Why you should learn words in context...

[Alan]

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Hi,

CONTEXT

We get many questions on the forum about the meaning of words. Incidentally don't forget, the best way to ask this sort of question is: What does*** mean? We give answers to these questions but I often wonder whether the message goes home, whether the meaning is clear because you can't really know what a word means until you can see it at work in a phrase or a sentence.

Any word explained in isolation doesn't help very much. If for example someone asks for the meaning of the word 'honestly', and I said this means 'behaving in an honest way', are you any the wiser? You might then come across a snatch of conversation like this: I don't honestly know what you're talking about. Does my definition of 'honestly' help? Not really, does it? And that brings me to the title of my topic 'Context'.

If you know what a word means in a special context, that is when the word is used in a particular statement/sentence so that you can understand the meaning, you are on the way to success. I always try (well, I do most times) to show a word 'at work', in other words, show it as used in a sentence. It's no good just getting a simile (a word that's almost the same) and thinking you know the meaning. Don't just learn lots of separate words, learn them in a context, in a setting, doing a job of work. Look up the word in a big dictionary, I mean the sort of dictionary that shows the word used in a sentence. Then you can use the word with confidence.

Good luck.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Sspike]

Hi, I have a problem with this recording. It sounds a bit like Mickey Mouse. What might be the problem?

[Alan]

Hi,

I hope it's not me! I trust I don't sound like Mickey Mouse.

Alan
_________________
English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Progressive Forms