Have fun increasing your vocabulary

Someone made the point recently, by way of a comment to an awesome post by DStaple (Dave) on the vital importantance for us internet marketers and website builders, that some folk will have a harder time than others writing lively and engaging posts due to their vocabulary being limited and not so well developed. In his post, Dave urges us to post often, daily if at all possible, to improve our skills. Dave, I hear you, and if not daily, there will be more posts from me too (aaargh! - just tried to pull my finger out - I will have to try something else :(.

While for many here, this would not be a chore, but something they would love to do anyway, if only they could get around to it (more on that later), brushing up on word skills, or vocabulary building, is something that would benefit those who have not paid much attention to it.

How to ramp up the vocabulary, though, without making it dreary and tedious? We all spend long hours at the keyboard, working hard already and learning, learning, learning at every opportunity. How to do all this and find time for family and friends at the same time? How to do this and have some vital time out on a regular basis? You can pull out your dictionary and study it until you fall asleep (about 15 minutes is my time span on this one!) or ......................... you can dust off your Scrabble board, invite some friends around and have some serious fun while you learn.

While Scrabble may not be everyone's idea of fun, it really can be! A random Scrabble night with a couple of long time friends recently (more of an excuse to get together) turned into such fun that it is going to be a fortnightly occasion. While the
Scrabble was the secondary reason for getting together, we eventually dutifully got the board out and started playing. Before long, we had to reach for the dictionary, and then again, and again, until one dictionary didn't cut it, and a second one was found and kept on hand; both dictionaries were being checked and used throughout the game. Anyone can play Scrabble, and there is a place for words of any simplicity. Some people win games simply by building their own strategies using small words and placing them very cleverly. You just have to use the letters you have as creatively as possible. Warning - it can become addictive!

We also kept a box of chocolates on hand, and 20 points or more earned you a chocolate. This really ramped up the motivation and competition, with the game rules being checked and applied mercilessly (amidst protests and peels of laughter) as one person was getting most of the chocolates (no names mentioned!). While Scrabble was the excuse for us getting together (we had only previously managed this around once in 12 months!), it is now THE reason for a fortnightly occasion, so not only are we improving our vocabulary, we are having fun and staying in touch on a regular basis. Life is short and we should make time for our friends as well as our families. We are all busier these days, it seems, and are at risk of sacrificing our precious relationships.

Play Scrabble with your friends, have fun and improve your vocabulary all at the same time (oh, and you can always share the chocolates around at the end of the game if you are winning them all - that way, your friends WILL come back:)