Do you know what their real problem is? Dictionaries. Please understand I’m not saying their dictionaries are bad. Many of them are great. The problem is that most learners use them far too often.

That’s not only boring, it’s a waste of time. As you will see in this lesson, the newspaper is probably the best reading material in the whole world for guessing the meanings of unfamiliar words. Once you master this skill, you’ll still need to use your dictionary, but not nearly as often.

The best place to start in developing your vocabulary guessing skills is in the new section. News stories have everything you need, lot’s of repetition, clarifications, explanations – even pictures and diagrams. Better yet they usually deal with everyday subjects that you already know a lot about – fires, elections, sports events, etc.

News stories normally deal with a single main topic. This is first introduced in the headline and repeated in some detail in the first one or two paragraphs known in newspaper language as the lead. The rest of the story (the body) adds details and background information.

This means you get several chances to understand key words and ideas. Here is an example to show you how useful this can be.

Notice that throughout the story key ideas are repeated and clarified. Repetition is done through synonyms (cell phone / mobile phone) or rephrasing (sue / file a complaint). Clarification is done by providing specific details. We find the father "reneged" on a promise by cancelling a contract he had promised to pay. And by falsifying his daughter’s signature he committed forgery.

There’s more. The story tells you directly that Brest is a "port city in western France". And, if you understand the story, it shouldn’t be too difficult to guess that "enraged" means "angered".

That’s that. You have read a complete news story without a single visit to your dictionary. Now practice what you have learned with activity below.

Activity One Below are a number of stories or parts of stories which have appeared in the Bangkok Post. Read them and use your guessing skills to answer the questions. Steer clear of killer globefish, says doctor Samut Prakan A doctor has warned against eating pla pakpao (globefish) after six crewmen died in Indonesian waters. Dr Chalit Thongprayoon, of Samut Prakan hospital, said 50 of the 150 pakpao species were poisonous. Thailand's 20 freshwater and marine pakpao were found mostly in the gulf and rivers in the North and Central Plains. Anyone who ate the fish would suffer breathing problems, acute stomach aches, dizziness and vomiting, he said. 1. What is the English term for pla pakpao? 2. The word acute in the phrase "acute stomach aches" means: minor severe unusual temporary Bogus TV journalist booted from parliament A woman was ejected from parliament yesterday for pretending to be a television reporter. Nittaya Aramkitpotha was "interviewing" Education Minister Kasem Wattanachai in the lobby of the building when security guards forced her to leave. She was escorted out during the debates on government policies. 3. Find three synonyms from the story for the phrase "booted from". 4. Why was Ms Nittaya called a "bogus" journalist? Gasohol may be answer for motorists Gasohol, a blend of 90% petrol and 10% ethanol, could be the answer for motorists who feel petrol prices are too high. 5. What is gasohol? Hundreds taken off stricken cruise ship Phuket — More than 400 people were taken off the Andaman Princess yesterday after the cruise ship began to list near Koh Phi Phi yesterday. Suwat Prakhunhansit, 54, a passenger, said the ship started listing shortly after it left Maya Bay. Mr Suwat said a crew member told him the ship had begun to take water. It was seeping into the hull too fast for the ship's pumps to handle. The 300 passengers and 100 crew were transferred to Bortine, a medium-sized vessel. 6. Which one of these boats is listing? 7. A stricken ship is damaged very large for passengers only used to rescue ships in trouble Walruses detusked Moscow — The walruses of Moscow Zoo were getting used to life without tusks yesterday and preparing to return to their pool without Little Hedgehog among their number. Yozhik, or Little Hedgehog, died after an operation by a specialist team led by British vet Peter Kertesz, who flew to Russia to remove the walruses’ infected tusks. After problems anaesthetising the 800kg beasts, Dr Kertesz’s team winched the walruses onto an operating table and moved in with a large drill. — Reuters 8. Which animal(s) below has/have tusks? 9. Which of the animals above is a walrus? Dangerous call Singapore – A soldier was dragged by a train after being distracted by a mobile phone call while crossing a railway track, but miraculously survived to recall his horrific ordeal, Singapore’s Sunday Times reported. Army regular Isaac Koh, 21, was using a well-worn shortcut on Friday night when his phone rang. He did not hear a freight train coming. "After I felt the impact, I kept telling myself I have to hold on to something," Mr Koh said. He was dragged for 100 metres clinging desperately to the train’s front. When it came to a stop, Mr Koh was bloodied and shivering, but suffered only abrasions, the report said. "I still don’t know who called me," he said. — AFP 10. What does distracted mean here? hit with a solid object having (his) attention taken away angered communicated with 11. A "horrific ordeal" is a terrible experience an exciting event a surprise a lucky occurrence 12. Abrasions are broken arms or legs damaged clothing or equipment injuries to the skin fear and anxiety Activity Two Learning vocabulary directly If you spend much time with the Bangkok Post, it won’t take you long to see that you can’t guess the meaning of every unfamiliar word. In fact, there will be a lot of words that are unguessable. That gives you two choices when you find such a word. First, you can skip over it – which is often a very good idea if you can understand the story without it. Or you can use your dictionary. I would save this method for the most essential words or for words you really want to know. Here’s another method that will help you learn and remember a lot of new words. Try to read stories on the same subject. You will soon see that there are certain groups of words that commonly appear in such stories. Once you know these you can slowly add other new words as you find them. As an example, let’s take a look at stories on love and marriage. Such stories tend to be reported in a light-hearted and amusing way in the newspaper. To get you started, let’s look at some of the most common vocabulary used for this subject. Before a couple gets married, one partner – usually the man – proposes marriage (makes a proposal). If the other partner approves (and usually the families as well), the couple becomes engaged or betrothed. During the engagement (betrothal) period, each partner is known as the other’s fiance. At the wedding ceremony, the woman is called the bride and the husband is called the groom. At the nuptials (wedding ceremony) the couple is formally joined in matrimony (marriage). Afterwards, there is usually a reception for family and friends. Then, of course, the newly-weds go off on their honeymoon. Now, let’s use a few short news stories to increase of love-and-marriage vocabulary. In the first story below, find an expression for one of the key parts of a western-style wedding ceremony. Also, what does the person in charge (often a religious official) do at the wedding? Worth a mint Atlanta — R&B singer Toni Braxton married Mint Condition keyboardist Keri Lewis in a private outdoor ceremony. Braxton, 32, and Lewis, 28, exchanged vows on Saturday in front of 250 guests outside the 60-acre Dean Gardens estate. Former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young officiated at the ceremony. A 16-piece orchestra played Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring as well as a funky version of So Fresh, So Clean, a current single by OutKast. — AP There are many informal or idiomatic expressions for getting married. Find one of them in the story below. In addition, find two important words or phrases that are often used in stories about Thai-style weddings. Dozens of couples take the plunge and wed beneath the waves Maythee Muangkaew Thirty-four couples tied the knot in an annual underwater wedding on Valentine’s Day. The ceremony began in the morning when the brides, accompanied by reporters and tourists, travelled to Ko Kradan. They were later joined by the grooms, who arrived with a dowry procession. After receiving nuptial water from ten honourary guests, including Trang Governor Chalermchai Preechanon, the love-struck couples dived into the sea in groups of ten to sign registration papers. I am happy to say that you now have an excellent start towards reading love-and-marriage stories. You’ve got many of the basics and should be able to understand most of the stories on this subject that you come across. Just keep adding to your vocabulary one or two words at a time.

TEACHER'S NOTE This lesson is designed to help your students learn how to build their vocabulary through the newspaper with or without the help of a dictionary. The main part of the lesson deals with learning vocabulary from context. The newspaper is easily one of the best sources available anywhere for developing this important skill. This is especially true of news stories since they are so repetitive and that is where the lesson puts its main focus. Before having your students do activity one, be sure to go through the introduction and the graphic entitled "Become a word detective". Teachers may want to cut the graphic from the newspaper and paste it on a stiff backing. Then laminate it to preserve it before making copies for students. Answers to activity one 1) globefish; 2) b: 3) She was not a real journalist, but only pretending to be one; 4) ejected, forced to leave, escorted out; 5) a blend of 90% petrol and 10% ethanol; 6) c; 7) a: 8) a and c; 9) a: 10) b: 11) a: 12) c Learning vocabulary directly The newspaper is also an extremely useful source for building your vocabulary directly, i.e., by learning new words, often with the help of a dictionary. Certainly one of the best ways to do this is to read several news stories on the same topic (e.g., fires, elections, football) and look for vocabulary commonly used to describe the topic. The lesson gives an example of this approach using the topic love and marriage. You will find a set of words common to this topic and the students then try to add to this list using the two example stories. Some of the words and expressions they will find are "exchanged vows", "officiated", "tied the knot", "nuptial water" and "registration papers". Click here to look at the whole eight-week series of lessons. Go back to the top