An applied linguist called Ray Williams published in the English Language Teaching Journal a paper called "Top Ten Tips for the Teaching of Reading." It consisted of ten principles which, in Williams’ opinion, every teacher of reading should follow. From this comes the idea that one could have a whole book consisting of nothing but chapters of ten principles. Chapter one, would be ten principles for the teaching of grammar; chapter two, phonology; chapter three, writing skills, etc. It has never been done, but what has been written is a paper in which the ten principles for the design of vocabulary teaching are put forward. What this discussion would like to do is to look at those ten principles and to consider their theoretical justification and their practical implications for the classroom. It is hoped that they will elicit commentary and perhaps contributions from others for commandments eleven, twelve, thirteen, etc., for there are certainly more than ten.