How to work with English articles to learn new words
Reading is a great tool for expanding your vocabulary when learning English. So you can find out the meanings and shades of words, their connection in sentences and situations in which it is worth using individual words. Therefore, we propose to use the text processing algorithm below, so that the reading is as efficient as possible, and unfamiliar words really settle into the memory. But first consider a number of errors that are often made when reading.
But all these errors are easy to fix. Now tell you how.
Choose the appropriate article
Do not immediately rush to the technical literature or articles with a mass of complex details. If you understand that while you are ready to read more simple texts, then grab them. Choose only articles of interest to you, otherwise nothing will come of it.
Read the article
No matter how difficult, try to read the text from beginning to end, without looking into the dictionary. It is necessary to get to catch the general meaning of the article. If you begin to delve into some details and look for them in the dictionary, there is a chance that an explanation will be presented later in the text. Such introductory reading will be useful for you on the exam or testing, where you need to work out the text of a large volume and give answers to the questions. It is likely that the knowledge of the parts you just do not need.
Read again
Now you can go into all the details. Read each paragraph and make sure you understand its meaning. While reading, select or write out incomprehensible words in a separate notepad or file.
Parse the words
When reading a sentence with one of the incomprehensible words, try to guess its meaning and write it in front of the word. Carefully study the structure of the sentence, the form of the word and its connection with all members of the sentence. This will help you understand the part of speech and the form in which the word is presented.
Work with an explanatory dictionary (for Pre-Intermediate and higher levels)
We are not in a hurry to translate everything at once. Use the English-English dictionary. Find the word, match the part of speech in the dictionary and the text, then review the description and its example in the sentence. Thesaurus and the Cambridge Dictionary are a couple of pretty good explanatory dictionaries in case you haven't used anything like this before. If you are still at the level of Beginner or Elementary, you can skip this step.
Use translation dictionary
We are looking for the most suitable translation: we check the part of speech, choose the value that most closely matches the subject of the article and check examples with this word, if there is such a possibility. Multitran , Abbyy Lingvo and Context Reverso can perfectly help you with this.
Now you can verify the values we found with those that we proposed earlier. So for each word will be created its own precedent in memory and it will be remembered better. It is advisable to keep a special notebook, document, or enter words in some application, so that later there is an opportunity to repeat them. Alternatively, you can try for this purpose our application on IOS or Android .
Back to the article
Now we read the text and get pleasure, because we become clear every phrase and all the details. We try to remember the exact meaning of the word that we encountered in the article, so that it is better fixed in the memory and correctly used by us in the future.
The whole process of such reading may seem rather lengthy, but it is worth it. Over time, the reading speed will increase and it will be possible to reduce the number of readings. For example, during an introductory reading, immediately identify unfamiliar words, and then parse them in a dictionary (better sensible than translation). And do not forget to keep your own list of words to repeat them later. So passive vocabulary will constantly expand.
We give free access to three months of learning English through our online courses. To do this, simply follow the link until December 31, 2017.
We will be glad to see you in English courses for IT-specialists.
Sign up for an introductory lesson and get comprehensive feedback on your level of knowledge, then choose a teacher and an educational program for yourself!
Common mistakes
- The biggest mistake when reading an article in English is a frequent peeking into the dictionary.
- Using translation dictionaries where you could use the explanatory (English-English) dictionary.
- Attempt to immediately penetrate into all the details of the text.
- Reading overly complex articles with a level of knowledge of English Beginner or Elementary.
But all these errors are easy to fix. Now tell you how.
Rules for working with English texts
Choose the appropriate article
Do not immediately rush to the technical literature or articles with a mass of complex details. If you understand that while you are ready to read more simple texts, then grab them. Choose only articles of interest to you, otherwise nothing will come of it.
Read the article
No matter how difficult, try to read the text from beginning to end, without looking into the dictionary. It is necessary to get to catch the general meaning of the article. If you begin to delve into some details and look for them in the dictionary, there is a chance that an explanation will be presented later in the text. Such introductory reading will be useful for you on the exam or testing, where you need to work out the text of a large volume and give answers to the questions. It is likely that the knowledge of the parts you just do not need.
Read again
Now you can go into all the details. Read each paragraph and make sure you understand its meaning. While reading, select or write out incomprehensible words in a separate notepad or file.
Parse the words
When reading a sentence with one of the incomprehensible words, try to guess its meaning and write it in front of the word. Carefully study the structure of the sentence, the form of the word and its connection with all members of the sentence. This will help you understand the part of speech and the form in which the word is presented.
Work with an explanatory dictionary (for Pre-Intermediate and higher levels)
We are not in a hurry to translate everything at once. Use the English-English dictionary. Find the word, match the part of speech in the dictionary and the text, then review the description and its example in the sentence. Thesaurus and the Cambridge Dictionary are a couple of pretty good explanatory dictionaries in case you haven't used anything like this before. If you are still at the level of Beginner or Elementary, you can skip this step.
Use translation dictionary
We are looking for the most suitable translation: we check the part of speech, choose the value that most closely matches the subject of the article and check examples with this word, if there is such a possibility. Multitran , Abbyy Lingvo and Context Reverso can perfectly help you with this.
Now you can verify the values we found with those that we proposed earlier. So for each word will be created its own precedent in memory and it will be remembered better. It is advisable to keep a special notebook, document, or enter words in some application, so that later there is an opportunity to repeat them. Alternatively, you can try for this purpose our application on IOS or Android .
Back to the article
Now we read the text and get pleasure, because we become clear every phrase and all the details. We try to remember the exact meaning of the word that we encountered in the article, so that it is better fixed in the memory and correctly used by us in the future.
The whole process of such reading may seem rather lengthy, but it is worth it. Over time, the reading speed will increase and it will be possible to reduce the number of readings. For example, during an introductory reading, immediately identify unfamiliar words, and then parse them in a dictionary (better sensible than translation). And do not forget to keep your own list of words to repeat them later. So passive vocabulary will constantly expand.
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Online Courses
We give free access to three months of learning English through our online courses. To do this, simply follow the link until December 31, 2017.
Individually by Skype
We will be glad to see you in English courses for IT-specialists.
Sign up for an introductory lesson and get comprehensive feedback on your level of knowledge, then choose a teacher and an educational program for yourself!
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