This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 224.
Are more vocabulary words always better?
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Hey, Lindsay, how are you? Hey, Michelle, I'm doing great today.
What are we talking about on Business English today?
Well, today we were talking about words.
We love words, don't we? Oh, we love words at All Ears English.
Yeah. I love words for sure. I love words.
I love words. Yeah. We teach words. We review words.
We always tell you to have a variety of words in your vocabulary.
And that is all true. But Lindsay, when you work in a new language, do you feel a lot of pressure to learn like a whole list of new vocabulary words?
I do, but I try to avoid that sentiment because that can be dangerous if we start to memorize lists out of context.
So what I try to do when I learn a new language is more get the basic word, the one word I need, like good.
And then bring that as far as I can. to connect for human connection and then when i realize i'm getting bored with that word i'll try to add one other word but i don't go and memorize lists and lists that i'm never going to remember when it comes to the conversation moment or the connection moment right yeah yeah i think that's a good point i mean today we have a listener question uh or a comment really um about this idea so but before we get into that guys we had a business english episode 202 which is you just said the word good and we have a future we have a future episode that i just planned about the word good uh so guys hit follow to make sure that you get that episode when it comes up um it's actually going to be a series with an all ears english episode so yeah you run yeah so we're going to be doing some series this spring and summer it's going to be really cool we're going to send you guys to all our different podcasts to find the next episode it's going to be fantastic so stay on board for that hit follow on this show so you don't miss our series coming up Please do.
But yeah, episode 202 was, can you say good when you agree in English?
So listen to that one to find out. Okay, here we go.
So I'm going to read Veronica's question.
So Veronica says, I need more words because when I talk to foreign people or I listen to an English sentence, there's some words that I don't know.
But I don't want to lose any keywords when I go to an interview or when I talk to clients.
So she's talking about comprehension of words and production of words.
Sounds like she's talking about both or is it more comprehension of words? um when i i mean it sounds like both to me when i talk to or listen to yes so i mean this is a great question and and it was interesting because you mentioned that this idea of words and do we really need more words and this is a controversial topic because we're business english we're always english we are here to teach you the words so the answer is Always going to be yes, right?
Otherwise, we would shut down the show, the shows.
We're not going to do that because we do want to learn words.
However, today's episode is going to be a little bit different.
Veronica, I am so glad that you want to learn more, and that's what we are here for.
Keep on listening to the show. Today, we're going to have a little bit more of a philosophical discussion about this idea.
I think sometimes it's common to feel this pressure to add words more words just for the sake of adding more words.
Um, yeah. And, and I think that this is really important with comprehension.
Um, and of course I understand with Veronica, what, what she wants.
I mean, we want you to be the best and especially at work.
It's important. And I think in business, especially we feel like the heat is on, right?
What does that mean? The heat is on. right the heat is on to make an impression so we get it you know we get it i mean i think there is the thing to think about in american culture especially often you know we're a culture that praises speaking more than listening unfortunately i don't like that about american culture i wish we were more of a listening culture but pers on a personal level for my own communication skills i'm trying to get better at when there's a silence and the person is thinking about something don't fill the gap in with more words let them think If you're delivering a message and you feel firm about your message, deliver it.
Let them consume what you're saying, but don't walk it back or apologize or do all these other things.
Just be steady in yourself. So there is that angle.
If our listeners are in that level, if we're just learning words to fill more gaps for awkward silences, then that's not a good direction.
That's not a direction of confidence, right?
Right. And we're not saying, Veronica, that this is what you're doing.
We just use this as inspiration, too, because this is an important topic.
So let's talk more about some advice we have, some of our thoughts on this.
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Exclusions apply. See details online. Okay, Michelle, let's get into that advice.
So, as always, our number one reason for existing as a company and as a podcast, all of our podcasts, what is it, Michelle?
What is our vision? Connection, not perfection.
Guys, I mean, this is, you can know a million words.
You can know all the words and you can be so focused on all of those words that and their pronunciation and the grammar and how you, who you use them with, that your connection might slip away.
So our advice is to focus on learning a little at a time, you know, listen to our episodes, you know, keep on practicing, but don't, Don't feel like you need to just do everything at once because that leads to burnout as well.
Yeah. And Michelle, I don't know if it was on Business English or Allers English, but Aubrey and I did a really interesting episode called something like don't be a sesquipedalian.
And that – so I don't remember the meaning of the word, but I can tell you – the concept was about when do we hit a point of diminishing returns and even detriment to connection.
If we are actually trying to kind of, in a way one up people were around using fancier words.
So deploying fancier and fancier words, Not exactly one-upping people, but putting ourselves on another plane so that the people we're around actually don't understand the words we're using.
That's breaking the connection. So that would be an example of going too far in the direction of vocabulary.
Sometimes we actually need to calibrate the level of vocab we're using for who's around us.
That is social intelligence and human connection right there.
Right. Absolutely. Absolutely. This makes me think of on Friends, Ross was kind of known as being the one who was using just like big words or correcting people's grammar.
Yes, yes, yes, yes. That makes me think of him.
So but yeah, focus on a little bit of a time. at a time and just really learning.
I think it's better to learn the words you know well than to know.
It's like the same idea as friendship. I mean, I think that it's better to have a few really close friends than a hundred acquaintances.
Totally agree, Michelle. 100%. So learn those words well.
Take the words you do have. I bet you have more than you think you do, Veronica, right?
Take those words. Make sure you know every way that those go into situations and come out of situations.
What prepositions are they connected to?
What comes after them? What comes before them?
How would you use them in idioms and expressions?
Take what you have and kind of hunker down and expand from there, right?
Yeah, because that will make you feel more confident with what you do have.
So, yeah. Another piece of advice we have is take the pressure off.
I mean, this kind of goes along with what we were just saying, because if you put too much pressure on yourself, you won't be able to focus on what you do know.
And like Lindsay just said, you probably know more than you realize.
Yeah. So if you if you, you know, everybody try and just focus. relax a little bit and take some time to focus and say, wait, I actually you'd be surprised, I think.
Exactly. And then our next pieces of our next tips here are if you actually feel like you do have that gap in vocabulary, you literally need more words in your vocab.
And that might be true for some of our listeners.
Right. Yeah. Especially in the business world.
OK, so what can we do in that case, Michelle?
What should we do? OK, well, take notes from real life.
Try to make yourself a goal. I always love to tell students to make just like these small goals, because guess what?
You guys are super busy. Yeah, guys. We know where you guys are working professionals.
And so it can be if you also have that. just like set your standards to this unbelievable height, it's going to be a little bit tricky.
So take notes, make manageable goals from real life.
So maybe write down one word a day that you hear out in the business world, right?
You're in a meeting, you're not sure what a word means, write it down, get them from real life.
Because that's another thing is, When I work with students, I try and I have them write down a list of the most common words in their industry.
And then we work on those like let's let's hit the I don't know if I want to say low hanging fruit, but a little bit.
Yeah, for sure. I mean, and, and make sure you're being exposed to that a lot.
When I lived in Japan and I prepared for the JLPT four, I had my, my kanji words, not kanji.
I actually didn't, I learned like 50 kanji.
I've forgotten all of them since then, but I hear Ghana and Katakana.
Uh, I had those words or those characters on tiny little key chain flashcards like this big.
And I always took that out on the train.
So maybe your equivalent of that is an app.
Um, different vocabulary apps that we can use, right?
So expose yourself to those words a lot.
Exposure is key to learning. Yes, exactly.
Which is the next thing I wrote is to continue to take in as much input as possible to learn.
So yes, that exposure, listening, getting out into the world.
Having conversations with your coworkers, listening to a podcast about your industry.
So many different ideas you can have that fit into your real life that are enjoyable and that will get you to learn in a natural way. yeah and don't forget production guys so part of learning vocabulary is obviously consuming it listening to it preferably picking it out so there's no teacher that is delivering it to you instead you're fine you're noticing oh i'm hearing this word sesquipedalian all the time i don't hear that all the time um for example right i wonder what it means maybe next time i hear it i'm going to try to figure out what it means or maybe i'm going to ask my native speaker friend what it means Then I'm going to write it down.
I'm going to remind myself about it often.
I'm going to recognize it next time I see it again.
Then I'm going to start to produce that word.
So there's the consumption and the production.
We need to do both to fully learn that word.
Okay, guys? Yes. Yeah, you could even kind of make yourself a map or a chart of like these words and like track your usage of them along the way, you know, all the way from comprehension to when you start feeling comfortable producing them.
And you can even take notes on that to track your progress.
Yes. Love that. What else? And then, of course, realize that it takes time.
Yeah. You know. Um, I won't spend too much on that, but basically, you know, focus on getting across the words that you do know and make some guesses when you listen.
Right. So, you know, it takes time, um, take that pressure off, but also just the last pieces to work with what you know, um, and to feel comfortable making some guesses, taking some risks.
Um, you can always add, ask what a word means, but yeah, take, take those risks.
Yeah, I love that idea. You know, for our listeners who are taking IELTS, you know, on the exam, obviously in the speaking section of the exam, that's not the time to take risks, but in the practice sessions, if you're working with a teacher, you know, if you're at an event practicing the mock speaking test, that would be the time to take risks and see what kind of feedback you get, right?
I like that idea. That's good stuff. So what's the takeaway for our listeners on Vivian's question?
Okay, well, yeah. No, I love this question because I think everybody kind of... I mean, I would be surprised if there's anyone listening to this show who doesn't want to increase their vocabulary.
Right. But it's important to keep the pressure low when learning, in my opinion, because I've told this before.
I wanted to start learning Spanish and I got so excited and I started learning all, you know, just going through YouTube video by YouTube video and you get so excited and...
It's not realistic, but focus on the connection, not perfection.
Focus on small trackable goals that I think are helpful and focus also, like Lindsay said, on the starting from comprehension, moving on all the way to production. yeah and remember that you know not having the word 99 of that time the time that can't that doesn't have to get in the way of connection right now there have been so many moments when i've traveled around the world when i've had really cool connection mo i like does just moments of connection with people and i maybe had very little vocabulary, like riding in a taxi in Cairo, Egypt.
I had learned a few words to talk to the taxi driver, as I shared before, and I thought we were going one place, and we all, we got in the cab, and the cab driver didn't know where we were going, and we all had a big laugh.
He called his friend who spoke English, and We all just had a big laugh, like a huge laughter erupted from him and from us.
And it was such a cool moment. And I know that this can't get us, this kind of interaction is not going to get us to our career dreams, guys.
But if we can pile these up, these interactions that are satisfying just in themselves, then we can work off that momentum, that positive energy and that connection we found to branch up to the next bigger connection.
So I hope that makes sense. I'm not sure if it does.
Yes. Yes, it does. I loved it. I loved it.
So this is a lot of fun, Lindsay. Thanks to our listener for that question and keep at it.
You guys can do it. All right. Good stuff, Michelle.
I'll talk to you very soon. Have a good day.
All right. Okay. You too. Bye. Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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