ESL Blogs

Yes, I mean you could try guessing the meaning of a word that is unfamiliar to you. In fact, that is one of the reading skills. That is, you can try to understand what a sentence or paragraph means without looking up the unfamiliar words in the dictionary. 

Try guessing the meaning of the words highlighted in bold:

1. 'The patient's care may be jeopardized, and the patient may be harmed.'

2. 'The health professional has a right to financial remuneration from the patient.'

3. 'No one at that time could have predicted the tumultuous changes in health care.' 

Although you may not be familiar with the three highlighted words, you may have guessed what they mean. Yes, the meaning of 'jeopardized' is similar to that of 'harmed'; 'remuneration' may mean money or something related to 'finance'; 'tumultuous' changes may mean great or exciting changes. 

So you can guess the meaning of an unfamiliar word in the context. That is to say, you don't need to look up every unfamilar word you encounter - don't stop your reading just because you need to consult a dictionary for the meaning of a new or rarely-used word. 

It makes sense because you don't need to recognize every word in a blog or article. Chances are you'll fail to recognize the word next time even though you have looked it up in a dictionary. Don't try to memorize all the new words, some of which you may come across just once in a lifetime.

Avoid reading something that is full of such unfamilar words - it's no fun reading something which is too difficult for you. Sometimes, though, you have to guess the meaning of a word when you're taking an English test, during which you may not be allowed to look up words in a dictionary. It helps, though, if you know how to guess what a word means:))