Reading Skill

DEALING WITH UNFAMILIAR WORDS

Experienced readers know how to guess or figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words through contextual clues—usually found in the words surrounding the unknown words. In order to make meanings clear,good writers often provide or give such clues for readers. It is always a good idea to learn to recognize such clues you might come across in your reading.

Synonyms and associations are two of the most commonly seen contextual clues.

Synonyms is often used in the following three ways:

1. Words that mean the same as the unknown words;

2. Set off by special punctuation, such as “commas” “parenthesis” “dashes”;

3. Introduced by “such as” “or” “that is” “is called” “like” “meaning” to provide important clues.

Association refers to taking the material we want to remember and relating it to something we remember accurately. For example, in memorizing a number, you might try to associate it with familiar numbers or events.