ESL: Reading Without Your Dictionary

I have been teaching ESL for almost 20 years and it is interesting how many students read with a dictionary next to them. I think about how often I have read with a dictionary. Even when I was learning German in high school and when I lived in Germany, I didn’t rely on a dictionary as often as some ESL students. It takes a long time to read anything if you try looking up every word you don’t know in a dictionary. I think of the times I read books and if I don’t know what a word means, if I ever use a dictionary to look that word up. Maybe once or twice a year I might do that. The best way for a person learning English to read is to read it straight through, underlining (or highlighting) the words that might be looked up in a dictionary. Then after finishing the paragraph, page, or essay if you feel the need to look up a word in a dictionary look up the words underlined (highlighted).  If you do look up a word, then keep a list of those words. Make your own list of vocabulary words. Often you will realize there is no reason to look up every word, you can still understand what you read, even if you don’t understand every word. Isn’t that what the real reason you are reading? Think about the times you watch tv and multi-task. With the tv on you are on the phone, on the computer, running in and out of the room while cooking, or maybe doing homework. Think about not seeing everything on the show, but you still understand what the show is about. Reading is the same thing, you don’t understand every word, but you understand what the essay was about. I had a student a few years ago that came to class all excited. She was so happy she was able to read and ENTIRE book. She read the book HOLES, and it only took her six months. I was happy for her. She was really happy to read complete something. The book was written for middle school students, I know that she didn’t understand over 25% of the vocabulary when she started the book and probably understood over 80% when she finished. She understood the book, maybe not every word! So, when you read don’t read with a dictionary you are going to finish the reading more quickly, and gain more confidence.