Reading strategies: Difficult words (SVFL)

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? Naaah.

Yes, sometimes a text is more difficult than it needs to be. But there are many benefits when a text has a rich and varied vocabulary. It makes a narrative text more alive and full of detail. And without the special words and terms that each subject has, a factual text wouldn't have the same precision. When a narrative, a thought, or a fact is a bit more advanced, a more advanced vocabulary is often needed too.

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: So, go ahead and read, and we'll deal with them one by one! The snowflakes throw themselves against the window of Felicia's house. The cold des-merb weether seems to be lasting.

Des-merb weether? Now it's time for trick number one: Go back and read the word once more, carefully, and make sure to pronounce every syllable. You might simply have misread the word. De cem ber wea ther. December weather!

That's it! And if that doesn't work, use trick number two: Read the entire sentence or paragraph once again. Since you know some more about the context the second time you read, the meaning of the word might reveal itself. Maybe it's a word or an expression that you recognise, even though it's not one you normally use yourself, that is, a word from your passive vocabulary. "Christmas is approaching, and finally the winter is here for real. Just imagine: we will get a white christmas after all." White christmas, what?

Yes what does that mean? Hmm... Snowflakes... Winter for real... White christmas...

Of course - snow! White christmas means a Christmas with snow on the ground. Stick with it, and you'll probably be able to work out the meaning from the context. Try reading the sentence again, and skip the difficult word: Which words would work best to fill in the blank? What would make sense?

Consider what is going on in the story right now! Are there any clues in the paragraph before, or after? Are there any images that might give you a clue? If the context doesn't help you, you can try trick number three: break the word apart, into chunks. "Felicia puts on her jacket and shoes, 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?

Und-erstat-em-ent? UNDER-statement? Precisely! Divide the word up. Are any of the chunks easier to figure out, and might they give a clue?

Hmmm. "under" means below, not on top. And a "statement", that's something someone said. Under-statement... saying something is below... less than?

Exactly. So the first three tricks are: 1. Read the word again carefully, syllable by syllable. 2. Read the entire paragraph and use the context to guess the meaning.

3. Break up the word or expression, and interpret each bit, one at a time. Okay, but if that doesn't help either? Then you go to trick number four: Ask an expert. And if you don't have someone trustworthy nearby, the internet is an expert that's always there for you.