Reading (difficult vocabulary

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 1

Reading strategies

How to deal with difficult vocabulary

Words in a text

There will usually be some words in the text that you don’t understand. The important thing is to be able to ‘read around’ the unknown words. 

What to do?

• Don’t worry about difficult vocabulary.
  
• Use the context to help you understand the meaning. 
• Read the whole sentence and the sentences before and after.
  

Our baseball team's pitcher has a few eccentric habits, such as throwing exactly thirteen warm-up pitches and never wearing socks.
What does 'eccentric' mean?

1. normal
2. strange
3. messy

After the heavy rains, the stream became murky; in fact, the water was so cloudy you couldn't see the bottom.
What is the meaning of 'murky'?

1. cloudy
2. bottomless
3. clear

The debris on the stadium floor included numerous paper cups, ticket stubs, and cigarette butts.

What is the meaning of 'debris'?

1. products
2. papers
3. trash

The coach takes every opportunity to censure his players, yet he ignores every opportunity to praise them.
What is the meaning of 'censure'?

1. approve of
2. critizise
3. choose

Although Alex usually looks unkempt, he had a very neat appearance at his job interview.

What is the meaning of 'unkempt'?

1. orderly
2. messy
3. handsome

More tips...

• What type of word is it? A noun? A verb? An adjective? An adverb?
  
• Does the word have a positive or negative meaning?
  
• Look for synonyms in the text. Well written texts use synonyms rather than repeating the same word. 
• Is the word similar to another word you know? E.g. birth is similar to birthday.
  
• Is the word similar to a word in your language?

Noun

Verb

Adjective

Adverb

sleep

first

pass on

little

slowly

seeing

jeans

plane

frequently

Positive words

negative words

amazing

error

dark

confront

festive

hostile

Find the pairs of synonyms

Messy

Rich

Clever

Happy

Smart

Wealthy

Dirty

Joyful

How to improve your vocabulary?

• Read English texts 
• Play word games
• Write down new words (PIF)
•  Revise 
• Use it or lose it!