Learn English vocabulary - which English words to learn?

If you want to learn how to learn English vocabulary, you need to know which words to learn. You might be learning general English or want advanced English vocabulary. This book is a vocabulary builder to help you to learn English.

If you are a teaching English as a second language (ESL), you also need to know which words your students need to learn. It is more than just an English dictionary. The Cambridge English Lexicon is a private English tutor.

Cambridge English Lexicon was first published in 1980, and the fifth printing was in 1991. There might have been further printings, but it seems to be out of print now.

THE GOOD NEWS is that Amazon does have a few second hand copies available at very cheap prices, so get in quick if you want to buy one of these rare gems!

This book is a rare gem because learning English vocabulary is hard work. You don't want to spend time learning words that you will never use or read. 

That means that you have to only learn IMPORTANT English words.

The good news is that there are about 5,000 important English words, and this book will help you learn English vocabulary by showing what words to learn.

How do you know which words are part of the 5,000 important words?

In the picture below, you will see a page from the Cambridge English Lexicon. 

Look at the word "anxiety" - it is bold, and has a number 5 next to it. That means that it is in the first 5,000 words. But look at the word "anxious" it has a 3, so it is in the first 3,000 words. That means you should learn anxious before anxiety because the smaller the number the more important it is.

If you are a beginner, you need to start with all the words with number 1 next to them, then number 2 etc.

HOWEVER you must remember, that this book only shows you which words to learn.

IT DOES NOT show you what they mean, how to use them in a sentence or how to say them.

For that, you will need a good learner's dictionary.

What you have learned here is how to choose which vocabulary words are important to learn.

Title: Cambridge English Lexicon: A graded word list for materials writers and course designers

Author: Roland Hindmarsh

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1991)

ISBN: 0521216230

If you want to learn how to learn English vocabulary, you need to know which words to learn. You might be learning general English or want advanced English vocabulary. The Cambridge English Lexicon is a vocabulary builder to help you to learn English. The Cambridge English Lexicon is a private English tutor.

If you are a teaching English as a second language (ESL), you also need to know which words your students need to learn. It is more than just an English dictionary, it is a needed resource.