Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Aili]

Hello everyone! I am a student from Taiwan. I LOVE English!

I always learn English with magazine. Last month, I started to read Advanced magazine, it's really hard for me to understand the articles because I have many new words in them! At least 20 new words an article! Sometimes I feel frustrated:(

I tried to look up every new word in an English-English dictionary, but that spent lots of time! I need an hour to look them up, and half an hour listen to the MP3. After I enter high school, I don't have that much time to spend. And, I can't memorize 20 words a day when I don't know how to use them... I hope I will find a way to solve this problem...Can anyone tell me what I can do?

[redset]

Hi! My advice is don't try to learn too quickly, take your time to read one article and to look up new words you don't understand. Then try to read it again, and see if you can remember some of the words and if the article makes more sense. Soon the words will stick in your mind and you won't forget them as easily, and your understanding will be better!

I don't know the magazine you're talking about, but if you try to read something that's too difficult then you'll spend more time looking words up than reading the article, and it will get boring. If the magazine isn't too difficult for you then that's great, but don't be afraid to read something less complicated until you're ready to move on. But you're the only person who knows if it's too hard Good luck!

[Aili]