The task of the study was to determine the volume of the passive vocabulary of native speakers of the Russian language. The measurement was carried out using , in which the respondents were asked to mark familiar words from a specially compiled sample. According to the rules of the test, a word was considered “familiar” if the respondent could define at least one of its meanings. The test methodology is described in detail. To increase the accuracy of the test and to identify respondents who pass it inaccurately, non-existent words were added to the test. If the respondent marked at least one such word as familiar, his results were not taken into account. More than 150 thousand people took part in the study (of which 123 thousand passed the test accurately).

First, let's analyze the effect of age on vocabulary.

The graph shows the percentiles of the resulting distribution. For example, the lowest curve (10th percentile) for 20 years gives 40 thousand words. This means that 10% of respondents of this age have a vocabulary below this value, and 90% - above. The central curve highlighted in blue (median) corresponds to such a vocabulary that half of the respondents of the corresponding age performed worse, and half better. The uppermost curve - the 90th percentile - cuts off the result, above which only 10% of respondents with the maximum vocabulary showed.

The graph shows the following:

  1. Vocabulary grows at a nearly constant rate up to about 20 years of age, after which the rate of acquisition decreases, fading away by age 45. After this age, the vocabulary almost does not change.
  2. While studying at school, a teenager learns 10 words a day. This value seems unnaturally large, but it is explained by the fact that in the test derivative words were taken into account separately, as independent ones.
  3. By the time they graduate from school, the average teenager knows 51,000 words.
  4. During schooling, vocabulary increases by about 2.5 times.
  5. After graduation from school and before middle age, a person on average learns 3 new words a day.
  6. After reaching the age of 55, vocabulary begins to decline somewhat. This may be due to forgetting words that are not used for a long time. Interestingly, this age roughly coincides with retirement.

Now let's divide all the respondents into groups according to the level of education. The following graph depicts the medians of the vocabulary of these groups. The curves start and end in different places due to the fact that the statistics for all groups are different - for example, there were not enough respondents with incomplete secondary education over 45 for the results to be statistically significant, so the corresponding curve had to be cut off so early.


From the graph, you can see that

  1. Perhaps the saturation of the vocabulary occurs at different ages, depending on education. So, for respondents with a secondary specialized education, saturation can be determined at around 43 years old, with a higher education - at 51 years old, for candidates and doctors - at 54 years old. This could be explained by the specifics of the work of the respondents - most likely, the holders of an academic degree continue to study various literature even in adulthood. Or constant life in a university environment, with its abundance of communication with educated people of various specializations, constantly throws up new words. However, from a technical point of view, such conclusions should not be drawn yet - the resulting curves are quite noisy, and it is very difficult to determine exactly where saturation begins. Perhaps a further set of statistics will make it possible to see the dependence of the age of saturation on the level of education (if any) more clearly.
  2. There is practically no difference in vocabulary between those who entered the university, but did not finish their studies, and those who went this way to the end (for students: this does not mean that you can not go to lectures).

Let us now exclude the effect of age, leaving only respondents over 30 in the sample. This will allow you to focus on education.


From the graph we see the following:

  1. Respondents who have just finished school know, on average, 2-3 thousand words more than those who did not finish it at the time.
  2. The vocabulary of those who have received secondary or secondary specialized education is practically the same and averages 75 thousand words.
  3. Those who studied at universities and institutes (and not necessarily graduated from them) know an average of 81,000 words.
  4. Candidates and doctors of science know an average of 86,000 words. Thus, an academic degree adds about 5,000 vocabulary units compared to higher education.
  5. Education, of course, affects the size of the vocabulary. However, the spread within each group with the same education is much larger than the difference between the group means. In other words, a person who has not finished school may well know more words than a candidate of sciences. Here are the specific figures - 20% of respondents with incomplete secondary education, who showed the best result for their group, have a vocabulary that exceeds the vocabulary of half of the respondents with an advanced degree. Most likely, they read more on different topics, are interested in and understand more areas.

The resulting vocabulary values—tens of thousands of words—seem to be quite large. There are two reasons for this. First, passive vocabulary (words that a person recognizes in text or by ear) was measured, rather than active vocabulary (words that a person uses in speech or writing). These reserves differ significantly - passive is always much larger. The calculated vocabulary of writers, for example, is precisely active. Secondly, in the test, all derived words were taken into account separately (for example, “work” and “work”, or “city” and “urban”).

Separately, I would like to note that the results obtained do not give an idea of ​​the vocabulary of the "average" (if such exists at all) native speaker of the Russian language. For example, the level of education of the respondents who passed the test is significantly higher than the national level - 65% of respondents have higher education, while in Russia there are only 23% of them (according to the 2010 All-Russian Population Census). Then, it is obvious that the respondents who passed the Internet test are mainly active Internet users, and this also makes the sample specific (mainly for older people). In the end, not everyone is interested in defining their own vocabulary, among our respondents there are 100% of them. It is logical to assume that the vocabulary results obtained from such a special sample should be somewhat higher than the "average".

So, the data obtained revealed a strong dependence of vocabulary on age, and a weaker dependence on the level of education. Obviously, there are other factors that affect vocabulary - reading, communication, work, hobbies, lifestyle. All of these are topics for future research.



How many words are in English? Oxford English Dictionary contains about 500,000 entries, not including specific scientific words and expressions (of which there are still about 500,000). What do you think, what average vocabulary of a foreign language does high school give you during your studies? The correct answer is about 2500 words. Is this set enough? Here it is already necessary to proceed from your goals. For communication with foreigners on business topics - definitely not enough. For reading simple texts on the Internet - more than enough. To be more precise:

400–500 words– active vocabulary for language proficiency at a basic (threshold) level.
800–1000 words– active vocabulary in order to explain; or passive vocabulary for reading at a basic level.
1500–2000 words- an active vocabulary, which is quite enough to ensure everyday communication throughout the day: or a passive vocabulary, sufficient for confident reading.
3000–4000 words- in general, it is enough for practically free reading of newspapers or literature in the specialty.
About 8000 words– provide full communication for the average European. It is practically not necessary to know more words in order to communicate freely both orally and in writing, as well as to read literature of any kind.

The well-known Swedish polyglot Eric Gunnemark, the founder of the International Association `Amici Linguarum` (`Friends of Languages`), came to these data. Moreover, he compiled a set of the minimum number of words and expressions that you need to know for a threshold level of language proficiency, calling them Minilex and Miniphrase.

Interestingly, what is the average level of vocabulary for an ordinary network user and for you personally? I will talk about this further.


A study conducted by a joint US-Brazilian group revealed some interesting results. For example, the graph below shows how vocabulary increases with age in native speakers of a language (in this case, English).


200,000 people took part in the survey, which indicates its high accuracy. The graph shows that between the ages of 3 and 16, our vocabulary grows at a rate of 4 new words per day (3.8 words to be exact). Between the ages of 16 and 50, the growth rate drops to 1 per day (0.85 to be exact). And finally, after 50, the vocabulary remains about the same level.

And what is the average stock of English words for Internet users for whom English is not their native language? The diagram below will answer this question.


It does not take into account users with a vocabulary below 1000. As we can see, most of the users who study English (4.7%) have a personal vocabulary of 4500 words. You can check the level of your knowledge in just a couple of minutes (link at the end of the article) and compare it with these indicators.

Let's look at some other interesting findings. The following diagram shows the activity of students in class activities (answering questions, communication) from the level of vocabulary.


As expected, the students with the best word proficiency participate most actively in the lesson process, but this is not a fundamental factor.

The following diagram answers the question: how often do you use English in your life (when watching TV, traveling, listening to songs, etc.)


Again, as vocabulary grows, learners begin to use the language more often in everyday life, with those who encounter English frequently having twice as much vocabulary.
If you have traveled to English speaking countries, how long have you been there?


From the chart, we can see that people with 7,000 to 10,000 words spend less than a year abroad in total. Each successive year in an English-speaking country adds an average of 850 words to your initial vocabulary, which equates to 2.35 words per day (compared to an American teenager whose vocabulary increases by 0.85 words per day).

Do regularly. Better a little every day than once a week for several hours in a row.
Carry printed word cards with you, or use the appropriate mobile apps.
Read as much as possible, even if the text is poorly perceived (I recommend reading the book by Nikolai Zamyatkin about this method, who advises learning to read texts without using a dictionary).
Learn as much as you can by heart.
Stick stickers on various items in the room with the English meaning and translation.
Repeat the words regularly, preferably speaking them out loud. Even Russian words are forgotten if they are not repeated and used for a long time.
Use associations for hard-to-remember words. The brighter the image created by the association, the better the word will be remembered.
Language is a fortress, and it must be stormed from all sides and by all means, so any practice is the basis of success, so use the slightest opportunity to speak, read, write in the language you are learning.
Don't be afraid of mistakes. They are learning from them! Excessive modesty does not help here, and some self-confidence does not hurt.
Use the time that is usually hopelessly wasted - travel in public transport, waiting for an appointment, etc.
Good to pay attention
For the article, the material of the vocabulary check site was used: http://testyourvocab.com
An example of a good dictionary of the main vocabulary can be considered a dictionary published by E. Klett in Stuttgart, 1971, under the name "Grundwortschatz Deutsch" ("The main vocabulary of the German language"). It provides 2,000 essential words in each of a selection of six languages: German, English, French, Spanish, Italian and Russian.
The book by E. Gunnemark, in which he talks in more detail about the study of words, is called “The Art of Learning Languages”. It is difficult to find it for sale (it has been absent from the Moscow Biblio-Globus since 2005). Therefore, I recommend downloading the electronic version.
The Minilex and Miniphrase Gunnemark course, as well as the 2000 most used English words, can be taken on the vocabulary replenishment site WordSteps
The book by N. Zamyatkin: “It is impossible to teach you a foreign language” is recommended for beginners to learn a language.

2.1. historicisms

2.2. Archaisms

    Neologisms

3.1. Linguistic neologisms and occasionalisms

3.2. Sources of neologisms

Literature

__________________________________________________________________________________________

    Active and passive vocabulary

The vocabulary of the language is almost continuously updated new words, the emergence of which is associated with changes in the life of society, the development of production, science and culture.

At the same time, the opposite process takes place in the vocabulary - the disappearance from its composition obsolete words and meanings.

Since the consolidation of new words and meanings in the language, and especially the departure from the outdated language - gradual process And long, in the language there are always two layers of vocabulary at the same time:

    active lexicon,

    passive lexicon.

to active vocabulary language refers to all vocabulary that is used daily in a particular area of ​​communication.

To the passive vocabulary language includes words that are rarely used, have not yet become or have ceased to be necessary, familiar in a particular area of ​​communication, i.e.

    words that leave the language obsolete words),

    words that have not yet finally entered general literary use or have just appeared in it ( neologisms).

Border between active and passive dictionaries a) fuzzy (in synchrony) and b) mobile (in diachrony).

a) words active in one area of ​​life or in one style of speech, less active or passive in other areas of life and styles of speech. For example, words that are active in everyday life can be passive in scientific or business speech, and vice versa.

b) Active dictionary units under certain conditions, they can easily go into a passive reserve:

    drummer(socialist labor),

    pager.

A liability units can easily become an asset [Girutsky, p. 147–148]:

    neologisms: make-up artist, flash drive...

    former historicisms: mayor, think...

Distinguish between active and passive vocabulary language and individual native speakers.

Active dictionary of a native speaker- a set of lexical units that the speaker freely uses in spontaneous speech.

Passive vocabulary of a native speaker- a set of LEs that are understandable to a native speaker, but are not used by him in spontaneous speech.

It's obvious that

    specific carrier language differ significantly(quantitatively and qualitatively) from active and passive dictionaries language;

    active and passive dictionaries different carriers language differ significantly volume and composition depending on

    age,

    level of education,

    spheres of activity [ERYA, p. 21].

    obsolete words

The loss of a word or one or another of its meanings is the result of a long process archaic. The word or meaning begins to be used less frequently and moves from an active vocabulary to a passive one, and then it can gradually be forgotten and disappear from the language.

Obsolete words form complex system. They are inconsistent in terms of

    degree of obsolescence

    reasons for archaization

    possibilities and nature of their use.

    Degree of obsolete some scholars highlight necroticisms and obsolete words.

Necroticisms(< греч.necros‘dead’) are words that are currently completely unknown to ordinary native speakers:

    stern‘paternal uncle’,

    circle‘mockery’ (cf. circle at),

    zga‘road’ (cf.: path,neitherzgi can not see).

These words are not even included in the passive stock of the language [SRYA-1, p. 56].

Obsolete words - actual language units having

    limited scope

    and specific stylistic properties:

    verst(old Russian measure of length ≈ 1.06 km),

    policeman(the lowest rank of the city police in pre-revolutionary Russia),

    speak(speak).

Many words that have disappeared from the active dictionary literary language, are actively used in dialects:

    vered (a), vologa, put, right'wash', cod‘bed, bed’…

Words that are obsolete and even gone from a given language can be stored in an active vocabulary other languages, first of all related. Wed:

    velmy'Very' (velmi - in white, velmy in Ukrainian),

    knock'fat' – in white (cf. Russian. fat),

    the whole‘village, village’ – in Bel. weighty, in Polish. wieś .

Words can be stored in unrelated languages, if they were borrowed [SRYASH, p. 294]

    Depending on the reasons for archaization There are two types of obsolete words:

    historicisms,

    archaisms.

2.1. historicisms- these are words that have gone out of active use, because. became irrelevant or the objects or phenomena they denoted disappeared.

Those. appearance historicism caused extralinguistic reasons: the development of society, science, culture, changing the customs and way of life of the people.

historicisms Dont Havesynonyms in modern language and are used when necessary to name the disappeared realities:

    boyar, coachman, altyn(coin of 3 kopecks) , chain mail[ERYA, p. 159].

Depending on whether it's outdated whole word or only its meaning, distinguish 2 types of historicisms:

    lexical (full),

    semantic (partial).

    Lexical(full) historicisms- words (single- and multi-valued) that have gone out of active use as sound complexes along with meanings:

    caftan;mayor(in Russia until the middle of the 19th century, the head of a county town) - the names of old positions are considered historicisms.

    Semantic(partial) historicisms– obsolete values polysemantic words of the active dictionary:

mace: 1) a short rod with a spherical heavy head, a symbol of the power of a military leader, in the old days - a shock weapon;

2) a gymnastic hand-held apparatus in the form of a bottle with a thickening at the narrow end.

1 LSV - semantic historicism, in the 2nd sense it is a word of the active dictionary.

Special category make up historicisms that name realities that have disappeared from the life of native speakers of a given language, but are relevant in the lives of other modern peoples, therefore exoticisms(on exoticisms, see the lecture "Vocabulary from the point of view of origin"):

    chancellor, burgomaster...

    Historicisms are used

    How neutral words- if necessary, name the realities indicated by them (for example, in historical works);

    How stylistic device:

    to create a solemn style (for example, in journalism and poetry) [ERYa, p. 160].

2.2. Archaisms(gr. archaios‘ancient’) – words displaced by synonymous lexical units [ERY, p. 37].

Archaisms in the modern language necessarily there are synonyms:

    fishing'hunting', voyage'journey', koi'which', piit'poet', Baltic 'Baltic', complacency'complacency'.

If causes turning words into historicisms quite clear, then the clarification of the causes of the appearance archaisms is a rather difficult problem. For example, it is not so easy to answer the question why the words:

    finger, this, hitherto, will pushed out of active use by words finger, this one, so far, if.

Depending on whether it's out of date phonographic shell words or one of values, distinguish:

    lexical archaisms (outdated phonographic shell) And

    semantic archaisms (obsolete one of the values words).

    Lexicalarchaisms may differ from the modern synonymous word in different ways. Depending on this, several groups are distinguished.

    Proper lexical archaisms - words that are displaced from the active stock by words with another root:

    Victoria'victory', sispeech'that is', shuytsa'left hand', actor'actor', ever'constantly', velmy'Very', dennitsa‘morning dawn’.

    Lexical and derivational archaisms differ from modern equivalents in a derivational element:

    fishar 'fisherman', murdererec 'murderer', answerstems be'reply';

    from veta'slander', is in a hurry‘hurried up’.

    Lexico-phonetic archaisms are somewhat different from the modern synonym in sound appearance:

    piit'poet', mirror'mirror', smooth'hunger', voxal'railway station', iroism 'heroism', Guishpanese 'Spanish'.

    In addition to lexical ones, there are grammaticalarchaisms are obsolete forms of words:

A) not existing in modern language, for example,

    vocative forms of nouns: devo! father! king!

    wherewent to eat Russian land (old perfect).

b) grammatical forms, which in the modern language formed differently.:

    to the balle , give me('give!') , performAnd , diee (‘died’ – old aorist), Russianago , equalsYu .

    Semantic archaism- it's outdated meaning polysemantic word of the active dictionary, expressed in the modern language by another word.

By the fact that the meaning, obsolete for one sound complex, is expressed by another sound complex, semantic archaism differs from semantic historicism.

Otherwise, semantic archaisms are defined as words, used earlier in a different meaning than now:

    stomach‘life’ (cf.: not to life, but to death),thief‘any state criminal’, language'people', a shame,disgrace'spectacle'.

    Archaisms can only be used with certain stylistic goal:

    to recreate the historical situation and speech coloring of the era;

    to create a solemn style (for example, in journalism and poetry).

The process of archaization of vocabulary not always straight forward: it often happens that under the influence of a variety of extralinguistic factors, obsolete words are returning to active stock. In this case, their meaning, as a rule, changes:

    historicisms: decree, ministry, duma, governor, mayor...

    archaisms: tavern(in tsarist Russia - a drinking establishment of the lowest category) - in modern youth jargon "restaurant, cafe where you can drink."

Often words that are obsolete in direct meaning, in metaphorical meanings of the word are not perceived by speakers as obsolete:

    master‘a person who does not like to work himself’,

    footman‘fawn’

    serf‘servant, henchman’ [Rakhmanova, Suzdaltseva, p. 154].

    Neologisms

Neologisms(gr. neos'new', logos‘word’) - words, word meanings or combinations of words that appeared in the language in a certain period and are perceived by native speakers as new.

These are words that have not yet entered the active vocabulary.

Neologisms are also defined as words that arose in the memory of the generation using them.

The belonging of words to neologisms is a relative and historical property. They remain neologisms only as long as they retain a shade of freshness, unusualness [LES, p. 331]. For example, the word astronaut appeared in 1957 and has not felt like new for a long time.

In 1996, the words were perceived as neologisms:

    lawlessness,broker,GKChP, gekachepist, digestest'print overview', OMON, riot police, teenager,thriller, phytodesign,voucher,video cassette,clip,sponsor,supermarket,shaping, shop-tour,charter(flight).

It happens that neologisms, without becoming facts of an active dictionary, quickly pass into the category of obsolete words. Wed:

    virgin lands (originated in 1954), gekachepist,Dudaevites,pager.

In developed languages, the number of neologisms recorded in newspapers and magazines during one year is tens of thousands. First of all, these are words created from native language material. However, they are less noticeable than borrowings, so it often seems that there are more borrowings among neologisms.

The appearance of neologisms is explained

    extralinguistic reasons: the social need to name everything new,

    intralingual reasons: tendencies towards economy, unification, systematic language means, variation of nominations with different internal forms; tasks of expressive-emotional, stylistic expressiveness [LES, p. 331].

Depending on whether the old word differs from new plan of expression or content plan, distinguish

    lexical neologisms (new words): shadow worker, security officer, horror story, mobile phone, cabal, taxing, nanotechnologies…

    semantic neologisms (new values existing words):

    walrus‘winter swimmer’ (this meaning was a semantic neologism for some time after its origin),

    truck‘cargo spaceship’,

    disk‘gramophone record’ (cf. figurative meanings of words: throw, put on, run over, arrow, roof, negative),

    nanotechnology -(transl.) ‘projects that require large expenses, but give an insignificant result’, a way of obtaining money by fraudulent means’;

    in addition, allocate phraseological neologisms:

    The White house- about Russian realities, credit of trust,unpopular measures,constitutional state,living wage,Funny price…

Speech is a powerful tool, thanks to which it is possible to perform actions not only local, but also global. Look at the outstanding lecturers, announcers, professors, priests, coaches - they all constantly have to feed themselves lexically in order to effectively and effectively work with the public.

We understand the word: etymology and morphemes

Failure to understand the stored information greatly hinders its adequate reproduction in the future.

Let's take poetry as an example. The same verse.

First option- this is mechanical memorization through pronunciation, that is, cramming, which is also used in relation to tongue twisters - we do not delve into the meaning at all, but only thoughtlessly repeat and repeat the same set of words;

Second option- complex, to the point, characterized by stronger neural connections, which are responsible for memorizing, preserving and reproducing the material.

Therefore, if possible, it is necessary to deal with the origin of the word, its structure and determine its close and distant relatives.

Instant introduction of words into oral speech - or the method of cards

The so-called card method is familiar to many of us firsthand, it is actively used by teachers of schools and universities in the classroom, most often in a foreign language, but it also happens that the technique is also implemented in classes on the culture of speech.

There is absolutely nothing complicated in it: collect the words to be transferred to the active stock, fix them on the cards and try to use them as often as possible. If it is written in a foreign language, then it is highly undesirable to use Russian for translation, it is better to use the target language to determine the meaning of the word or bright pictures.

Fixing a word in active stock with a letter

To memorize single words or constructions from them, you need a little patience and imagination.

  1. Take a specific word or set phrase, if you are still at the initial levels of the language, you should not burden your speech production with cumbersome forms that are difficult for a beginner.
    But do not think that you should completely forget about them and continue to manage only simple vocabulary. Of course not, as soon as your active vocabulary reaches a confident level, feel free to start paying attention to complex structures.
  2. . Make sentences using the chosen word. Relax and try to throw in as many ideas as possible, write in narrative, interrogative, imperative forms and actively use familiar tenses.
  3. At increase the difficulty gradually, try to place the words not only in the middle of the sentence, but also along its edges, so memorization will be more effective, according to the “edge effect” of Hermann Ebbinghaus.
  4. Come up with a bright, interesting story with the chosen word, it may be small, but it should be saturated with emotions and associations, this is done to better consolidate the material in long-term memory.
  5. Check. Reread your results aloud several times.
  6. Completely correct grammatical inaccuracies by contacting native speakers, and if you have a personal tutor or friend who can give detailed feedback soon, then that's just great!

We bet you've been in a situation where you've come across a word that seemed very familiar. You were sure you had taught him before, but you still couldn't remember. This means that the word has gone into the passive vocabulary.

Such words are stored somewhere in the depths of memory, we vaguely remember them, but since we do not use them regularly, they begin to fade into the background, giving way to words that we use daily. Another example of a passive vocabulary is words that we understand when reading or speaking, but do not use ourselves. It turns out a small paradox: we understand these words when they are spoken by someone, but when we ourselves need to use them, they suddenly “fly out of our heads”. Those words that we use regularly are included in the so-called active vocabulary.

Why activate passive vocabulary?

The active vocabulary of any person, both the language being studied and the native language, is always less than the passive one. Some believe that it is enough to know (remember) about 1,000 words to communicate. This point of view is debatable. Yes, knowledge of 1,000 words can be enough to communicate at a primitive level (such a vocabulary is usually found in children of 3-4 years old). However, during a full-fledged live communication, it is unlikely that the interlocutor will try to adjust to this level. Yes, and you may want to more accurately formulate your judgments, reveal your point of view by 100%, be able to express yourself beautifully, according to your age.

How to activate passive vocabulary

  1. Learn the words correctly
    In order for the word to be fixed in long-term memory, it is not enough to run through the list of words with your eyes, making sure that you remember everything. While learning new vocabulary, try to write it down by hand (this way you will include motor memory in the work), say each word aloud. Make up a few sentences with each of them to understand how you can use them in communication. Learn words in several visits - do not memorize them in one sitting, otherwise you will immediately forget what you learned. Break the memorization process into several steps. For example, for the first time write down the words with the translation, after a while close the column with the meaning of the words. Then, looking at each word, try to remember what it means. Then do the same, but this time, look only at the value. Periodically review the learned vocabulary.
  2. Read aloud
    Reading often helps to enrich the passive vocabulary, but a good book can enrich the active one as well. By reading aloud, you learn to pronounce unfamiliar words, which increases your chances of remembering them. After reading, try to retell the text using the vocabulary you have learned from it.
  3. Learn from others
    When communicating with someone in English, try to use "passive" words as often as possible. Practice incorporating them into your everyday speech, so you will bring them to the asset. You can write down new words on a piece of paper and take it to a lesson with a tutor or to a speaking club, trying to use each word from the list during the lesson.
  4. Write posts
    This option is great for those who study in courses, and for those who study the language on their own. Writing texts is the best way to remember, because our memory is great at assimilating what we have come up with on our own. If you doubt your knowledge, you can keep a personal diary, making it private access. By the way, a great way to track your progress is to re-read what you have written after a while and try to correct your own mistakes if they were made. If you are confident in your knowledge and like to speak online, you can try blogging in English, posting on Twitter or Facebook, making beautiful captions in English for photos on Instagram, or sharing your thoughts on thematic forums.
  5. Learn by heart
    Learning by heart can seem too boring and tedious, but not when you are learning something interesting. Try to learn poems or songs that you like - this is great for developing memory and enriching vocabulary.
  6. play games
    Different games help to replenish the vocabulary and refresh the words from the passive, and therefore activate them. Especially useful will be games to search for synonyms, scrabble, various crossword puzzles. You can search for them in English for a computer or in applications, then you will always have the game with you, and you can use your time when you are waiting for someone or when you are traveling in transport. If you are a fan of computer games, try to play English-language versions, then learning English will become a pleasant entertainment for you, and not a routine duty.

Now you know how to use your passive vocabulary so that words from it become part of everyday speech.