Quote:
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.
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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.