In graduate school, I memorized material that would likely appear on examinations, and forgot it after taking them, a practice that got me through required courses, but did little to enhance my goal of leaving the university with a well-rounded education. As a college teacher I don't want students to cram material into their heads for the sake of passing tests as I did, and mindful that experience is the best teacher, I assign exercises that provide them opportunities to utilize, and therefore retain, learned material. This strategy works well in developing better word usage. Many college students possess limited vocabularies, and their addiction to text messaging worsens this deficiency. To improve students' vocabularies, I provide lists of words as semesters progress, and require that they be used in compositions. Those who are sincerely interested in enhancing communicative skills soon realize that, just as palettes containing the complete spectrum of colors enhance an artist's capability to imitate nature, a large vocabulary helps students to paint with words, that is, to articulate.

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