Tell me something, what do you know about – Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis?

What are you thinking?

Maybe, it’s a typo?

No, it’s not!

That is the longest word in the English language.

Forget about “properly” pronouncing it or spelling it, even the attempt to pronounce and understand that word, sounds terrifying.

This is not the only case. The English language has its fair share of long words. And, most of the people have a hard time dealing with them.

So, let me help you here with several ways to not only learn those mammoth words but also to master them.

Are you ready to know the techniques?

Let’s dig in.

 

What Does It Mean Master the Long Words?

At first, we need to know what we are dealing with.

There are approximately 273,000 words in the oxford dictionary. Not all the words are of the same length.

Some words may be are of one letter only. Look at the shortest word in English – “I” or “A.” While a lot of them comprise of four to five letters.

But there are some unusually long words like pulchritudinous. It consists of 15 words.

Now, what does it mean to learn and master long English words?

It means to master the following tasks –

• Spelling
• Correct word pronunciation
• Meaning/definition
• Synonyms and antonyms
• Sentence making

 

Why Should You Master Long Words?

Are you wondering why you should take all the trouble to learn some unusually long words?

Okay, let me tell you something. It is not necessary to learn these words for simple communication.

These words enrich your knowledge of the language. It helps you to write something of better quality and increases the weight of the speech.

And if you are a book lover, then you will find a lot of these words in famous books written by famous writers.

And apparently, lots of these words are in the books of engineering and medical courses.

Here are some basic reasons why you should learn long words –

 

Effective Communication

These long words will increase the vocabulary in your vault. You will not even understand how and when.

You will find some rare words which are not in use often. But when you will master this world you will be able to convey more complicated and novel ideas.

 

Enriching Vocabulary

When you will break a long word, you will find several words in that single word.

When you will break a single word into few more words you will eventually learn those words too.

So, you will learn many more vocabulary from just one.

 

Know the Origin

A huge portion of these long English words has come from other languages.

There are many Latin, Greek, French, and other words in the English language. And most of these long and tough words fall in this category.

When you will understand the roots of these words it will be easier to learn and master all these words.

You will also be able to know how the language develops. The development of English language, its history and diversity will amaze you.

 

Helps Written and Spoken English Skills 

Whenever you study the English language, you are improving your fluency.

How?

When you are breaking these words, you are writing it down into pieces and reading them too. It helps both your writing ability and makes you a fluent speaker.

 

The “Secret Trick” to Memorize Something

Let me make something clear.

This trick is old but not obsolete! This is still the most popular trick to learn new words.

So, what is the trick?

The trick is to – memorize them all!

Surprised?

Now the question is memorizing that easy?

No, never!

There are some essential factors relating the whole memorizing thing –

 

Are You Paying Attention?

Just not while learning these long words; attention is needed every time you are learning something new.

Without any proper attention, it will take an eternity to learn anything.

Your brain will process new information and store it to the memory cells when you are paying enough attention.

So, you will have to make sure you are paying full attention while memorizing a word.

 

Are You Motivated Enough?

The urge to learn and memorizing comes from the right motivation.

Think about it.

The amount of information you memorize in just a few days before the exam is definitely way more than the information you memorize the whole semester.

Ever wonder how this happens. This happens because, before the exam, you are highly motivated. The urge to do well in the exam raises your concentration.

So, while memorizing, try to motivate yourself.

 

Mind Your Surroundings

Yes, your surroundings have a lot to do with memorizing.

Can you memorize something while there is a high level of sounds and chaos going around you?

Good luck trying.

A calm environment around you helps you paying more attention to what you are memorizing.

So, try to be in a calm place while memorizing.

If you do not have any sound place in your home, then the suggestion will be the nearest public library.

 

Some Vocabulary Memory Tricks You Can Use

Create Flashcards

It may seem old-school, but who cares?

Flashcards are always a perfect way to study and memorize long words and their parts.

Write down every word you run through a day into flashcards.

 

Mnemonics

The word, Mnemonics, derives from the Greek word “mimnēskesthai.” It means “remember”.

Mnemonics is a system or tool to remember things with some assistance. Some mnemonic tools are songs, rhymes, acronyms, images.

Making a connection to these tools helps you remember the word in no time and for a long time.

 

Eat! Sleep! Learn! Repeat

There is a proverb that says, “Practice makes a man perfect.”

Yes, it is true.

Practicing is a highly effective way of learning anything. Anything new needs a quite amount of practice to be learned.

Every day, save some time to study vocabulary. It doesn’t matter how, when, or where you do it, but make sure that you practice a little daily. This will create a good habit.

 

Don’t Get Overwhelmed

Yes, the longest English words may often seem overwhelming.

But always try to be patient with yourself. Mastering long words takes time, and you will not master them overnight.

Be calm and master these words slowly.

 

Try to Have Fun!

Most importantly, try to have fun while learning these words.

Practice saying these long words. You will definitely make wrong pronunciations. When you do you may laugh. But do not feel embarrassed.

Even native speakers find it complex saying these long words.

 

Patience Is the Virtue

And obviously, be kind and patient with you.

Mastering long words is indeed a huge achievement. You definitely should be very proud of yourself each time you master a new long word.

 

Use the Words

Let me ask you something.

Have you ever imagined how you remember the name of those long and hard names of the medicines?

Let’s say, azithromycin!

Do you forget the name of azithromycin?

No, you do not.

Why?

That is because you have used and heard it numerous times.

 

Time to Break It Down

It is time to break the walls down.

Don’t worry.

I am not referring to a mental breakdown!

 I am saying that you should break these long words down into its basic parts.

When you recognize the essential elements of a long word, you will be able to understand the word. You will also be able to learn hundreds of new words.

These long words in the English language can seem complex and overwhelming. But remember, when you will break down the word into its parts, it will make learning these long words more manageable.

 

Before we go any further, we should define some terms to make sure we are all on the same page –

• Root word: Root word signifies the base form of a word.
• Prefix: Prefix is the element that sits before the base/root word and changes the meaning.
• Suffix: Similarly, suffix is an element that sits after the base/root word and changes the meaning

 

Here are some examples of breaking a word and make them easier to learn –

 

Floccinaucinihilipilification

Definition: The habit of estimating something as valueless

Essential word parts –

• Flocci
• Nauci
• Nihili
• Pili
• Suffix: –tion

 

Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism

Definition: It is a disease or more like an inherited disorder that signifies abnormal growth of bones.

Essential word parts –

• Prefix: Pseudo (false)
• Root word: Parathyroid (small glands in our body which regulates calcium)
• Suffix: –ism (a suffix used to make noun)

 

Antidisestablishmentarianism

Definition: A movement in 19th century for the disestablishment of Church of England.

Essential word parts –

• Prefix: Anti (opposed to)
• Root word: Establishment (action of establishing something)
• Suffix: –ism (a suffix used to make noun)

 

Pneumoencephalographically

Definition: It is a medical procedure in which cerebrospinal fluid is drained out by air or oxygen.

Essential word parts –

• Prefix: Pneumo (relating to air or gas)
• Root word: encephalograph (a machine used to carry encephalography)
• Suffix: -ly (used to make adverb)

 

All these words may seem frightening. And you may think it is not possible to learn all of them.

But keep that in mind that when you are learning the long words and breaking them down be patient. Stay calm. Do not get overwhelmed.

Soon you will be able to learn these long words and these long words will help you to learn a lot of new English words too.

 

SpellQuiz – The Savior

If you are a regular follower of our website, you should already know how SpellQuiz with building vocabulary and spelling test.

Didn’t know about these features?

Go ahead and check them out! You’ll be benefitted greatly!

If you are trying to find long words for kids or long easy word, you can check our new list – 100 Long English Words. 

Plus, you should definitely read our blog on – How long does it take to memorize something?

The topic is directly connected to the practice of long words in English.

 

Final Thoughts

Learning English is easy but a bit tricky.

But when we are talking about mastering the hardest elements of the language, we must move forward with specific plans and strategies.

Here in this article, I tried to help (who is in need) with some tricks which have been proven very successful mastering long English words.

But do you want to know a secret?

The most effective way will be if you make some way up to master long words.

Trust me, nothing will be more effective than that. But do not worry if you cannot find something on your own.

Just keep following the strategies mentioned in this article.

I believe you will be able to master the long words in the English language.