Building Vocabulary

[leebase]

I used to think I had a decent vocabulary. What I've discovered with reading on my iPad, iPhone is that I merely skipped over words before. Now it's so easy to just click on a word and have the definition pop up.

There's a good deal of nuance that I now get when reading that I just used to gloss over.

Just one more reason that ebooks rock

Lee

[Quexos]

Provided any given e-reader has a good dictionary included, yes this is indeed very practical and useful.
My reader can even extrapolate from a conjugated verb so for instance if I have a sentence that goes: "He sauntered toward the garden", when I check "sauntered", my reader goes "sauntered -> saunter: A leisurely stroll"

[patrickt]

And, a lot of books I read have slang and dialect. I learned recently that in parts of Scotland, neeps are turnips. And I loved learning the word "merkin" but then I had to find out why the word existed.

[SmokeAndMirrors]

Originally Posted by leebase

I used to think I had a decent vocabulary. What I've discovered with reading on my iPad, iPhone is that I merely skipped over words before. Now it's so easy to just click on a word and have the definition pop up.

There's a good deal of nuance that I now get when reading that I just used to gloss over.

Just one more reason that ebooks rock

Lee

I'm having the same experience. I'd usually just try to figure it out by context, or skip it.

Now I can look it up without interrupting my reading. It's awesome.

[BookCat]

After you've been doing this for a while, try playing Reader's Digest's Word Power quiz. You can play this on line free of charge.

[Loosheesh]

Originally Posted by BookCat

After you've been doing this for a while, try playing Reader's Digest's Word Power quiz. You can play this on line free of charge.

[Kevin8or]

Originally Posted by BookCat

After you've been doing this for a while, try playing Reader's Digest's Word Power quiz. You can play this on line free of charge.

Tried but failed to find this at rd.com. Link, anyone?

[mcm]

Honestly I am not much of a reader but thought a Kindle would be something my whole family could use, my husband , my daughter and son all read. I believe it has helped me to understand words much better since I can look it up instantly.

[Loosheesh]

Originally Posted by Kevin8or

Tried but failed to find this at rd.com. Link, anyone?

Here you go ; I just used the Play for Fun button

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by Loosheesh

Here you go ; I just used the Play for Fun button

Thanks! That is fun And I'm doing quite well for a furriner, I guess; 3 mistakes out of 15...

Reading 200+ English books a year for 30-odd years does help, it seems

[estelle58]

Originally Posted by leebase

I used to think I had a decent vocabulary. What I've discovered with reading on my iPad, iPhone is that I merely skipped over words before. Now it's so easy to just click on a word and have the definition pop up.

There's a good deal of nuance that I now get when reading that I just used to gloss over.

Just one more reason that ebooks rock

Lee

Same here Since my native language is French I love being able to look for a definition while I read. I use it on my Kobo WiFi and iPhone app and I can't wait for the Kobo Vox to have that option

[tothepoint]

I agree. It's a great feature of ebook readers. Probably the best. Apart from glare-free screens.

[CelestialSong]

Definitely love the built-in dictionaries! I think I'm expanding my vocabulary quite nicely by using that feature.

[elemenoP]

Yes, I confess I have tried to touch a word on a pbook to look it up. Nothing happened.

eP

[Daithi]

Originally Posted by Loosheesh

Here you go ; I just used the Play for Fun button

I agree, that is fun. Although, I couldn't get any of the time bonuses.

BTW, I have found that the most effective way to truly learn a word is to use it incorrectly in a public setting where others can point out the actual meaning of the word.