A quick one.

Here are some practical ideas to help accelerate your vocabulary building and generation, based on my fast and versatile reading, thinking, writing, speaking and listening experiences over the years:

1)  Read, read, and read widely, and deeply, both mainstream and the  fringe: newspapers, magazines, newsletters, novels, books, and even  ad blurbs and mailshots,  etc.;

2) Maintain a roving eye for interesting words  or phrases or sentences, and see how they are strung masterfully  together to express ideas or messages eloquently and succinctly across  to the reader;

3) While reading your daily newspaper, pay particular attention to three specific areas:

a) the editorials;
b) the economic analyses;
c) the political commentaries;

These  segments are usually written by editors and senior journalists with a  seemingly impeccable command of the English Language;

4) While watching movies, maintain a roving eye and ear for interesting as well as intriguing dialogues or fun conversations;

5) Always keep a large note book handy to capture all the stuff in (1) to (4);

This initiative is called sentence mining;

6)  Write, write, and write, as much as you can, and make sure you use the  captured stuff in (5) to enliven your language expressions,  in emails  or blogs or reports or proposals, in addition to helping you to  internalise the new vocabulary;

Moreover, writing voraciously also enhances your grammar;

7) Use as much of the stuff you  have captured in (5) in your daily dynamic interpersonal interactions, too:  conversations, dialogues, discussions, meetings, doing presentations or  sales pitches, weblogging, web-casting, pod-casting, public speaking gigs, manning the Call Desk, etc.;
,
8) Last,  but not least, adopt the Index Card Strategy, as an ancillary strategy  to your large notebook, say using 4x3 cards for their pocket  portability, from the standpoint of self-quizzing or   testing while  "learning-on-the-go": commuting or waiting in queue.

Whenever you  come across a new word, write it down on one side of an index card,  with its dictionary definition, along with characteristics and traits of  the word, plus all the grammatical variations.

To   extend your  understanding of the new word, explore similar words   (synonyms),  opposite words (antonyms), word parts, and even examples and   non-examples.

On the flip-side, make your own sentence constructions by using the new word, to demonstrate your thorough understanding.

Naturally, you can also copy the original sentence from which you have found the new word.

Whenever    you come across the new word in other writings, or in conversations,   or  in the news, write the full expression down on to the flip side of   your  index card.

Replicate this elaborate  process with chosen   words already inside your prevailing vocabulary repertoire,  thus creating  opportunities  to  expand similar possibilities along the  same lines.  You can even use  organising themes for the words so as to  expedite  your learning.

This process may seem like a burden, but it's  worth your while, as you are applying the sentence mining and multiplier effect to your  vocabulary building and generation, especially from the standpoint of  application-context possibilities.

To   sum up my proposition,  the fire test of your increasingly rich vocabulary will come from  consistent usage and massive applications in your everyday, life and workflow activities, involving real    communication with real people,  as much as possible, so as to  reinforce  your practical utility and memory retention/recall.