Learning, teaching, and using new vocabulary is a hard task! As an English teacher, I know you are shocked to hear me say this, but it is true! When growing up, you learn your first words from your family and surroundings. You learn how to talk based on it. When you enter school, you learn more vocabulary from those surrounding and what is introduced to you from school. However; after a while, words tend to get repetitive. There are so many synonyms for the words one has had in their vocabulary for years! What’s wrong with using the first word someone learned?
Well, thinking like an English teacher, I know that it is important to have a vast vocabulary to communicate better verbally. But who are we, teachers, to tell kids that their way of communication is not correct. They use words that are probably not in the dictionary, but it still conveys what they want to express. I have heard lots of my students talk using slang. Some of the meanings astound me. I cannot believe someone who is thought to have a low vocabulary could create such a unique word.
Don’t get me wrong, I do believe dictionary vocabulary is important. I just do not want to accept the fact that some students are as low as statics make us believe.
