Today I decided to try the “context clues” strategy to help me understand new vocabulary. I chose a short article and highlighted any words I didn’t recognize. Instead of looking them up immediately, I tried to guess their meaning by reading the sentences before and after the word.
This strategy actually worked well for me. I realized that even if I didn’t know the exact definition, I could still understand the general idea by paying attention to examples, comparisons, and descriptions in the text.
Here are a few new words I learned today:
“essentially” – I guessed it meant “basically” or “in essence,” and that was correct.
“emphasize” – I understood it meant “to give special importance to something.”
“gradual” – I figured out it meant “happening slowly over time.”
Using context clues helped me feel more confident because I didn’t stop reading every time I saw an unfamiliar word. I think I will continue using this strategy, especially when reading longer texts.