When You’re Not So Proud of Your Vocabulary

// January 15th, 2007

What do you do?

Do you stop talking or duck when asked to do an impromptu speech? Or say you’re too busy when asked to write a recommendation letter or even just you’re kid’s excuse letter when he didn’t make it to school yesterday?

I’m running an outsourcing web content writing job and although this is the case, I’m not one who can say I’m one hell of a writer and my vocabulary can’t be topped. No way, Jose!

I have to admit, the reason I’m too cautious when replying to emails, esp. since many of the writers who I work with are seasoned ones, is that I’m scared that they might bash me because of my limited vocabulary. You know why? I was once burned by an British ex-boss with my usage of pompous. And that was carved in my memory.

But I refuse to let my vocabulary limitations set me in a bad mood whenever I remember that incidence. I grab vocabulary books from National Bookstore or Book Sale! (the local used books store) whenever I’d find one that interests me. And when I say “one that interests me”, I mean interest with a capital I. A vocabulary book that can be a breeze to read.

Just a few weeks ago, I got so lucky to discover Word Smart: Building an Educated Vocabulary from The Princeton Review. It’s actually a review book made especially for SAT and other standardized test takers. But it’s also one great vocabulary book for those people like me who hates too nerdy books. Amazon.com has it if you’re interested. And no, that’s NOT an affiliate link.