more expressive in the things that I write and say. I also want to be able to gain a better understanding of these vocabulary words so that I wouldn't have to struggle when it comes to Word Choice. I want to be able to exceed in this trait without a problem.
This semester, I want to be able to learn at least 50 new words, including the definition and understanding of each.
My evidence would be my constant use of the words that I just learned and my ability to use them wisely and properly in a sentence. If I really want to show that I do understand the words, I would tend to use them in my every day language/speaking.