The 5 finger rule.

[AlexGrama]

What do you think about this?

Use the five finger rule. Pick a book, and read the first two or three pages. Put one finger up for every word you can't pronounce or don't know the meaning of. If you've put up 5 or more fingers, the book is probably too hard.

[rcuadro]

that is why I love the dictionary on the Kindle app and iBooks (the only two I use)

[RichL]

Sounds like a wonderful way to know you need to open a dictionary and dig in.

[AlexGrama]

I think if we obey this nonsense rule we skip the most awesome books.

[Pookeysgirl]

How would I ever expand my vocabulary if I only read books that contained only the words that I know?

[Andrew H.]

What if the book opens with quotation in a language you can't speak? Like Elvish?

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Pookeysgirl

How would I ever expand my vocabulary if I only read books that contained only the words that I know?

You wouldn't. You'd be still reading...eh chewing your baby books with pictures ....

[QuantumIguana]

I can usually figure out the meaning of words by context, and it doesn't matter how the words are pronounced. One trait readers often have is they know the meaning of a lot of words that they don't know how to pronounce.

I do think it is possible to go overboard with obscure and semi-archaic words.

[ucfgrad93]

Originally Posted by Pookeysgirl

How would I ever expand my vocabulary if I only read books that contained only the words that I know?

Agreed. We need to challenge ourselves.

[HoopyFrood]

You have got to be kidding! That hasn't happened since I was in high school, or since I read the last William F. Buckley book.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

I can usually figure out the meaning of words by context, and it doesn't matter how the words are pronounced. One trait readers often have is they know the meaning of a lot of words that they don't know how to pronounce.

I do think it is possible to go overboard with obscure and semi-archaic words.

I can only second that. Reading mostly in english now I have learned new words simply by seeing them in a book in context. It works even without a dictionary lookup. Amazing that adults still can learn like a little kid does when they initially learn language. Most is not taught, but learned by hearing others talk. The only drawback is that pronounciation is so irregular in english that I do struggle with that. I wish it would be more like arabic - the only language that I know of where pronounciation is 100% of what the text reads. If a sound needs to be pronounced differently, then there is a different and unique new way of writing it.

English is a foreign language to me, if you haven't guessed by now. Although it seems that I have more difficulty talking in german any more. When I have to I feel like a stuttering idiot.

[estelle58]

I love to use the dictionnary for words I don't know and since my native language is French and I almost only read books written in English it helps me expand my vocabulary

[AlexGrama]

Stop "fingering" all around here.

[carpetmojo]

I thought someone was insulting my typing skills ........

then realised it said 5 not 1.......

[Pax]

I also don't approve to this rule to a certain extent.
English is not my mother tongue, so I have some experiences in reading books in a foreign language.
When you are a beginner and just started to learn the language, you have to improve step by step.
So maybe for this situation you can apply this rule, however in my opinion after you reached a certain level and you feel rather confident in your language skills, you should go beyond that 5 finger rule.

From my experiences every author has its own way of writing and so his own prefered vocabulary. Whenever I switch an author, it can be "difficult", but you can get used to it rather quickly.