ATAR Notes: Forum
VCE Stuff => VCE English Studies => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE English & EAL => Topic started by: pha0015 on May 10, 2018, 11:10:23 am
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So I know that I've acquired an extensive vocab, mainly latently from my excessive reading habits, but I don't know how to tap into it to enhance my writing. Don't know if I'm explaining this right but for example, I can understand the meaning behind such words, or at least grasp the gist of it, but when I try to write in a sophisticated manner, those words don't come to mind, and so I'm stuck repeating this limited list of vocab, which makes me sound as if I'm a student who just memorised a bunch of sophisticated words to appear more intelligent, which is frowned upon in English.
SOS?
Don't know if anyone else has this problem, as usually people are stuck building their vocab, not drawing it out from their subconscious.
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Same. I know what the words mean but I just don't write them haha. Maybe try just writing random sentences that use those words. Like sentences that you may write in english so that you become more familiar with them and they're the first thing to pop into your mind when you go to actually write a sentence with similar meaning for english.
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Probably not the advice you're looking for, but aim for precise rather than 'sophisticated' vocabulary. Regardless of how well you do it, using words just for their perceived sophistication will always come off as pretentious.
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I think a lot of people have this problem, technically they know the meaning of a word, but are not familiar enough with it to use it subconsciously. Interestingly, most people tend to write how they speak, so if you wish to write on a more sophisticated level, I would suggest that you start by integrating such language into your speech. Once a word comes naturally to you in conversation, you are more likely to subconsciously use it in your writing.
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Probably not the advice you're looking for, but aim for precise rather than 'sophisticated' vocabulary. Regardless of how well you do it, using words just for their perceived sophistication will always come off as pretentious.
I think this advice is really important. You're more likely to do well out of English by using words well rather than using fancy words. Good writing isn't necessarily full of really fancy language. You'll notice that a lot of writers only use difficult words sparingly and, indeed, might find yourself getting really ticked off with writers who don't!
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Hi pha0015,
Don't know if anyone else has this problem
No, you are not the only one, I have the exact same problem which is really annoying.
According to, using words well rather than using fancy words
, it is not the way you use the words (well or not), it is more about a limited vocabulary in the sense that words are repeated many times whereas is it to say different things. I hope it makes sense.
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Hi pha0015,
No, you are not the only one, I have the exact same problem which is really annoying.
According to, , it is not the way you use the words (well or not), it is more about a limited vocabulary in the sense that words are repeated many times whereas is it to say different things. I hope it makes sense.
Thanks for your support, clarification and revival of this thread. Just to clarify for other members, I have no problem with using precise vocab - I never use words that I'm unsure of without first checking the dictionary, although I do have a subconscious vocabulary of words in which I'm unsure of their meanings. This makes sense, right?
I just felt too chicken to voice this up as:
a) atarnote legends were giving me advice; it's sacrilegious to oppose them
b) it was good advice, just not specific to my needs
c) their advice had brainwashed me into believing I had the problems that they're giving the solutions to
d) I'd waited too long for more advice despite its inactivity and then I just gave up and then forgot to say thanks to everyone who offered me advice
EDIT: I just realised that it's only been 5 days since I posted this.
So once again, thanks to all for endeavouring to help me. I'll attempt to implement your advice in the hopes that it'll help in other facets of english.