How to Learn 100 words a day (2024)

100 words a day? Not possible, right? That’s what a lot of teachers would tell you. But it isn’t true, you most certainly can learn 100 words a day. Although, before we go any further, maybe we should take a step back and consider what it actually means to learn a word, or any piece of vocabulary.

Learning a word, and mastering a word are not the same thing. Learning can often just mean getting to know the basics of something. It doesn’t mean to become an expert at something overnight. If you wanted to learn how to play a new sport, you would go to a training session and learn a little bit. It wouldn’t mean that you are ready to become a world champion straight away!

If you completely master a word or phrase, you know everything about it. You would know the basics, such as the spelling and the general meaning. You would also know what part of speech it is; a noun, an adjective, or a verb etc… If it’s a verb that would also mean you would need to know how it conjugates e.g. take - took - taken - takes.. It also means knowing any connotations that this word might have. Is it generally considered a negative word such as “greedy”, or is it a positive word, like “ambitious”? Would it often be used in casual conversation, or would it more likely be used in a professional environment?

To master a word, you need to know a lot. You probably can’t master one word a day. Forget about 100.

But you can certainly learn 100 words in a day. Sure, you can’t learn everything you could ever need to know about these 100 words, and memorise all that information, but you can certainly get a basic understanding of 100 words in a day. You could get yourself exposed to these words, and get yourself part of the way to mastering these words. Yes, you will probably forget a lot of these words at first, but then you will relearn these words. And then you will reforget them. And, rerelearn them, and so on. One day you will have mastered these words, and they will be part of your vocabulary.

So, how can you learn 100 words in a day? The key is reading.

When you read, amazing things happen. If you read just a short article, such as this, you get to see hundreds of words that are in context. This is very important for developing your understanding of vocabulary, and eventually mastering words and phrases. Memorising words and phrases from lists can be useful, if there is a specific subject you need to learn more about, and need to know very well, very quickly. But, if you are looking to just generally improve your overall vocabulary, and understanding of English, the context you get when reading is priceless. A flashcard usually doesn’t tell you if a word has a positive, or negative connotation, but if you see the word in context, it is usually obvious.

Secondly, when you read, you can read what you enjoy. Memorising lists of vocabulary can often be boring. Again, sometimes it is important for study, and something that can help you learn a specific subject very quickly. But with reading, you can choose what you want to read. This doesn’t mean you have to buy a book and go to bed early to get time for reading. Some people like that, and that’s great, but if not, there are other options. If you like reading the news, try reading an article in English every day. Maybe go to an English website to check the scores and latest sports news for the teams and sports you follow.

If you want to bulk up your vocabulary, there are few better ways to do it than by reading. Try making some free time to read in English a couple of times a week, even just 10-15 minutes, on a topic that you find interesting. You will see, it helps a lot!

Matt