My teenager doesn’t enjoy reading. How can I help them build their vocabulary?
If suggesting a book gets you nowhere, ask about a song your teenager likes. Look at the lyrics together, pick a word or phrase that catches their attention, and talk about what it means there and where else it might fit, without turning the whole song into a lesson.
These ideas are for parents of teenagers aged 13 and over who read independently but rarely choose books.
Find out what puts them off
Ask what they dislike about reading: a long novel might be hard to get into, or books might feel too much like schoolwork. If particular words hold them up, ask which ones.
Notice what they already read, too. Game dialogue, a recipe or a comic gives you somewhere to begin. The National Literacy Trust’s October 2026 report on what young people read found that, among those who said they did not enjoy reading, more than two thirds read song lyrics and more than half read fiction at least monthly.
Let them choose the conversation
A football fan might prefer a player’s interview to a story you picked out. Ask which phrase stood out to them and follow that; stopping at every unfamiliar word makes almost anything slow going.
Take a turn yourself: explain a word in your own way, then ask whether your teenager would use it in the same situation.
Try a word in a situation you both know
Take “precise”. Ask for directions to a familiar place. “Go over there” leaves you guessing; “turn left at the library” tells you where to turn. Then swap roles: does your version give enough detail?
A subtler word is easier to discuss next to one they know, with a particular person or activity in mind.
A word to explore together
Meticulous
Showing extreme care and attention to every detail.
This word appears in arcoco. Someone checking every seam in a costume is “meticulous”; someone simply avoiding a spilled drink might be “careful”.
Ask your teenager whether either word describes something they enjoy doing carefully.
Then leave the word for a while. If a situation brings it to mind another day, use it or invite a new example, perhaps a joke. If they have forgotten it, look it up together and carry on.
If they would rather play a game
Look for a game that asks about meanings and gives examples; a spelling puzzle tests something different. Let your teenager decide whether they enjoy it before it becomes a routine.
We make arcoco for people who already understand English and want more words to choose from. It includes meanings and sentence contexts, with words returning through different games. See how the practice works before trying it together.
arcoco is general vocabulary practice, not a children’s curriculum, and it is not directed at under-13s. To judge the topics and difficulty, look through the current store listing, content descriptions and a few games together. Purchases and progress saving differ between iPhone and Android; our privacy information explains the data side.
Play: a round to try together
Five situations a teenager might recognise. Take turns to pick the word, then say why.
Name the feeling
1 / 5After the match was cancelled for the third time, the team felt ____.
Check the answer
Exasperated. It means very annoyed after a lot of patience. Elated means delighted, and indifferent means not caring.
The ending of the series was so ____ that everyone argued about what it meant.
Check the answer
Cryptic. It means mysterious and hard to work out. Predictable means you saw it coming, and tedious means boring.
He tried to look ____, but he checked his phone every ten seconds for the results.
Check the answer
Nonchalant. It means relaxed and unconcerned. Anxious and frantic describe how he actually felt.
The new player was ____ at first, but by the end of the season she was the loudest on the team.
Check the answer
Reticent. It means quiet and reluctant to speak. Boisterous means noisy and lively, and arrogant means thinking you’re better than others.
The group chat went ____ after the argument: nobody posted for a week.
Check the answer
Dormant. It means inactive for now. Viral means spreading fast online, and chaotic means completely disordered.
Your score
What to look for afterwards
Notice whether they want to come back to the activity, and whether they can explain a word in their own way or find another situation where it fits. Both are worth talking about, though neither is a formal assessment of their English.
These activities can sit alongside reading, listening and conversation. We have not established through a controlled study that arcoco improves teenagers’ reading, grades or spontaneous speech, and the National Literacy Trust research above did not test the app. If reading itself is difficult, talk with their teacher about the particular problem.