Dictionary Vocabulary
My Indonesian friends were surprised. Somehow “mas Andre’s” Indonesian was whole lot better. Over the course of the past 3 months, I’ve been using the technique of “Dictionary Vocabulary”—a method where you use the dictionary in ways that increase your vocabulary.
The heart of language fluency plain and simply lies in the extensiveness of a person’s vocabulary. Many would argue that mastering a dictionary of 50,000 words will not make you fluent in another language and they would be completely right. It is true that a person needs to understand the norms of putting phrases and sentences together, the words that make phrases flow into natural sentences and sentences to flow into a comprehensible conversation. It is also true that a person should understand the proper context in which native speakers use certain words and expressions. Language is so much more than a never ending list of lexical bits and pieces. However, if you don’t have the vocabulary then there are no essential building blocks for organizing thoughts and ideas for which grammatically, contextually, and socially appropriate ways. The foundation of language is in the small bits and pieces of meaning that can directly communicate messages.
Interesting Facts on Vocabulary Size from the Economist
These lexical facts were pulled from TestYourVocab.com at the point when it reached its two millionth test result:
Most adult native test-takers range from 20,000–35,000 words
Average native test-takers of age 8 already know 10,000 words
Average native test-takers of age 4 already know 5,000 words
Adult native test-takers learn almost 1 new word a day until middle age
Adult test-taker vocabulary growth basically stops at middle age
The most common vocabulary size for foreign test-takers is 4,500 words
Foreign test-takers tend to reach over 10,000 words by living abroad
Foreign test-takers learn 2.5 new words a day while living in an English-speaking country
Learning long tired wordlists is often the last thing people want to do (including me); however there are great benefits to having a steady, systematic way of learning vocabulary. The benefits are targeted at fluency in the long run, but also have very real short run results. It requires hard work and dedication, but the results are readily seen and available. The primary technique that I use requires a good dictionary and a computer.
The goal will be to master ALL the vocabulary that that dictionary has to offer. Now, of course, all items will not be able to be learned for various reasons, such as outdated terms or terms unknown to the average native speaker, entries that are not exactly part of the language you are learning, and many highly specific vocabulary items. I am currently using this technique for my “Fluent Indonesian in 90 Days Challenge” and some examples of dictionary entries I did not need were:
tedeng aling-aling – I was chatting with a friend that works at my hostel while I was studying and could not figure out a clear meaning for the word. The dictionary defined it as “shield, cover, concealment,” but when I looked up images for a visual concept on google, there was no clear illustration of the words true meaning. I showed her the words and she let me know that she’d never heard of it.
BRAj or Bendoro Raden Ajeng - This is the title of an “unmarried female member of Javanese aristocracy” that is in the Javanese language. I’m currently learning Indonesian. While I’d like to one day learning Javanese this and know all about high traditional Javanese culture, now is simply not the time. If it’s not in the language you are currently learning you can put it aside
Alif ba ta – These are the first three letters of the Arabic alphabet. While this might be slightly interesting to know since Arabic has a special religious status in the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, having it at the back of one’s mind might be a good idea. However, this is a very specific bit of vocabulary that does not require your utmost attention.
Don’t focus on words you wouldn’t know in your own language. So since I’m not familiar with most of jargon of mechanical engineering, computer science, or cardiothoracic medicine in my own language, I don’t waste my time learning those terms in Indonesian. Sorry I don’t have any examples, but it’s because I’ve skipped them just that quick!
1) Don’t look at vague words & Don’t spend time on words no one ever uses.
2) Don’t study obscure words in foreign languages (even if those languages are closely linked).
3) Quickly review culturally interesting, but largely irrelevant words or expressions.
4) Don’t focus on words you wouldn’t know in your own language.
These are the sorts of entries that one should glance at, then move on; however other terms should be studied diligently.
As I worked my way through the A’s, I ran into alami the word for “nature”. Although a good “general” vocabulary term, some might consider it also a “low frequency word” and therefore “less important.” Some might say you should focus on high frequency words and general concepts rather than low frequency and/or highly specific words. They wouldn’t be completely wrong, especially in the beginning since studies show that we need a base of about 3000 basic high frequency words to begin speaking or understanding a language. The problem is that they continue to study those “general” terms for way too long. You’ll pick up the essentials in any good intro course, any starter textbook, or within the first few weeks or months in a given foreign country. After a certain point though, you have to move from the general to the more specific in order to have any sort of in-depth conversation.
“Less important” or “low frequency” words like alami “nature” and a number of highly specific geographic terms to describe the natural environments I would be entering throughout my RTW trip such as Zelandia baru “New Zealand,” Kaledonia baru “New Caledonia,” Polinesia Perancis “French Polynesia,” and Kepulauan Solomon “Solomon Islands,” have been popping up in most of my conversations for the past few months as people want to know what I’m doing and where all I’m going.
As I continued through the A’s, random words like aksara meaning script or character. Just a few days later when I visited a museum I was constantly running into the term as I survey texts in aksara Jawi or “Jawi script”—a historical Arabic script in which Malay was written or aksara Jawa Javanese script. That wasn’t the last time I’d need the term though.
Aksara Jawa or Javanese Script as part of the city art in Yogyakarta, Java (Indonesia)
Just a few pages later, I ran into aneka “all kinds of” or “various.” Oddly enough, I then discovered the store Aneka Papua, a souvenir store of sorts, while in West Papua or Indonesian New Guinea where I were I bought my awesome Papuan batik. It’s strange how you run into these words almost magically right after studying them. This would happen as all of this vocabulary came together one day when hanging out with friends.
My Papuan Batik
Huts, Drums, and burung Cenderawasih 'Birds of Paradise'
Some old friends including one of my old teachers came over to visit me from a nearby land as I ended my trip in Indonesia. There was no way they were letting me leave with meeting up after years at this point and they were eager to hear about other parts of the country. We sat and talked for nearly 3 hours. As I explained my impression of the major Islands in Indonesia. They were especially curious about Papua as I saw the rare and famous burung Cenderawasih or Birds of Paradise. I describe the alami nature of West Papua and how this land of extreme linguistic diversity with hundreds of languages was also the site of extreme “biological diversity” or keanekaragaman hayati (an expression learned with aneka). Even the old word aksara came up as I discussed with one my old teachers his newest books that teach school children aksara jawa “Javanese script.”
My friends noticed my Indonesian was a lot better than years before. Dictionary Vocabulary as I call it was an important part of improving my Indonesia during this 90-day language challenge. Some might say that you should learn these terms later within a given context, but languages are learned imperfectly and I’d say hop right in at A and work your way to Z. Look up context using google or google images as needed.
I think when people say you should only focus on general and high frequency words, they are under the impression that we are learning as children learn. The issue is that we are adults learning the use the language and as adults we need a certain degree of vocabulary of specific topics to engage in meaningful conversations. This is my technique of studying “dictionary vocabulary” and is one of many useful tools for those of us interested as many words as possible in their own terms.