How to expand your vocabulary? Realizing the importance of indicating degree and direction.

Vocabulary. Can you really say someone has a "large vocabulary" just because they know many words?
In fact, I feel that the more difficult words you use, the fewer people will actually understand you.

So, how can you expand your vocabulary?

× Vocabulary = Knowing difficult words

○ Vocabulary = Ability to express yourself according to the listener

Thinking about it this way, I found quite a few starting points, so I'm writing them down.

Also, I realized that the more you improve your vocabulary, the more impossible it becomes to please everyone at once.
I've written down the reasons for that too, so please give it a read.

■ Two axes for expanding vocabulary

Using the following two axes seems to make it relatively easy to expand.
There are likely others, but I think it's good to grasp these as a foundation.

1. Indicating degree

Using words like "Yabai" (crazy/bad) or "Saiaku" (the worst) is prohibited.
Make it clear to what extent something is.
If you only use words like "Saitei" (the lowest) or "Saiaku" (the worst), you will lose the ability to verbalize and convey things when you encounter truly profound events.

So how can you express degree?
Rack my brain as I might... for example,

・Time
"My head was full of it until I went to sleep that day"
or
"I still remember it even after a week has passed"
and so on.

・Shades/Intensity
"Redder than blood"
or
"Like moonlight"
and so on.

・Comparison with past experience
"It hurts as much as stubbing my little toe on the corner"
or
"It's more bitter than beer, but better than black espresso coffee"
and so on.

It makes the sentences longer, but if you aim for expressions that can be compared to something, it seems you can expand your vocabulary.

2. Indicating direction

For example, if it's ramen,ending with just "It's delicious" is prohibited.

If it's a simple category, you should be able to express it if you like ramen even a little bit.
I'm talking about basic variations.
Soy sauce, miso, salt, tonkotsu (pork bone).

Just by adding this, you can imagine "what kind of deliciousness" it is much more concretely.
If someone is told "soy sauce," there's no way they would imagine a "salt"-based soup.

There must be various directions of deliciousness.
Is it refreshing or is it rich?
Is it intense or is it delicate?

There are many kinds of dashi (soup stock).
Whether you perceive it as seafood-based, meat-based, or perhaps vegetable-based.
If you break it down further, there are dried goods, mushrooms, or fermented types like koji or cheese.

■ Indicating degree and direction reveals your target audience

In this way, when you indicate degree and direction, listeners will split into those who can follow the topic and those who lose interest.

…However, I realized that this division—the fact that there are listeners who cannot understand—should not be interpreted as a "bad thing."
It is a "good thing" and it is "only natural."

1. There is no expression that can satisfy everyone

After all, the moment you say "soy sauce," people split into those who "like it" and those who "don't."
People who clearly "hate soy sauce" might be rare, but they aren't zero, and there are also people who say "I prefer salt over soy sauce" or "tonkotsu is the best."

With mushrooms, it seems like likes and dislikes would be immediately apparent, right?

Furthermore, there are people who cannot understand because they "cannot eat" or "have never eaten" certain ingredients due to allergies or other reasons.

In other words, even if you divide it roughly into "experienced" people who "like/dislike it" and "inexperienced" people who are "interested/not interested,"
there are already four distinct areas.

2. It is precisely when things are conveyed in detail that both those who empathize and those who feel a sense of discomfort appear

Looking at it another way, because a specific flavor like "soy sauce" was conveyed, the listener can now judge it based on their own preferences.

It is precisely because it was conveyed in detail or specifically that it splits into those who can understand and those who cannot.

In short, the worst state is one where all listeners are in a vague state of "I sort of get it, but I sort of don't."

So, if necessary, ask those who feel a sense of discomfort...
Find words that resonate and rephrase accordingly.

If you proceed in this order, you should be able to turn those who feel discomfort into those who empathize.

■ When the target audience's level of understanding splits or reactions become visible, that is a hint for the next expansion of your vocabulary.

As a speaker, sense the reactions of your listeners.
If you sense them and don't understand, be honest and ask where the point of discomfort is or what the reason for it might be.
Use that as a starting point to find the next common ground—shared experiences or likes and dislikes—and use that as the basis for your analogies.

I thought that this might be what having vocabulary = being able to convey means.

■ My current weakness is the variation in emotional expression

In this article, I listed the surroundings and levels of emotional expression, but there are some words that just don't feel right.
How should I go about training this?
I wonder if I can train it by reflecting on my days...?

Perhaps it means I should be more conscious of the nuances and directions of emotions.

For your reference (^^).