If you just know one word for the color "red," how can you express to the painter you've hired that you want to paint your walls "burgundy" instead of "fire engine red"? Likewise, how can you avoid using the same word in your essay for college over and over again?

Learning synonyms is vital to improving your vocabulary. Here are a few ways to do just that.

Videos

First, I would encourage you to watch short videos in English online and write down new words that you hear or to write down words you read in magazines, online, or in books. While I am not paid to mention this site, I believe English Central is a good resource for short videos that are designed to help English learners master vocabulary. You can even check your pronunciation with a paid account.

YouTube is another perfectly good place to watch short clips from English movies. Make sure you have your subtitles turned on to make sure you spell the new words correctly. Additionally, check out the free ESLVideo.com site for short videos with comprehension quizzes to also improve your listening comprehension. English Club also has some videos.

Vocabulary Charts

After you have a list of vocabulary, create a chart for each one following these directions. First, fold a piece of paper into fourths. Then write a vocabulary word in the middle. In the upper left-hand corner, write a definition for the word that makes sense to you, NOT a dictionary definition you don't understand. In the upper right-hand corner, write a synonym for the word using a thesaurus or Thesaurus.com (Note that words with the closest meaning are listed first and in a different color than other synonyms on this site.)

In the lower left-hand corner, write an antonym, or a word that means the opposite. Some words may not have antonyms. You may also have to think of a phrase instead of one word to describe the opposite of the vocabulary word. Finally, in the lower right-hand corner, write an example sentence.

Make sure that you use the part of speech and the meaning of the word that was in the video or printed material from where you got the word. You don't want to listen to the word "menace" in a video, write down the verb definition, and then write an example sentence with "menace" as a noun, for example.

Also, draw a picture that represents the definition to you in this corner. You can also do this whole exercise in Microsoft Word or Open Office and just insert a picture from the Internet.

Quizlet

One of my favorite sites for mastering new vocabulary is Quizlet. Accounts are free. You can create lists of words in different categories, and then make virtual flashcards for them. Play games to master spelling and definitions as well. The program keeps track of how many you get right in various vocabulary activities it offers so you don't need to keep studying words you already know. I would suggest practicing new words with site after you have created the vocabulary charts described above.