I came across a post on X with 4.9 million views, quoting the question: “What is the fastest way to improve one’s vocabulary?”
Most of the advice centered around reading a lot of books.
However, I thought “hmmmm, What if someone is a slow reader?” I average 100 pages daily, but my friends struggle to read just five pages. That doesn’t seem like the fastest way to improve vocabulary.
As Sun Tzu said in The Art of War, “The difficult must be done while it is easy.”
To give you some context, here are my vocabulary statistics: From December 2024 to January 5, 2025, I scored 86%. From January 6 to January 12, I maintained that 86%, occasionally reaching 90%. The highest I remember is 95%. In the mastery section of my assessments, I’ve been more accurate than the top 1% of users.
March 17 - March 23, more unique words than 79%
That might not seem significant, but consider this: Grammarly has around 30 million daily active users, and I’m using the free version.
I edit and write my work to refine my writing style, primarily using Grammarly to catch grammar and punctuation errors.
Now, to the big question: “What is the fastest way to improve one’s vocabulary?”
Let’s take a moment to understand why I wanted to improve my vocabulary in the first place. In 2017, during an art exhibition in a distant city, people kept asking me, “Are you a writer?” They mentioned that the brief descriptions in the exhibition catalogs made them think so.
Fast forward to 2020, when I created paintings and wrote short descriptions about them. I shared these with my WhatsApp broadcast list of friends with good taste in art. The response was overwhelming; people were asking to be added to the list, and I received calls thanking me for the words that accompanied the paintings. The descriptions didn’t explicitly explain the meaning of the art; instead, there was a harmonious relationship between the art and the words, allowing them to stand alone.
In 2022, I decided to focus on improving my writing skills. Here’s what I did:
1. I immersed myself in rap music. I created a Spotify account and started listening to rap music, particularly drawn to one artist. Drumroll, please!
Eminem!!!
Eminem was my top artist for 2024, placing me in the top 0.05% of listeners worldwide!
In the song No Love (feat. Lil Wayne), there’s a lyric that resonates with me: “When you’re so good that you can't say it, ‘cause it ain't even cool for you to sound cocky anymore.”
That’s the level of writing I aspire to achieve, and it motivates me to learn new words. Rap is a form of poetry that demands a strong vocabulary
My second top artist was NF, followed by Olamide, another rapper I admire.
2. I broke out of my habitual word patterns. We often stick to a familiar set of words, missing out on the vast universe of vocabulary available to us.
So, what’s your goal?
Do you want to genuinely connect with others or just show off your extensive vocabulary? Even scholars communicate at a fifth-grade level to ensure clarity.
If communication is your aim, forget the thesaurus and focus on engaging with others. I tried vocabulary apps, but they were slow and hard to maintain. So, I pivoted to listening to podcasts, engaging in conversations, and watching my relationships flourish. It’s not about flexing; it’s about connecting.
3. I treated chatting like writing. I eliminated slang and abbreviations, added punctuation, and structured my texts properly. This small change made a big difference in how I articulated my thoughts.
4. I played word games. You can simply type “word coach” into Google to find some fun options.
5. I leveraged audiobooks. While reading books is a great way to improve vocabulary, audiobooks offer a faster alternative. You can listen to them just like you would podcasts, absorbing new words naturally.
After trying all these methods, I discovered one key habit that made a significant difference: tracking my growth.
I maintain a diary where I write about my experiences. In the background, it tracks my writing skills based on my prompts, but I delete the diary chats each year because I don’t believe in living off past accolades.
Additionally, I use Grammarly and share my work with others to receive feedback in real life
Be honest with yourself when measuring your growth.
I’ll leave you with this quote:
“The rules of the military are five: measurement, assessment, calculation, comparison, and victory. The ground gives rise to measurements; measurements give rise to assessments; assessments give rise to calculations; calculations give rise to comparisons; and comparisons give rise to victories.”
