Techniques for Dealing with Difficult Words

When you are looking for meaning, you often get it despite an unfamiliar word. Sometimes
however, a strange word makes you slow down or even stop because you have lost the author’s
meaning. Such a word deserves attention. How much attention it deserves depends mostly on your
reading purpose.

The first step is to note the word mentally, or make a pencil mark in the margin, and read on.
Going on prevents further interruption of the author’s thought. It also gives you a chance to find out
whether the rest of passage makes the meaning clear enough for your purposes. It is more important to
go on enjoying the book than to find out how the dictionary defines every new word.

The second step is to return to troublesome words after completing a passage, and try to work
out what each one means. Saying the word aloud may help you to recognize it as one you have heard
and then to recall how it was used. If this fails, you can often make an intelligent guess based what you
have learned from reading the whole passage.

The third step, using the dictionary, is important for two kinds of words. The first group consists
of words which must be understood to understand the whole passage adequately and second group
consists of words you know you have met before but still do not fully understand. If you come across a
word three times, then clearly it is a word you should master.

Finally, record important words and terms, with sample phrases or sentences using each one
correctly. You can keep a glossary at the back of each subject notebook, or a set of cards/slips.
Improving your vocabulary and word attack skills in these ways should bring significant improvement
also in reading speed and comprehension.

From: Floyd, J (2007). Study Skills for Higher Education: English for Academic Success. Selangor August Publishing