Words Your Way.docVIP

Words Your Way 　　（School of Applied English,Dalian University of Foreign Languages,Dalian, Liaoning 116044） 　　Abstract. This paper will briefly talk about how to achieve successful vocabulary learning by focusing on problems in vocabulary learning and the solutions to them by discussing several critical issues such as what is involved in knowing a word through talking about the classification of active words and passive words; how many words a learner needs to know through discussing basic English words and common English words; what career-specific words are through proposing a new idea in word learning and vocabulary learning strategies. 　　Key words: Knowing a word, basic words, vocabulary learning strategies, career-specific words 　　1 Introduction 　　We all know that vocabulary learning is very important in learning English. Some people even believe that learning a foreign language is actually the learning of the words. A famous linguist once said that a person can communicate without knowing much grammar, but without knowing words nobody can communicate. 　　Surveys show that most English learners spend most of their time on memorizing words. However, it is inevitable that almost every learner confronts the problem: keep learning, keep forgetting. What’s worse, most students feel frustrated because they know a great number of words, but they still have problems in communicating in English. 　　In order to solve these problems what should students do? Actually, to achieve successful vocabulary learning students should attach great importance not only to increasing the number of words, but also to learning a word effectively by understanding what is involved in knowing a word and how to use vocabulary learning strategies. 　　2 What is involved in knowing a word? 　　For most Chinese students who have had several years of English learning experiences, the number of words they’ve learned is around several thousand. English majors are supposed to know 8,000?0,00