How to learn new words while reading
Reading is the best source of new words there is: each one comes with a sentence, a story and a reason to care. Most of them slip away by the next chapter. These seven habits keep them, whether you're reading in your own language or one you're learning.
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1. Don't stop at every word
If you understand the sentence without it, read on. Stopping at every unknown word breaks the story, and most of those words won't matter. Mark the ones you notice, with a pencil dot or a quick photo, and keep reading.
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2. Guess first, then check
Before looking a word up, guess from the sentence around it. A guess you then confirm or correct is remembered far better than a definition you simply read. It also trains the habit that makes hard books readable.
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3. Learn the words that come back
A word you meet a second or third time is worth learning; it belongs to the book, the author or the subject you read. Rare words that appear once can wait.
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4. Keep the sentence, not just the word
Write down the sentence you found the word in, not only its definition. The sentence shows how the word is used, what it goes with and what tone it carries, and it brings back the moment you read it.
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5. Look at where the word comes from
Roots tie words together. Once you know that bracing comes from Latin bracchia, "arms", you also see it in embrace and bracelet. One root can unlock a dozen words.
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6. Review at growing intervals
Look at a new word again the next day, then after a few days, then after a week or two. Each review just before you would forget makes the memory last longer. Ten minutes a day is enough.
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7. Watch for it again
Once a word is in your head, you start noticing it everywhere. Every time you meet it in another book or article, it sticks a little more. That is when it has become yours.
Doing it with SnapVerbo
SnapVerbo is a free app built around these habits. Photograph the page or take a screenshot, tap the word, and it's saved with its definition, the sentence and the photo. Word Roots shows where it comes from, and spaced flashcards bring it back at growing intervals.
- Saving words from paper books →
- Sentence mining from what you read →
- Word Roots →
- A vocabulary app for adults →
