Reading strategies: Difficult words

Sometimes of course, you run into texts that are much too difficult. So difficult that you don’t understand what you’re reading. Then there’s a risk that your reading experience is ruined and that the reading feels pointless. Couldn’t the author just have written the text with slightly simpler words and expressions? Well...

It’s true that sometimes a text uses words that are more difficult than they need to be. But a rich and varied selection of words - a wider vocabulary - can make a narrative text - like a novel - more alive and full of detail... ...or make a factual text - like a science book - more precise. A rich and varied vocabulary can express more complex thoughts, feelings, and facts. But as an active reader, you don’t give up that easily. To read a text that contains slightly harder words and expressions than you are used to – use the reading strategy: difficult words.

This reading strategy includes four tricks. Here’s a very simple example, just to show the idea: Snow was falling outside Felicia’s window. It was cold Dek-ember we-ather. Trick number one: Read the words again, one syllable at a time. You might simply have misread the words.

De cem ber wea ther. December weather! Here’s trick number two: Read the whole section again. The second time you read something, you already know what the text around the difficult words is talking about - the context. And maybe you don’t usually speak the words yourself, but you have heard or seen them, which means they are in your passive vocabulary.

For instance: “Christmas is getting closer, and at last it’s a real winter! Perhaps it will be a white Christmas after all!” What does that mean? Snow.. ..real winter.. ..white Christmas! Yes, a ‘white Christmas’ means a Christmas with snow on the ground! Think it over, and maybe you can guess the meaning of words from their context.

Also, you can read a sentence one more time, and miss out the difficult words. Are there any other words that might work there? What would make sense? What is going on in the story right now? Are there any clues in the sentences before, or after?

Are there any pictures that might give you a clue? If the context doesn’t help, try trick number three: Break words into parts. “Felicia puts on her jacket, wraps the long woolly scarf around her neck, and pulls her hat down over her ears. It was an un-derstat-ement to say, ‘It’s a cold winter this year.’” Un-DERSTAT-E-ment? Under-state-ment? UNDERstatement?

Precisely! Divide the word up. Are any of the parts easier to figure out? “under” That means below, not on top. “statement” That’s something someone said. “Under-statement” It means something is below - less than - what someone said? Exactly. So the first three tricks are: Read the word again, one syllable at a time.

Read the whole section again, and use context to guess meaning. Break words into parts. Think what each part means. Okay, but if that doesn’t help either? Then use trick number four: Ask an expert.

And if you don’t have someone you trust nearby, you can check in a dictionary, either in a book, or online.