As reading is a good way to improve our English, I started to read with a group in MyEC with my friends. But the book that we are reading now, Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard David Bach, is having so many new vocabularies for me. I don’t know whether I go on reading this book or not since I face some difficulties.
My sister attended an English course at a Canadian center. Her teacher from England recommended that if we face more than 8 words in one page, we should leave this book and choose another one which is easier to comprehend. Is that right? And what if we face so many new words in one page, should we look for each word’s meaning in the dictionary? What is the best way to read and get the benefit to enrich our vocabulary?
Replies
When I began to read, I seldom use my dictionary. Then I noticed that as I read more, the same words appeared again until it subsconsciously settled in my mind. I just learned its definition through its context. I used to invent the meaning of a word based on the sentence that I read. Numerous encounter with this word made me remember it and be familiar with how it is used in different sentences.
I make numerous encounter of my vocabularies by reading books that amuse me.... Extensive reading can help you build a lot of vocabularies.
In my opinion the most important fact is to understand the meaning of the text. I'm often using Penguin books (there you can choose a special level - you know "intermediate" or "beginner"). Then I try to improve my level. In Penguin books you have questions in the end of the book to repeat the new vocabulary. The optimal situation is, if you read a book and you forget that you're reading an english book. If the text ist more difficult I try to write down "only" 1-2 new words per page (that doesn't need so much time). Then I try to repeat the vocabulary in a special notebook until it's in my long-term memory. So I try to improve during reading. I hope my piece of advice is a little bit helpful?
Oh thanks Tina. Your way of learning Vocabulary is really interesting and helpful. Jotting down the new words with phrases in a notebook is something amazing. I sometimes do that too.
Thanks for your advice Tina !
Skoon ...
Dear skoony congratulations a great topic indeed.
Thank you for dropping it and I enjoyed the comments too. Thank u all.
Me too I have the same problem I won't look up new words while reading as long as I understand the whole idea because this will ruin the reading pleasure. But then I realized that I don't benefit much from the new vocb :S
Now I think Nafis theory is great don't you think?
Thanks again skoony:) and all the commenters
Hello Skoon! I have recently read an article, just for your question. Some excerpts from the article "The key to effective reading is to read things that you want to read. Remember: read what you want to read. What you like reading. What motivates and inspires you. But where can you start? Well, you could read a book that you’ve already read in your own language. Simply find a translated (or original) version of a book that you have read and enjoyed. This willmake processing the content in the target language much easier as you’ll already know what the book is about! How you read is also important. The best thing is to read without using a dictionary. Let the words flow over you. Just skip the parts you don’t understand. If you make your reading feel too much like work, it’ll stop being fun. Of course, you could make a note of any new words and phrases that you like or see repeated frequently, but try not to break yourconcentration too much. Also, set yourself mini-objectives. For example, if you’re reading a novel, read 20 pages a day. Very soon, you’ll have been exposed to thousands of useful phrases and words"
What concern my own experience, I like for example series of Macmillan Readers. There are a lot different stories of famous english writers. You can read and listen and of course you choose acording to your level of English! I think the main, it gets pleasure by reading.
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