Who is Rubicon? Vocabulary of Russian speakers: the influence of age and education.

Learning is a continuous process. You can become an erudite person as in adolescence, and at retirement age, when you are already over eighty, simply expanding your vocabulary. Develop habits that will help you remember and use the most accurate words in your language. And it will become easier for you to communicate, write and think. After you read more specific tips for expanding your vocabulary, read to the end of this article.

Steps

Part 1

Learn new words

Read avidly. When you graduate from school, you will no longer be given exercises on words, and in general there will be no homework, which at one time forced you to learn new words. You can just stop reading. But if you want to expand your vocabulary, make yourself a reading plan and stick to it.

You can try reading one book a week or just reading the newspaper every morning. Choose a reading pace that suits you, and create a reading program that fits into your schedule.
Try to read at least one book and a couple of magazines every week. Be consistent. You will not only increase your vocabulary, but you will also be up to date and know what happened. You will expand your stock general knowledge and you will be an educated, comprehensively developed person.

Read serious literature. Set yourself the task of reading as many books as you have the time and desire to do. Read the classics. Read old and new works of art. Read poetry. Read Herman Melville, William Faulkner and Virginia Woolf.

Read also online sources and “low-quality tabloid” literature. Read online magazines, essays and blogs on various topics. Read music reviews and fashion blogs. True, this vocabulary does not apply to high style. But to have an extensive vocabulary, you need to know both the meaning of the word "inner monologue" and the meaning of the word "twerking." To be well-read means to be familiar with both the work of Geoffrey Chaucer and the work of Lee Child.

Look up every word you don't know in the dictionary. When you see an unfamiliar word, don't pass it over with irritation. Try to understand its meaning from the context of the sentence, and then look it up in a dictionary to clarify its meaning.
- Get yourself a small notebook and immediately write down all the unfamiliar words that you come across so you can check their meaning later. If you hear or see a word you don't know, be sure to look it up in the dictionary.
Read the dictionary. Immerse yourself in it headfirst. Read dictionary entries about words that are still unfamiliar to you. To make this process more fun, you need a lot of good dictionary. Therefore, look for a dictionary that gives detailed explanations about the origin and use of words, as this will help you not only remember the word, but also enjoy working with the dictionary.

Read the dictionary of synonyms. Look for synonyms for words that you often use and try to use them.

Part 2
Use new words
1. Set yourself a goal. If you are determined to expand your vocabulary, set a goal for yourself. Try to learn three new words a week and use them in speech and writing. Through conscious effort, you can learn several thousand new words that you will remember and use. If you can't use a word correctly in a sentence, it means it's not part of your vocabulary.
  - If you can easily memorize three words a week, then raise the bar. Next week try to learn 10 words.
  - If you look up 20 new words a day in the dictionary, you will find it difficult to use them correctly. Be realistic and develop a practical vocabulary that you can actually use.
2. Use flash cards or post-its throughout the house. If you're going to make a habit of learning new words, try a few simple techniques memorize as if you were studying for a test. Place a sticky note over the coffee maker that explains the word you hope to remember, so you can learn it while you make your morning cup of coffee. Attach a new word to each indoor plant, and thus you will learn while you water them.
  - Even when you're watching TV or doing other things, keep a few flashcards handy and learn new words. Expand your vocabulary under any circumstances.
3. Write more. Start journaling if you haven't already, or start a virtual journal. Flexing your muscles intensely while writing will help you remember words better.
  - Write letters to old friends and describe everything down to the smallest detail. If your letters tend to be short and simple, change that up: start writing longer letters or emails than you've previously written. Spend more time composing letters as if you were writing a school essay. Make smart choices.
  - Do more written work assignments. If you usually avoid writing orders, writing group emails, or participating in group discussions, change your habits and write more. Plus, you might get paid for expanding your vocabulary.
4. Use adjectives and nouns correctly and accurately. The best writers strive for brevity and precision. Buy explanatory dictionary and use the most precise words in your sentences. Don't use three words where you can easily get by with just one. The word that shortens total quantity words in a sentence will be a very valuable addition to your vocabulary.
  - For example, the phrase “dolphins and whales” can be replaced with the single word “cetaceans.” So "cetaceans" is a useful word.
  - A word is also useful if it is more expressive than the phrase or word it replaces. For example, many people's voices can be described as "pleasant." But if someone Very pleasant voice, then it’s better to say that he has a voice that “caresses the ear.”
5. Don't show it off. Inexperienced writers think that they will improve their writing if they use the thesaurus function twice in each sentence. Microsoft Word. But in reality this is not the case. Use of pretentious language and correct spelling words will make your writing sound pompous. But what's worse is that it will make your writing less precise than more conventional words. Correct use of words is characteristic feature a true writer and a sure sign of a large vocabulary.
  - You could say that "Iron Mike" is Mike Tyson's nickname, but the word "nickname" would be more accurate and appropriate in this sentence. Therefore, the word "nickname" is less useful in your vocabulary.
Part 3
Improve your vocabulary
1. Subscribe to the “Word of the Day” newsletter in one of the online dictionaries. You can also get yourself a “Word of the Day” calendar. Remember to read the words on that page every day, try to memorize the words of each day and also use them in your speech throughout the day.
  - Visit word-building sites (like freerice.com) and expand your vocabulary while you satisfy your hunger or do something else useful.
  - There are many online sites dedicated to compiling alphabetical lists of unusual, strange, outdated and difficult words. Take advantage search engine to find these sites and learn from them. This is a great way to pass the time while waiting for a bus or standing in line at the bank.
2. Solve word puzzles and play word games. Word puzzles are a great source of new words because word puzzlers often have to use a huge number of less commonly used words to ensure that all the words fit into their puzzles and make them interesting for those who solve them. There are many varieties of word puzzles, including crosswords, find the word, and hidden word puzzles. Along with expanding your vocabulary, puzzles will also help improve your critical thinking skills. For word games, try games like Scrabble, Boggle, and Cranium to expand your vocabulary.
  
  Learn some Latin. Although it may seem like a dead language, a little knowledge of Latin is a great way to learn about the origins of many English words, and besides, it will help you understand the meaning of those words that you do not yet know without looking in the dictionary. On the Internet there is educational resources in Latin, as well as a huge number of texts (check out your favorite old bookstore).
Warnings
- Keep in mind that you may use words that other people may not know. This can create barriers to communication and understanding. So be prepared to use simpler synonyms in different contexts to mitigate this problem. In other words, don't be boring.

What is the difference between the linguistic consciousness of our contemporary and, say, the contemporary of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin?

For almost fifteen years we have been working on compiling a complete associative dictionary of the Russian language. It turned out that the average young person of the 21st century actively speaks about 32 thousand words. This is not only our “lexical minimum”, but also a picture of linguistic verbal consciousness. We interviewed mainly young people; this is the population that is now becoming most active in the life of society.

32 thousand words. This is much more than one might expect from listening to the language spoken by teenagers on the street. Let me make a blasphemous comparison: Pushkin’s dictionary contained about 22 thousand words.

Well, with Pushkin everything is simple. After all, only words that were taken into account great poet used in his works. A huge lexical array remained beyond the scope of calculation.

Let's imagine this situation: a graduate of the Pushkin Lyceum is talking with a student of some modern gymnasium. Do they understand each other?

The book “Pushkin’s Dictionary and Russian Language Ability” was included in the series of prize-winning works. I analyzed what would have happened if a contemporary of Pushkin had read, say, Makanin’s story. To what extent has evolution taken our language away from Pushkin’s? It turned out that almost everything is clear, with the exception of those realities that were even impossible to predict in the 19th century. The fact that young people speak some special language incomprehensible to Russian people is, excuse me, the machinations of journalists. Yes, there are a lot of fashionable words in the vocabulary of young people. But they fall out of use very quickly. We examined the core of linguistic consciousness, the words with which Russian people respond to the world around them.

- But the tongue-tiedness of young people is difficult to dispute.

In terms of the number of words, our contemporary vocabulary is not inferior to previous generations. After all, if Ozhegov has 70 thousand words in his dictionary, this does not mean that there are people who use all of them in their speech. For example, I cannot boast about this. In addition, about 10 thousand words are words that Russian people have never heard before. Usually, the vocabulary of young people is studied in a situation where they communicate in slang. But when, for example, a student from his “get-together”, where he got by with a hundred words, enters the wide linguistic arena - answers an exam or gives you an interview - he acts as a full-fledged cultural heir to the language of his ancestors. Another thing is that the cultural background of young people is narrowed. A striking example: we ask you to give associations to the word "Rubicon". Answers: "Rubik's Cube", "Something military", "Name of a car part." That is, on what occasion and by whom the words “The die has been cast. The Rubicon has been crossed” were uttered by our respondents.

We interviewed many native Russian speakers. Everyone received a questionnaire with a hundred words, to which he had to respond in writing with the first association that came to his mind. For example, the word “table” gives rise to associations: “round”, “dining”, “on four legs” and so on. As a result, the first stage of the survey covered five thousand people from various cities throughout Russia. The result was the first volume of the dictionary, which included 1,300 stimulus words with the associations they generated - five hundred for each. At the second stage of the study, the words given in the answers were taken as stimuli. That is, it was necessary to come up with an association for the word “dining”. New chains developed: “lunch hour”, “lunch break”, “service”. At the third stage, the stimuli were the words given in the answers of the second stage. But I couldn’t do it all a fourth time. The words began to repeat. There was no increase in new associations. That’s how this figure came out - 32 thousand.

Now we can predict where is he going our idea is what the cultural priorities of young people are.

The objective of the study was to determine the volume of passive vocabulary of native Russian speakers. The measurement was carried out using , in which respondents were asked to mark familiar words from a specially compiled sample. According to the rules of the test, a word was considered “familiar” if the respondent could define at least one of its meanings. The test procedure is described in detail. To improve the accuracy of the test and identify respondents who take it sloppily, non-existent words were added to the test. If the respondent marked at least one such word as familiar, his results were not taken into account. More than 150 thousand people took part in the study (of which 123 thousand passed the test accurately).

First, let's analyze the effect of age on vocabulary.

The graph shows the percentiles of the resulting distribution. For example, the lowest curve (10th percentile) for 20 years gives 40 thousand words. This means that 10% of respondents of this age have a vocabulary below this value, and 90% - above. The central curve (median) highlighted in blue corresponds to a vocabulary such that half of the respondents of the corresponding age performed worse, and half - better. The topmost curve—the 90th percentile—cuts off the result above which only 10% of respondents with the maximum vocabulary showed.

The graph shows the following:

Vocabulary growth grows at a nearly constant rate until about age 20, after which the rate of vocabulary acquisition decreases, tapering off by age 45. After this age, vocabulary practically does not change.
During school, a teenager learns 10 words a day. This value seems unnaturally large, but is explained by the fact that in the test derived words were taken into account separately, as independent words.
By the time a teenager leaves school, the average person knows 51 thousand words.
During schooling, vocabulary increases approximately 2.5 times.
After leaving school until middle age, the average person learns 3 new words a day.
After reaching 55 years of age, vocabulary begins to decline slightly. This may be due to forgetting words that are not used for a long time. Interestingly, this age approximately coincides with retirement.

Now let's divide all respondents into groups according to education level. The following graph shows the median vocabulary scores of these groups. The curves start and end in different places because the statistics for each group are different - for example, there were not enough respondents with incomplete secondary education over 45 for the results to be statistically significant, so the corresponding curve had to be cut off so early.

From the graph you can find out that

Perhaps vocabulary saturation occurs in at different ages depending on education. Thus, for respondents with specialized secondary education, saturation can be determined at around 43 years old, with higher education at 51 years old, and for candidates and doctors at 54 years old. This could be explained by the specifics of the respondents’ work - most likely, holders of an academic degree continue to study various literature even in mature age. Or permanent life in the university environment, with its abundance of communication with educated people of different specializations, new words are constantly thrown up. However, from a technical point of view, such conclusions should not be drawn yet - the resulting curves are quite noisy, and it is very difficult to determine exactly where saturation begins. Perhaps a further set of statistics will make it possible to see the dependence of the age of saturation on the level of education (if any) more clearly.
There is practically no difference in vocabulary between those who entered the university, but did not finish their studies, and those who completed this path to the end (for students: this does not mean that you can not go to lectures).

Now let’s exclude the influence of age, leaving only respondents over 30 years old in the sample. This will allow you to concentrate on education.

From the graph we see the following:

Respondents who have just completed school know on average 2-3 thousand words more than those who did not finish school at the time.
The vocabulary of those who have received secondary or specialized secondary education is practically the same and averages 75 thousand words.
Those who studied at universities and institutes (and not necessarily those who graduated from them) know an average of 81 thousand words.
Candidates and doctors of science know an average of 86 thousand words. Thus, an academic degree adds about 5 thousand units of vocabulary compared to higher education.
Education, of course, influences vocabulary size. However, the variation within each group with the same education is significantly greater than the difference between the group means. In other words, a person who has not completed school may well know more words than a candidate of science. Here are specific numbers: 20% of respondents with incomplete secondary education, who showed the best results for their group, have a vocabulary that exceeds the vocabulary of half of the respondents with an academic degree. Most likely, they read more on different topics, are interested in and understand more regions.

The resulting vocabulary sizes - tens of thousands of words - seem quite large. There are two reasons for this. First, it measured passive vocabulary (words a person recognizes in text or hearing) rather than active vocabulary (words a person uses in speech or writing). These reserves differ significantly - the passive one is always much larger. The calculated vocabularies of writers, for example, are precisely active. Secondly, in the test all derived words were taken into account separately (for example, “work” and “work”, or “city” and “urban”).

Separately, I would like to note that the results obtained do not give an idea of the vocabulary of the “average” (if such a thing exists) native Russian speaker. For example, the level of education of respondents who passed the test is significantly higher than the national average - 65% of respondents have higher education, whereas in Russia there are only 23% of these (according to the 2010 All-Russian Population Census). Then, it is obvious that the respondents who took the Internet test are mainly active users Internet, and this also makes the sample specific (mainly for older people). In the end, not everyone is interested in determining their vocabulary, but among our respondents there are 100% of them. It is logical to assume that the vocabulary results obtained from such a special sample should be slightly higher than the “statistical average”.

So, the data obtained revealed strong addiction vocabulary depending on age, and weaker ones depending on the level of education. Obviously, there are other factors that influence vocabulary - reading, communication, work, hobbies, lifestyle. All these are topics for further research.

Great Russian language! Research by modern linguists shows that it contains about two hundred thousand words. However, the average Russian uses no more than three thousand lexical constructions in everyday life. There are many methods on how to improve your Russian language. Get to know the most effective techniques You can improve the culture of speech in the article.

A book is an endless source of knowledge. Expanding vocabulary through reading, analyzing and memorizing information is one of the most effective methods of speech enrichment. How to expand your Russian vocabulary and what to read for this? You should study not only fiction, but also popular science, specialized literature by Russian and foreign authors, and poetry. It is important to adhere to the following rules:

slow, thoughtful reading followed by text analysis;

concentration on new terms, phrases, lexical constructions;

the practice of reading aloud, memorizing, or retelling a text.

Having come across an unfamiliar word, you need to write it down in a separate notebook/notebook, select synonyms, memorize the interpretation and try to apply it in everyday life.

An extensive vocabulary precedes hard work. Masters of eloquence recommend paying attention to developing your oratorical abilities. Every erudite person should have the ability to clearly formulate thoughts, vividly describe events, or retell recently read information in detail. Active use of the studied material (in this case, new words) is the key to the richness of speech: in conversation, in correspondence or during a speech, you should express thoughts, carefully selecting the best words.

Among the tips on how to expand your Russian vocabulary, exercises on writing your own text are particularly effective. For example, you can take a notebook and pen, or open a word processor on your computer and just start writing. It is important to try to endure own feelings on paper, learn to characterize events in detail or tell a story. Alternatively, you can start keeping a journal or start a virtual diary - daily practice as a writer will stimulate your brain and force it to “dig” into your own lexical baggage.

“Well,” “kind of,” “sort of,” and long pauses “uh-uh” instantly reveal a person with a poor vocabulary. Such constructions pollute human speech, depriving it of information content and beauty.

Specialized textbooks that study the etymology of words can open up new horizons in the native language. You can use either classic volumes from Dahl or Ozhegov, or use online services to learn new words. It is noteworthy that explanatory dictionaries, in addition to interpretation, also contain examples of the use of the term in context, which allows it to be included in the active lexicon.

A mandatory point in working with a dictionary is to transfer unknown terms to a separate notebook. It is important to review your notes from time to time. A list of words located in a prominent place does an excellent job of replenishing the vocabulary of the Russian language. Placing sticky notes with terms on your desk, refrigerator, or mirror engages your visual memory in the process of learning new vocabulary. Don't neglect flashcards: A word is written on one side and its definition on the other.

For beginning linguists: tricks for learning your native language

Solving word puzzles.Crossword, scrabble, boggle or cranium - if you choose a game you like, you can not only have a lot of fun, but also expand your vocabulary and learn to think critically.

Regular training is the key to success. If the daily “load” is 3 words, then in a month your vocabulary will increase by 90, and in a year - by 1080 words!

Secret from the serieswhich many people neglect is plistening to audiobooks, podcasts, lectures and public speaking cultural and scientific figures.INo while cleaning or commutingsuch activities contribute to enrichmentlexicallyWowbaggageA.

How to replenish the vocabulary of the Russian language for students and children?

Speech abilities in children are formed by the age of five: upon reaching this age, the child should be able to use various designs complex sentences, master the skills of word formation and inflection, have a sufficient vocabulary. Lack of communication, neglect of reading, problems with pronunciation are factors that lead to the child having passive knowledge of speech.

Applying vocabulary expansion techniques for adults to children is ineffective. The following rules from teachers, speech therapists and neuropsychologists will come to your aid: they shared their secrets on how to expand your Russian vocabulary in childhood.

No confusion! If a child calls mittens gloves and plates saucers, it makes sense to help the child see the differences between these objects through visual analysis. For example, after drawing things that cause confusion, conduct a detailed inspection of them and highlight the differences.

Verbal communication. Association games allow children to develop abstract thinking. For example, a child should select several nouns, adjectives and verbs (preferably synonymous) for the word “guitar”: “music” and “sound”, “ringing” and “loud”, “playing” and “strumming”.

Hidden meaning. Concrete thinking is inherent in children up to 7 years old; later they begin to grasp the “messages” of the author and learn to read “between the lines.” Discussing proverbs and sayings helps develop the ability to understand figurative meaning.

Reading and communication. Important aspects in the question of how to replenish a child’s Russian vocabulary are communication and reading skills. You should always listen to your child, and also remember to instill in him a love of literature.

How to quickly expand your Russian vocabulary? Use all of the above methods in a comprehensive manner. It is important to remember that success is achieved only through hard work, and erudite and developed personality become those who are ready to constantly work on themselves.

Vocabulary is a set of words in a person’s native language that are understandable in meaning and used in communication. It consists of words that are constantly used in oral and written speech, as well as words that are clear in meaning during conversation or reading literature.

There are two types of vocabulary:

Active. This is a stock of words that a person uses every day in speech when communicating with people around him.
Passive. These are words that are not used in communication, but are familiar by ear and content.

Active and passive vocabulary contain unequal indicators of word volume. The active vocabulary of an adult greatly exceeds the passive one. The volume of words in both dictionaries is prone to constant change. They are able to increase if a person learns new terms, reads, develops, or decrease.

Active and passive vocabulary can decrease due to age, when words are forgotten or when they stop being used in communication. In this case, words will disappear from a person’s vocabulary or be replaced by new ones.

Estimating the exact vocabulary size of the average person is a difficult task. No one knows specifically what it should be in terms of content and number of words. The guideline in this matter is the Russian language dictionary of V. I. Dahl, which contains about two hundred thousand words and Ozhegov’s explanatory dictionary, with a volume of 70 thousand Russian words.

Of course, it is clear that such a volume of words is beyond the power of even smart person. Human memory is not capable of accommodating such an amount of information without harm to health.

An interesting study was recently conducted to determine the volume of words among native Russian speakers. It was carried out in the form of testing, where those interested marked in the provided list the words they understood and used. Words were marked only if the definition was fully understood.

To improve the quality of testing and sort out unreliable information, non-existent designations were present in the lists. The presence in the subject's questionnaire of at least one non-existent word marked as familiar to him was considered unreliable information and was not taken into account.

During the work carried out, the following data were obtained:

A person's passive vocabulary increases every year until the age of 20. Further, the rate of development decreases, gradually disappearing after 40 years. At this age and until the end of life, a person’s vocabulary remains unchanged.
Studying at school adds up to 10 words to children's passive vocabulary every day. The student’s active and passive vocabulary is constantly growing.
By the end of their studies, teenagers speak an average of 50 thousand words.
School time increases the growth of word volume by almost 3 times.
After leaving school, a person’s passive vocabulary stops growing and averages 3–4 words daily.
At the age of 55, the vocabulary continues to decline, due to irreversible deterioration of memory and the use of some words in practice.

The study assessed the educational level of the subjects, yielding interesting findings. It turns out that people have the greatest amount of words at different times in their lives. Secondary specialized education implies the end of word growth at 40 summer age, and higher education a little later - after 50 years. This 10-year gap is explained by the discrepancy between the work performed and the position held by people with different education. Some people at 50 years old read scientific books and gain new knowledge due to the specifics of their work or at will for self-education.

It was also revealed interesting fact, which showed that subjects who completed their studies in educational institution and those who did not complete it for personal reasons have the same passive vocabulary.

Vocabulary vocabulary of adults with different levels education:

Passive vocabulary has the same indicators among people with secondary education and secondary special education. It varies between 70-75 thousand words.
People who have received higher education or have not graduated from college have a stock of 80 thousand words in their luggage.
Educated people, candidates of science have a rich vocabulary of 86 thousand words, which is 6 thousand more than those who have received higher education.

The education received, of course, affects a person’s vocabulary, but not 100%. A person himself makes a huge contribution to the development of vocabulary, constantly improving himself and engaging in self-education. Therefore, it is easy to meet a person who only graduated from school with a vocabulary several times larger than that of someone who received a higher education. Main role Sociability, occupation and lifestyle of a person play a role in this matter.

The conducted research does not provide a complete picture of the vocabulary of the average Russian person, as it contains small errors. But despite this, it helps to determine the connection between vocabulary and age and level of education.

How to expand your vocabulary

There are no universal ways to increase words in the vocabulary of your native language. Each person chooses what suits only him. To replenish your vocabulary, several methods developed by polyglots will help to study foreign language.

To increase passive vocabulary:

Reading literature.

The more and more often a person reads books, the richer and more interesting his speech sounds. WITH well-read people It's nice to chat and spend time. This universal method enriching the stock of new words. The quality of the selected literature is not the least important. It is better to give preference in choosing popular science books, classical literature, avoiding modern “soap” novels or detective stories in them, you definitely won’t find new words in the correct application.

Be interested in the meaning of unknown words.

Always ask your interlocutor for the meaning of unclear words or new terms; do not ignore them. During communication it is much easier to assimilate new information and can be quickly restored if necessary from memory. If a new interesting word was heard by radio announcers, then its meaning can be looked up in a special dictionary.

Dictionaries.

Every literate person should have a set of dictionaries at home that need to be used periodically. This is the explanatory dictionary of V. I. Dahl, Ozhegov, as well as the “Dictionary of Stresses for Radio and Television Workers.” It will help restore gaps in accent placement and contains many interesting words.

The Dictionary of Stresses for Radio and Television Workers has been published since 1960. Its authors are M.V. Zarva and F.L. Ageenko. The history of creating a dictionary of accents for radio and television workers began with the release of an announcer's reference book in 1951, and 3 years later the “Dictionary of Stresses” was released. To help the announcer."

All dictionaries for radio and television workers are based on the reserves of “heavy” words accumulated in the card index during the formation of the first radio in the era of the USSR. The radio and television files were constantly being replenished. Many words were never included in dictionaries. "Dictionary of Radio and Television" contains the title geographical names, names of works of art, surnames and first names of people.

How to expand your active vocabulary

To increase your vocabulary, you will need the ability of a person to translate words from a passive vocabulary to an active one. The following methods will help with this:

Notes.

Write down new words along with their meanings on pieces of paper and stick them around the house in places where they will be most likely to catch your eye. This method will help you remember information more effectively and quickly without memorizing it.

Associative series.

To remember a word, build a suitable association for it. It can be aimed at smell, taste, motor, tactile characteristics or tied to color scheme. The result depends on the person’s imagination and desire to consolidate the information received. The associative series helps to remember difficult words and makes it easier to remember at the right time.

There are also exercises for developing your vocabulary. One of the most effective is the oral exercise of composing a story. To do this, you need to try to tell a small story, using only nouns, then only verbs or adjectives. This is not an easy exercise. It helps to use the existing stock of words, while refreshing them in a person’s memory.