One authority suggests that to build your vocabulary you must: 1. become curious about words;
2. read more
3. develop skill in finding meaning from context; 4. set up a card system; and
5. learn the function of key prefixes, suffixes and roots
Be curious about words - Begin by selecting from what you read today
those words which you feel are essential to you whether you read, write, listen or speak. Then as you read more and more in the varied field that interest you or in your particular course, notice the words that appear again and again, for inevitably you will need to add them to your working
vocabulary. As you add these recurring words, you’ll notice that one of the effect is greater skill in selecting words to learn for your own use in
communicating your thoughts to others and in your chosen profession especially.
Reading More –Reading more means reading widely. It does not mean to
read more and more of the same, so be careful not to specialize. Consider, first of all which sections and items of your newspaper you are neglecting. Try out your curiosity on the words in an editorial as well as those in a feature article or human interest story. Reach for a different magazine next time you view the whole array on the shelves in the library.
It must be remembered that reading is a habit. Once you have developed the habit you never lose it. But you must somehow be exposed to reading
early enough in life to have it become a part of your daily routine, like washing your face or breathing. Most school children in our highly
seasoned, electronic, picture conscious age have never been exposed to the reading habit and cannot, therefore, read without effort. Some modern children seldom if ever read for fun. Like muscles that are almost never used, their concentration and interest give way quickly. They prefer the automatic, pictorial sensation of TV (which can be highly instructive and entertaining at times) rather than the “tedious” movement of the eyes from left to right, from right to left on line after line after line of un-illustrated print. “There’s a certain sadness in realizing that a whopping segment of the exploding new teen-age generation never really reads anything unless forced to do so.
Finding Meaning from Context. Suppose that in your reading you meet
a new word yet it is not something you feel you should add to either your recognition or working vocabulary, however, its meaning will be essential to your understanding of what you are reading. Instead of immediately looking up such a word in your dictionary, try to figure out what it means by
considering the words and phrases around it. These will usually throw some light on its meaning.
Even when you do use a dictionary you will often have to pay attention to the words around an unfamiliar word to find the word’s “exact” meaning, to single out the one meaning that fits from among the many dictionary
meanings. It is therefore advisable to look around a strange or puzzling word for clues to meaning. You can then arrive at the meanings of certain words through the clues provided by the words that surround them. Such clues could be in the form of outright definition, an appositive, or an explanation in parenthesis or in a subsequent statement. This process is called lo9oking for meaning through context clues.
Word Attack Through Context Clues – What is meant by context clues?
When you look at a picture the different objects in that picture provide you with clues which help you to understand what the picture is all about. In a sentence there are also clues – word clues. Just as a picture is a context because it gives you information about what an unfamiliar word in the sentence.
Two kinds of context clues – There are two kinds of context clues: 1)
direct and 2). Indirect. The direct context clues tell you exactly what the italicized or underlined word means. Indirect context clues are words not found in the sentence but help you to know the meaning of the word.
Methods of Discovering Meaning from context – There are four
a) by inference – the person skilled in vocabulary techniques does not need to guess about the meaning of an unfamiliar word because he can draw inferences from the way a word nis used in the sentence or paragraph he’s reading. He “reads between the lines,” finding both what is suggested and what is said. Inference then is the process of drawing reasonable
conclusions from bits of evidence.
b) Direct Explanation – frequently, a writer will define a certain word if he decides that it may be unfamiliar to the majority of readers, or if he wants to emphasize the significance of the word. In your reading, therefore, be alert to this technique. For illustration note: An ascetic, living an austere and lonely life of self-denial, believes this existence will lead to spiritual and intellectual perfection. It is obvious that the writer has clearly stated the meaning of ascetic believing it might give the read some difficulty.
c) Indirectly Explanation – another device that a writer uses to communicate word meaning is to explain the meaning of an unfamiliar word in a phrase or clause fitted skillfully into the main structure. To illustrate, note:
Sabotage, with its destruction of enemy supplies and property, was used
often by both sides during World War II.
The proposed document, filled with misleading information and
vague generalities, was completely ambiguous and prevented any positive action by the United States.
The phrases with its destruction of enemy supplies and property and filled with misleading information and vague generalities help to convey the meaning of sabotage and ambiguous.
However, finding meaning by examining the context need not mean completely replacing the use of the dictionary. You could go beyond any contextual clues and study the dictionary entry for the one best, the exact meaning.
By the simile – the simile, a comparison made clear by the use of the word
like or as is frequent employed to assist the reader with word meaning. In
the practicum exercises, observe how the similes help with meaning. d). Using the dictionary and card system – An effective means of adding words to your vocabulary is to set up a file of vocabulary cards. Acquire a pack or two of 3 by 5 or 4 by 6 inch cards- the unrolled ones-and keep them in a box. Carry a number of blank cards with you so that
whenever you hear a word you believe essential to your vocabulary, jot it down. Write no more than one word on a card. Should any situation –a test, for example-fail to permit this practice, make a mental note and put the word on a card at a more convenient time. While you read, do the same thing; furthermore, whenever possible, write down the sentence in which you found the word. Group the cards alphabetically under separate
headings, and mark each group with an identifying tab on a plain white card so that you can find the categories easily as you work with them.