Learning Words While Reading
-
I've been reading Lady Chatterley's Lover recently, usually in bed as I fall to sleep for the night. As an experiment, I decided to bring a notepad with me to write down words I didn't know as I read. After reading about 5-10 pages, there were about 30-40 words I don't know or was not sure of the precise meaning. Some of those words included:
- Hazel (not the color)
- Chuffed
- Bracken
- Denuded
- Colliery
- Palfreys
- Velveteens
- Equanimity
- Abeyance
- Coquetry
- Squibs
Before I start reading it again, I am going through each word and looking up the definition (I have some dictionary software installed on my computer). Though I do find this somewhat cumbersome, I don't find it nearly as cumbersome as looking up each word as I read it (would distract my train of thought). I also find having to write down each word distracting. What strategies do you all have for learning new words in the material you are reading?
If I don't outright know the meaning, I make it up and continue reading to a) see how close I came, and b) become amused when the meaning is so far off base as to change the storyline completely. It's like writing my own version of the book.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001 -
Guessing from context.
Agh! Reality! My Archnemesis![^]
| FoldWithUs! | sighist | µLaunch - program launcher for server core and hyper-v server.That can sometimes work to get approximate definitions, which works just fine for understanding the story. But as far as understanding the words, it doesn't work that great all the time. For example:
Lady Chatterley's Lover excerpt:
He was a man in dark green bonkywob1 and strezzlenip2... the old style, with a red face and red moustache and distant eyes.
Two of those words are made up... I put them in place of words I didn't know. What do you think they mean? Probably some sort of clothes, right? But what does a bonkywob look like and how do you wear a strezzlenip?
Lady Chatterley's Lover excerpt:
He sat looking at the greenish sweep of the riding downwards, a clear way through the hubanogin3 and oaks.
And what do you think "hubanogin" means? Patch of dead frogs? Perhaps it is a specific type of lava rock.
Lady Chatterley's Lover excerpt:
On a frosty morning with a little February sun, Clifford and Connie went for a walk across the park to the wood. That is, Clifford popincoughed4 in his motor-chair, and Connie walked beside him.
Was he fondling himself in his chair? Perhaps he epiphanied in his chair. The context doesn't reveal much. This is where a definition is required to understand the word (though the word, in this instance, is relatively unimportant to the greater context of the story). If you want to see what the real words were that I removed from the text, highlight the following text: 1: velveteens 2: gaiters 3: bracken 4: chuffed
-
If I don't outright know the meaning, I make it up and continue reading to a) see how close I came, and b) become amused when the meaning is so far off base as to change the storyline completely. It's like writing my own version of the book.
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001I like :thumbsup: Probably the further off you are, the funnier it will be when you read the real definition, and therefore the more likely you are to remember the definition. A self-balancing system. Brilliant.
-
I've been reading Lady Chatterley's Lover recently, usually in bed as I fall to sleep for the night. As an experiment, I decided to bring a notepad with me to write down words I didn't know as I read. After reading about 5-10 pages, there were about 30-40 words I don't know or was not sure of the precise meaning. Some of those words included:
- Hazel (not the color)
- Chuffed
- Bracken
- Denuded
- Colliery
- Palfreys
- Velveteens
- Equanimity
- Abeyance
- Coquetry
- Squibs
Before I start reading it again, I am going through each word and looking up the definition (I have some dictionary software installed on my computer). Though I do find this somewhat cumbersome, I don't find it nearly as cumbersome as looking up each word as I read it (would distract my train of thought). I also find having to write down each word distracting. What strategies do you all have for learning new words in the material you are reading?
aspdotnetdev wrote:
I've been reading Lady Chatterley's Lover recently, usually in bed as I fall to sleep for the night.
Indeed, no programming books; reading those makes you want to get up and try what you just read. No Terry Pratchett anymore either, reading a book before bedtime means that the book should be closed and put aside before sunrise..
aspdotnetdev wrote:
What strategies do you all have for learning new words in the material you are reading?
Different highlighters, and it's not reserved for Words only (yellow btw); sometimes you stumble over a saying that doesn't make sense, or just decide that you want to know more about a given topic. Or you just want to mark a few lines as a workable definition or an interesting quote. That would be green :)
I are Troll :suss:
-
Guessing from context.
Agh! Reality! My Archnemesis![^]
| FoldWithUs! | sighist | µLaunch - program launcher for server core and hyper-v server.Only works so far. I remember the first book I read by Terry Pratchett, Good Omens, I constantly had a dictionary next to me. I especially remember "ineffable" as one of those words. My vocabulary has grown a lot since.
"When did ignorance become a point of view" - Dilbert
-
aspdotnetdev wrote:
I've been reading Lady Chatterley's Lover recently, usually in bed as I fall to sleep for the night.
Indeed, no programming books; reading those makes you want to get up and try what you just read. No Terry Pratchett anymore either, reading a book before bedtime means that the book should be closed and put aside before sunrise..
aspdotnetdev wrote:
What strategies do you all have for learning new words in the material you are reading?
Different highlighters, and it's not reserved for Words only (yellow btw); sometimes you stumble over a saying that doesn't make sense, or just decide that you want to know more about a given topic. Or you just want to mark a few lines as a workable definition or an interesting quote. That would be green :)
I are Troll :suss:
Eddy Vluggen wrote:
highlighters
I usually avoid marking books because I have some irrational aversion to doing so... I guess I feel it taints them in some way. But maybe I'll give this a try with one of my more taint-worthy books. That combined with another person's suggestion to work in chapter increments could help me learn in manageable chunks without interfering with my reading.
-
I've been reading Lady Chatterley's Lover recently, usually in bed as I fall to sleep for the night. As an experiment, I decided to bring a notepad with me to write down words I didn't know as I read. After reading about 5-10 pages, there were about 30-40 words I don't know or was not sure of the precise meaning. Some of those words included:
- Hazel (not the color)
- Chuffed
- Bracken
- Denuded
- Colliery
- Palfreys
- Velveteens
- Equanimity
- Abeyance
- Coquetry
- Squibs
Before I start reading it again, I am going through each word and looking up the definition (I have some dictionary software installed on my computer). Though I do find this somewhat cumbersome, I don't find it nearly as cumbersome as looking up each word as I read it (would distract my train of thought). I also find having to write down each word distracting. What strategies do you all have for learning new words in the material you are reading?
This is an area where e-readers shine. I do this all the time on my Kindle. When you hit an unusual word you just move the cursor over it and the definition appears instantly at the bottom of the screen.
-
This is an area where e-readers shine. I do this all the time on my Kindle. When you hit an unusual word you just move the cursor over it and the definition appears instantly at the bottom of the screen.
Best suggestion yet! I want one! My relatives and friends will be notified immediately that I want a hippopotamus Kindle for Christmas. :) :thumbsup:
-
fat_boy wrote:
I guess ou dont read much. I think the last time I came across a word I dodnt know I was about 15 or so.
Hhmmmm....I must be bad as well, I don't know those words! :-D
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough" ~ Albert Einstein "If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." ~ Paul Neal "Red" Adair
-
fat_boy wrote:
I think the last time I came across a word I dodnt know I was about 15 or so.
That's actually probably a better indicator that you don't read much. ;)
And I am a crap typist by the way! But I read a lot. About 2 books a week if I can. I alays have, my dads the same and my sister too. I gues its in the genes. I shouldnt criticise really, some of those words arent very common and perhaps very much more used in England like chuffed for example. Havr to say though isnt Lady Chatterlies Lover a little old and particular? I like historical novels currently, used ot be into scifi alot.
Morality is indistinguishable from social proscription
-
fat_boy wrote:
What? You dont know those words? I guess ou dont read much.
And here I was going to praise the fellow for making an effort to learn something new. Maybe you should practice one of those words: equanimity. Marc
Marc Clifton wrote:
And here I was going to praise the fellow for making an effort to learn something new. Maybe you should practice one of those words: equanimity.
Perhaps you should learn the meaning of patronising? ;) I suppose I am extaordinarially erudite. The only problems I have are in foreign languages. ;P
Morality is indistinguishable from social proscription
modified on Saturday, March 6, 2010 11:09 AM
-
I've been reading Lady Chatterley's Lover recently, usually in bed as I fall to sleep for the night. As an experiment, I decided to bring a notepad with me to write down words I didn't know as I read. After reading about 5-10 pages, there were about 30-40 words I don't know or was not sure of the precise meaning. Some of those words included:
- Hazel (not the color)
- Chuffed
- Bracken
- Denuded
- Colliery
- Palfreys
- Velveteens
- Equanimity
- Abeyance
- Coquetry
- Squibs
Before I start reading it again, I am going through each word and looking up the definition (I have some dictionary software installed on my computer). Though I do find this somewhat cumbersome, I don't find it nearly as cumbersome as looking up each word as I read it (would distract my train of thought). I also find having to write down each word distracting. What strategies do you all have for learning new words in the material you are reading?
OK, to answer your quesiton, if I come across a word in a language I dont understand, I compare it to words in languages I do and often glean the meaning that way since a lot of words have common roots. Take the Luxembergish Gezingen I saw on a sign. In Dutch Gemeint is a commune. Since the sign also has a name on it and is by the side of the road, I can tell that I am entering the commune of that name. In fact there are some interesting parallels here. In Dutch sterve is to die. In English it means to be serously hungry (starve). And so it is probable that in old english it did also mean to die. In fact Dutch is quite usefull to read The Cantebury Tales by Chaucer. He uuses eek for also, its ook in Dutch. He uses woning for home. Its the same in Dutch. I woot is to know for Chaucer, Ik weet is Dutch. Zoote is sweet in Dutch, and Chaucers books first line uses it. Take Infarctus in French, or Haemotome. They are both medical conditions known in English as Heartatack (infarction) and bruise (haemotoma). I struggled in the musem today though! All the signs were in Luxembergish! And if I am stumped I use a dictionary, usually on line.
Morality is indistinguishable from social proscription
modified on Saturday, March 6, 2010 11:16 AM
-
That can sometimes work to get approximate definitions, which works just fine for understanding the story. But as far as understanding the words, it doesn't work that great all the time. For example:
Lady Chatterley's Lover excerpt:
He was a man in dark green bonkywob1 and strezzlenip2... the old style, with a red face and red moustache and distant eyes.
Two of those words are made up... I put them in place of words I didn't know. What do you think they mean? Probably some sort of clothes, right? But what does a bonkywob look like and how do you wear a strezzlenip?
Lady Chatterley's Lover excerpt:
He sat looking at the greenish sweep of the riding downwards, a clear way through the hubanogin3 and oaks.
And what do you think "hubanogin" means? Patch of dead frogs? Perhaps it is a specific type of lava rock.
Lady Chatterley's Lover excerpt:
On a frosty morning with a little February sun, Clifford and Connie went for a walk across the park to the wood. That is, Clifford popincoughed4 in his motor-chair, and Connie walked beside him.
Was he fondling himself in his chair? Perhaps he epiphanied in his chair. The context doesn't reveal much. This is where a definition is required to understand the word (though the word, in this instance, is relatively unimportant to the greater context of the story). If you want to see what the real words were that I removed from the text, highlight the following text: 1: velveteens 2: gaiters 3: bracken 4: chuffed
Of course that's often only approximative. It's not so much a problem in German (I'm reading A LOT, and judging by some peoples comments I'm not that bad at guessing), but it do notice a mistake with english words. I do look up words when they seem to be a key to understanding I am not getting, but that's rare wiht most texts (Also, I have been reading a few works of Shakespeare with an english dictionary and an english-german one - in addition to the usual heavy annotations found in some editions). Also, some texts remain inaccessible by this method, but I hereby claim they aren't more accessible to me if I looked the words up. So let me defend the method:
First, some guesswork (without having looked them up - and you have given very few context): velveteens isn't as inaccessible as bonkywob: it's plural - might be trousers or anythign else that comes in two parts, contains "velvet", dark green, sounds posh. Although oddly, the rest of the persons description makes me somehow think of cord trousers / knickerbockers. gaiters - something to do with gait? Shoes, or stockings maybe. bracken - "Brackwasser" is really stale, muddy water, "greenish sweep" seems to be the key here, making it a plant/growth, so either a green-covered muddy/swampy area or - due to the pairing with "oaks" - something that grows on damp ground, the "way through" suggesting it is dense. chuffed - The onomatopoeiatic interpretation would be schnaufen, maybe tuckern, more of the former if he's sick/shortbreathed, more of the latter if the motor-chair was described in more detail.
Second, the literary argument - you kind of give it to me already in the last paragraph: If I've never encountered a context for a bonkywob before, a description won't tell me that this means he's a bisexual widowed freemasons (or whatever image the author wants to conjure). Also, if it was totally out of place, there's almost always a reaction to that. Imagine the following: the author sets the scene of a opera ball, someone in a dirty t-shirt and leggins enters and joins a dance/conversation, but the author does not describe the piqued reaction of the other guests.
So now, looking them up: velveteens: seems to be really only the weave/material, the plural making it more likely to be pants rather than a shirt. gaiter: ok, it is lower-leg wear bracken: fern, which matches but still changes the image I had in mind chuffed: among the posisble translation ony lo
-
Only works so far. I remember the first book I read by Terry Pratchett, Good Omens, I constantly had a dictionary next to me. I especially remember "ineffable" as one of those words. My vocabulary has grown a lot since.
"When did ignorance become a point of view" - Dilbert
-
This is an area where e-readers shine. I do this all the time on my Kindle. When you hit an unusual word you just move the cursor over it and the definition appears instantly at the bottom of the screen.
-
I've been reading Lady Chatterley's Lover recently, usually in bed as I fall to sleep for the night. As an experiment, I decided to bring a notepad with me to write down words I didn't know as I read. After reading about 5-10 pages, there were about 30-40 words I don't know or was not sure of the precise meaning. Some of those words included:
- Hazel (not the color)
- Chuffed
- Bracken
- Denuded
- Colliery
- Palfreys
- Velveteens
- Equanimity
- Abeyance
- Coquetry
- Squibs
Before I start reading it again, I am going through each word and looking up the definition (I have some dictionary software installed on my computer). Though I do find this somewhat cumbersome, I don't find it nearly as cumbersome as looking up each word as I read it (would distract my train of thought). I also find having to write down each word distracting. What strategies do you all have for learning new words in the material you are reading?
It only works up to a point. I remember trying to learn some French by reading the Asterix cartoon books in the original language. It took me ages to work out what the first page was on about - eventually I got the same book in the English translation. How was I supposed to know the kid had a lisp? No wonder the words weren't in my dictionary!
You should never use standby on an elephant. It always crashes when you lift the ears. - Mark Wallace C/C++ (I dont see a huge difference between them, and the 'benefits' of C++ are questionable, who needs inheritance when you have copy and paste) - fat_boy
-
It only works up to a point. I remember trying to learn some French by reading the Asterix cartoon books in the original language. It took me ages to work out what the first page was on about - eventually I got the same book in the English translation. How was I supposed to know the kid had a lisp? No wonder the words weren't in my dictionary!
You should never use standby on an elephant. It always crashes when you lift the ears. - Mark Wallace C/C++ (I dont see a huge difference between them, and the 'benefits' of C++ are questionable, who needs inheritance when you have copy and paste) - fat_boy
THing with French is that you need a certain amount of formal learning first to get over the grammar diffeences with English. Dutch you could pick up through cartoons. At a basic level is very close to English. Anyway, my mum bought me an Asterix in French as a kidtoo! I just used to look at the pics! :laugh: I went on to get a U at French O level! Thats less than 10%! :)
Morality is indistinguishable from social proscription
-
THing with French is that you need a certain amount of formal learning first to get over the grammar diffeences with English. Dutch you could pick up through cartoons. At a basic level is very close to English. Anyway, my mum bought me an Asterix in French as a kidtoo! I just used to look at the pics! :laugh: I went on to get a U at French O level! Thats less than 10%! :)
Morality is indistinguishable from social proscription
I had some formal training in French at school - but didn't pay a lot of attention. (I managed to get a negative score in my oral translation at "O" level) It wasn't until I started going out with a girl who worked at CERN that I became at all interested in the language - and then only enough to get by in bars and restaurants in Geneva!
You should never use standby on an elephant. It always crashes when you lift the ears. - Mark Wallace C/C++ (I dont see a huge difference between them, and the 'benefits' of C++ are questionable, who needs inheritance when you have copy and paste) - fat_boy
-
I've been reading Lady Chatterley's Lover recently, usually in bed as I fall to sleep for the night. As an experiment, I decided to bring a notepad with me to write down words I didn't know as I read. After reading about 5-10 pages, there were about 30-40 words I don't know or was not sure of the precise meaning. Some of those words included:
- Hazel (not the color)
- Chuffed
- Bracken
- Denuded
- Colliery
- Palfreys
- Velveteens
- Equanimity
- Abeyance
- Coquetry
- Squibs
Before I start reading it again, I am going through each word and looking up the definition (I have some dictionary software installed on my computer). Though I do find this somewhat cumbersome, I don't find it nearly as cumbersome as looking up each word as I read it (would distract my train of thought). I also find having to write down each word distracting. What strategies do you all have for learning new words in the material you are reading?
aspdotnetdev wrote:
What strategies do you all have for learning new words in the material you are reading?
If I'm reading material on the PC I make use of 1-click answers[^]. Advantage is no need to switch applications/focus to look something up, or even to start a browser if one isn't running.
Kevin
-
I've been reading Lady Chatterley's Lover recently, usually in bed as I fall to sleep for the night. As an experiment, I decided to bring a notepad with me to write down words I didn't know as I read. After reading about 5-10 pages, there were about 30-40 words I don't know or was not sure of the precise meaning. Some of those words included:
- Hazel (not the color)
- Chuffed
- Bracken
- Denuded
- Colliery
- Palfreys
- Velveteens
- Equanimity
- Abeyance
- Coquetry
- Squibs
Before I start reading it again, I am going through each word and looking up the definition (I have some dictionary software installed on my computer). Though I do find this somewhat cumbersome, I don't find it nearly as cumbersome as looking up each word as I read it (would distract my train of thought). I also find having to write down each word distracting. What strategies do you all have for learning new words in the material you are reading?
