How do you deal with unfamiliar words?
- DennisK
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 470
- Joined: 12 Jun 2015, 19:00
- Currently Reading: Light in August
- Bookshelf Size: 39
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-dennisk.html
- Reading Device: B00L89V1AA
How do you deal with unfamiliar words?
- madbooklover21
- Posts: 8
- Joined: 01 Dec 2016, 19:00
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- DennisK
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 470
- Joined: 12 Jun 2015, 19:00
- Currently Reading: Light in August
- Bookshelf Size: 39
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-dennisk.html
- Reading Device: B00L89V1AA
madbooklover21 wrote:I deal with unfamiliar words in a very similar way that you do! I tend to use context clues when I can. Most unfamiliar words I come across are from books that I am reading and the one thing I hate more than not knowing the definition is not knowing the correct pronunciation! So I have a dictionary app on my phone so I can quickly look up definitions and pronunciations anywhere I go!
That is why I have become so attached to my E-reader. While reading a physical book, I must put the book down, pick up a dictionary, find the word and study it - then find my place in my book before I am able to continue. What a hassle! In the E-reader, all I have to do is touch the word, and I get its definition, its pronunciation and I can even store the word in a folder for further review. This makes reading more fun.
I suspect most people learn new words by way of context clues, but that doesn't build a very deep understanding of the word. I remember Roth using the word truant while describing a man who must have been in his 40s. It stopped me cold. Truant is a word I have always associated with skipping school. Why would he use this word to describe a character that is obviously out of school? It turns out truant can also mean someone who shirks his duties - a layabout - who would have guessed? Roth was a difficult read for me because his mastery of the English language is so far beyond my own. I question if he has an eidetic memory, and did he read Merriam-Webster from cover to cover? ..... eidetic .... a word I learned by watching the TV series, "The Big Bang Theory". God help me!
- DATo
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 5798
- Joined: 31 Dec 2011, 07:54
- Bookshelf Size: 0
To answer the question: Duh! I look them up in a dictionary. Actually, sometimes, even to this day, I spend an hour or so from time to time looking for words I don't know in a dictionary and then copy the word and its definition into a file for later memorization. This process works pretty well for improving one's vocabulary. I learned it in grammar school with an outstanding teacher of reading who would post 10 new vocabulary words on the front chalkboard each day. We would write them down and then look them up for homework. Then, on Friday, we would have a quiz on 20 of the 40 we had looked up during the week. A very good system for learning new words!
― Steven Wright
- DennisK
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 470
- Joined: 12 Jun 2015, 19:00
- Currently Reading: Light in August
- Bookshelf Size: 39
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-dennisk.html
- Reading Device: B00L89V1AA
Hi DATo ... what I find interesting is that learning a language is a life-long endeavor. I may learn a new word, but if I don't use it, it will eventually be forgotten to confound me later. I remember kids in my school who made Latin as part of their curriculum. I wonder if those lessons in Latin influenced their vocabulary later in life. My vocabulary relies on repetition. I wonder if there are folks out there that use a more analytical method to build their vocabulary.DATo wrote:Any of Cormac McCarthy's books should come with a glossary. Seriously. You need to have a dictionary beside you when you read his books. I swear, I think the guy stays up nights looking for obscure words to put into his novels.
To answer the question: Duh! I look them up in a dictionary. Actually, sometimes, even to this day, I spend an hour or so from time to time looking for words I don't know in a dictionary and then copy the word and its definition into a file for later memorization. This process works pretty well for improving one's vocabulary. I learned it in grammar school with an outstanding teacher of reading who would post 10 new vocabulary words on the front chalkboard each day. We would write them down and then look them up for homework. Then, on Friday, we would have a quiz on 20 of the 40 we had looked up during the week. A very good system for learning new words!
- tempebrown
- Posts: 23
- Joined: 04 Dec 2016, 16:43
- Currently Reading: Escaping Tranquil
- Bookshelf Size: 131
- DennisK
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 470
- Joined: 12 Jun 2015, 19:00
- Currently Reading: Light in August
- Bookshelf Size: 39
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-dennisk.html
- Reading Device: B00L89V1AA
- BookLover2015bra
- Posts: 7
- Joined: 05 Dec 2016, 22:44
- Bookshelf Size: 9
- tempebrown
- Posts: 23
- Joined: 04 Dec 2016, 16:43
- Currently Reading: Escaping Tranquil
- Bookshelf Size: 131
BookLover2015bra, you were blessed to have a dad "make" you read. And look at you now! How wonderful!
- BookLover2015bra
- Posts: 7
- Joined: 05 Dec 2016, 22:44
- Bookshelf Size: 9
- tempebrown
- Posts: 23
- Joined: 04 Dec 2016, 16:43
- Currently Reading: Escaping Tranquil
- Bookshelf Size: 131
- DennisK
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 470
- Joined: 12 Jun 2015, 19:00
- Currently Reading: Light in August
- Bookshelf Size: 39
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-dennisk.html
- Reading Device: B00L89V1AA
I just wonder if the study of Latin in High School is profitable.
- Fran
- Posts: 28072
- Joined: 10 Aug 2009, 12:46
- Favorite Book: Anna Karenina
- Currently Reading: Hide and Seek
- Bookshelf Size: 1208
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-fran.html
- Reading Device: B00I15SB16
We were taught as kids, by both parents and teachers, that if you don't understand a word you go look it up and then put it in a sentence of your own. I remember competitions making up sentences using obscure words - the sentences generally becoming incrimentally ridiculous but a great way to imbed new words in the brain.
A world is born again that never dies.
- My Home by Clive James
-
- Posts: 34
- Joined: 08 Dec 2016, 14:42
- Currently Reading: Conceived Without Sin (Pierced by a Sword #2)
- Bookshelf Size: 11
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-vulgate.html
- Lakshmanachari
- Posts: 6
- Joined: 15 Dec 2016, 13:03
- Bookshelf Size: 0