Basic Intelligence

[trixxy]

When I was younger I wasn't much of a reader. I did good in school up until my highschool years. Then I hung out with the wrong crowd and decided school just wasn't my thing. Now that I'm older I realize how much I missed out on. I've been going to the library and reading on a regular basis, but I find it frusterating at times because there are so many words I do not understand. It's a pain every time I encounter a word I don't know to look it up to understand the definition and even then by the time I put the book down I have already forgotten what the word even was. Does anybody have any ideas on how to learn new words and not forget them?

[Sam988]

Getting interested on the subject and on what you're reading helps big time.

[Girov]

Hi there,

How about practising image streaming for 15-30mins daily for improve learning capability, memory, language skill and thinking capability.

I think the most important thing in reading is understanding of the content of the material and not the word itself. Try find the meaning of the word that matter most in your reading material ONLY and record that word in a small notebook for future reference.

Btw, I had created a thread 'Image Streaming Group' to explore more on the subject of IMS practise. It only consume about 15-30mins of your daily time, why not give it a try?...hope to see you there!

Girov

[m0vingon]

Oh heck, I've been in school for 30 years and I still come across words I don't know while reading. Everyone does, many people just don't acknowledge it.
My small suggestion is that you carry a notebook with you to the library and jot down the words or phrases (for context) and look them up after. It's pretty rare that not knowing a word or two will prevent you from comprehending the storyline. As the PP suggests, hang on to the notebook for future reference.

[Jim11]

when I started reading and didn't know some of the words I would only look up words that come up at least few times. If some word comes up in ONE sentence and it doesn't prevent me from understanding the work as a whole (which it is unlikely to do)it's often not worth looking up.

If a word comes up a few times that you don't know then look it up, and then it will come up again soon, and you will think AH HA, and will remember it.

There are certain words that come up often in some books, and you won't see often in other. If you keep looking up the ones that come up often you'll know a great deal after awhile

eg: if you're reading something on soviet communism for the first time then you may look up a bunch of things like proletariat, marxism, etc, which you NEED to have an idea of. So, look those up... and ignore stupid words like "odious" lol

But if you're reading something like war and peace there may be several "ignominious retreats" and you might want to know what that means, even though it's not central to the book.

When I was younger i would use dictionary, wikipedia (well, not back then... other sources), etc all the time

Keep at it, and keep in mind that there are a lot of words that no one uses anymore and are hardly worth knowing! Goes back to what I said about only looking them up if you see them often.

[Holistic Star]

Have you thought about joining a book group? I've been part of one for the last nine years and I get so much more out of discussing a book with people rather than just reading it on my own.

It's also reasuring when everyone finds the same book difficult to get through and it makes you realise that it's not just you finding it hard.

Have a look round your local area or ask at your local library. I would really recommend it if you want to get more out of each book.

Also I second what the others have said. I don't look up words unless I think I am missing something from the narrative by not understanding it. If I can sort of get the meaning of it from the context then I don't tend to look things up.

Happy reading