Having a vibrant and robust vocabulary makes your writing and communication more engaging and effective. By contrast, having a poor vocabulary makes you sound bad and boring and bad and repetitive. People of all professions—not just writers—enjoy the benefits of a large vocabulary to improve how they express themselves. Now, with the latest technology, AI can accelerate the process of learning new words.
AI vocabulary building can improve and even surpass the traditional methods for learning new words, but only if you know how to use it. Below, we explain the best methods for using AI in language learning, including the most effective strategies and AI vocabulary games.
What is AI vocabulary building?
AI vocabulary building is using AI technology to assist in learning new words. In the past, people have used many different ways to improve English vocabulary, but AI language learning technology gives us a few new options for how we learn and makes the old methods more convenient and effective.
Vocabulary is important not just for writing but for communication in general. The more words you know, the easier it is to say what you mean and express what’s in your head. That’s why vocabulary-building techniques have been popular since the dawn of language itself. AI takes these old techniques and updates them, making them more suitable for modern life.
AI as personalized language learning technology
AI and linguistics work together, especially as natural language processing (NLP) technology advances. AI writing can assist you in creating texts, and AI chatbots can answer specific questions you have about language. Just as in other areas, AI can make language-learning tasks like self-testing or looking up words a lot more convenient.
For example, AI can help you narrow down your focus to a specific kind of vocabulary, such as business-writing vocabulary or the language identified in an academic writing rubric. By specifying the tone or voice you want to display, you can direct the AI to use only the words relevant to your goals. This specific targeting is a step up from the older, broader language learning methods, like reading novels for a better vocabulary.
Moreover, AI can improve the traditional methods for vocabulary building, making them faster and more accessible. Typically, language learning technology finds more effective ways to use the conventional methods for education. AI does just this, making studying and learning easier on the whole.
Here’s a tip: Grammarly can help you expand your vocabulary with suggestions to improve the clarity, precision, and effectiveness of your writing.
Best ways to use vocabulary-building AI
AI-powered flashcards
Flashcards are one of the most popular language-learning tools, and for good reason. They make it easy to study and quiz yourself, helping you memorize and retain new information — in this case, new words.
AI simply makes it easier to create and use flashcards. The flashcards are entirely digital, so there’s no need to make or store physical flashcards. Additionally, AI flashcards can be set up in seconds just by telling the AI what you need. Quizzing, too, is more effective with the element of surprise from a computerized random number generator.
Chatbots for language practice
A big part of personalized language learning is just practice. Knowing new words is one thing, but putting them into use is another.
AI chatbots make great audiences for practicing new words. You’re free to experiment and test new words without the consequences of making a mistake. After all, you don’t need to feel embarrassed about misusing a word with a chatbot — AI understands better than anyone how hard it is to speak correctly.
Content recommendations
If you’re interested in a specific type of vocabulary, such as biological terminology or stock market lingo, you can ask AI to suggest articles, books, and other reading materials that demonstrate these words well, at whatever reading proficiency you desire.
Simply reading is one of the oldest and most reliable methods of vocabulary building, but it’s only as useful as the source you choose. AI can “read” entire books in seconds, which makes it ideal for suggestions on specific content.
Strategies for AI Language Education
Aside from studying and quizzing yourself about new words to expand your vocabulary, there are a couple of passive habits you can develop to help you on the way.
Look up words you don’t know
Even if you’re not a big reader, you will still come across unfamiliar words every now and then. The first instinct for many people is to just ignore the strange word and move on, but these situations are the perfect opportunity to expand your vocabulary. All you have to do is look it up.
While dictionaries traditionally filled this role, AI can be a faster and more convenient substitute, especially if you have an AI app handy. In some cases, you can also use context clues to figure out the meaning of an unknown word just by seeing how it’s used or what root words it contains.
Practice using a new word once a day
Learning a new word is half the battle. You also have to figure out how to use it yourself, or else you may end up forgetting what it means.
Develop a habit of regularly using the new words you learn, ideally once per day minimum. This not only helps you memorize and retain new words and their meanings, but it also makes you more enthusiastic about learning more words. After all, what good is expanding your vocabulary if you’re not going to use it?
Benefits of AI for English Vocabulary
The advantages of having a large vocabulary are many and wide-ranging. You communicate clearly and more accurately, from creative writing to more formal copywriting. You use fewer words as a whole because your meaning comes across with a few well-chosen words instead of lengthy descriptions. This allows you to express yourself more efficiently and gives your ideas more impact on your audience (a good tip for how to write a speech). It also doesn’t hurt that having a large vocabulary helps you score better on your SATs.
The benefits of using AI for English vocabulary include all those mentioned above but in a fraction of the time. The true advantage of AI in language learning is making the learning techniques themselves more effective, from looking up words to creating flashcards to suggesting reading materials with the kind of vocabulary words you need.
On its own, AI is a tool designed to make other tasks perform better. While this is evident in the quick advancement of AI-generated videos and text, it’s equally as effective in more small-scale and personal tasks — not the least of which is learning what a strange new word means.
AI vocabulary building FAQs
Why is a broad vocabulary important?
Vocabulary is essential for communication: the more words you know, the more accurately you can describe your thoughts, feelings, and opinions. Learning new words helps us share and express concepts that would take too long to describe without a proper term.
Can AI replace traditional vocabulary learning methods?
Some aspects of language learning can effectively be replaced by AI — for example, using a chatbot to look up word meanings instead of a dictionary. However, AI vocabulary building works best when it’s used to enhance traditional methods, such as using AI-generated flashcards instead of physical paper ones.
How does AI adapt to different levels of language proficiency?
With the entirety of the English language at its disposal, AI sometimes has trouble determining which proficiency the user is comfortable with. It’s best to explain in the AI prompt what level of vocabulary you want to know.
Are AI language learning tools effective for all age groups?
AI language learning tools are for all ages! As long as you know how to talk to AI chatbots and make precise requests, you can access all kinds of information, including language education. That means older people can finally figure out what all the new text emojis mean.