Many different methods have been developed over the years to help us increase the number of words we know. Some have said we should read as much as we can, write down all the words we do not know, and then look them up in a dictionary. Other systems involve writing down and memorizing five to ten new words daily. Another suggestion is to learn words related to a basic idea. For example, “happy is a common word. We would try to learn several synonyms for ‘happy“. These might include “joyful, gleeful, and jovial. ” Then we might learn “sad, morose, and tearful ” because they have a meaning opposite of “happy.”
One of the most effective methods of vocabulary building is to study the parts of a word that give clues to the meaning of whole words and then to make sure the rough or literal definition you form makes sense about what you are reading. Most of the longer and more difficult words in English are derived from Latin and Greek. Fortunately, these longer words are also the ones that are the easiest to break down or analyze into parts that mean something. For example, you will learn that the word portable has two important parts: port (meaning to carry) and able (meaning can or able to). A portable radio, then, is one you can carry around with you. By breaking the word down into meaningful parts, you can often form a rough definition or make a reasonable guess at the meaning of a word. This system does not always work. Few systems do. But as you become familiar with the method as you work through this book, you should be able to define more unfamiliar words.
Here is the method you should use as you read the selections and do the exercises in this book.
- When you find an unknown word, first analyze the word. This means you should identify all the word’s roots, prefixes, and suffixes.
- Once you have made a literal definition, test it to see that it makes sense in the reading. For example, consider this sentence. “Our transportation system faces serious problems, our highways are crowded, and our roads and bridges are falling apart. Now you can make your literal definition more exact and define transportation as any method of moving people or things from one place to another place”
- Always refine your literal definition so that it makes sense within the sentence you are reading
- If you try to analyze a word but do not know the meaning of a root or affixes, look up the word part in the glossary at the back of the book. Do not use a dictionary, especially a bilingual dictionary.
- This method Will seem hard at first, but as you become familiar with more and more word parts, you will soon find it much easier. You might become interested in how words are formed, developed, and changed over the years. If that happens, you’ll be surprised at how fast your vocabulary grows.
