ESL Blogs

Today's tip of the day - reading.  Reading is a remarkable way to increase your vocabulary.  And I have a suggestion for getting the most out of your time reading.  

For beginners, reading can be extremely difficult.  However, it does not have to be scary.  All of my 2nd level students start reading short paragraphs.  My third level students are reading classical short stories.  Short stories are ideal because they are not too long.  Classical short stories are nice because there is a great selection of them on the internet for free.

So here is the technique we follow:  

1)  As you read the story, highlight (or list) the words that you do not know.

2)  Once you have your list, you are going to do three things:

     a)  Write down the translation of the word in your native language.

     b)  Write down the English definition of the word.   (Some words have many definitions. Write down the meaning in which the word is used in the story).

     c)  Write down three synonyms of the word.

3)  Write sample sentences using each word correctly.  

Once you have learned the words, read the story again.  You should be able to read it much more quickly.  (Your comprehension should increase as well)!

In this process, for each unknown word you find, you are increasing your vocabulary by four words.  

HAPPY READING!!!