IELTS Reading: 3 + 1 tips for Dealing with Unknown Words
Today we’ll be looking at some tips for the IELTS Reading examination! Do you often encounter unknown words in your reading practice? Here we present you with some tips that can show you different ways to deal with them!
- Examine whether this particular word is essential. Most of the times, one word might not really make a difference and you’ll be able to complete the exercise without knowing the meaning of some words.
- Check the glossary. This is the case for some quite special words that might be part of scientific terminology. Those words are sometimes explained in the glossary at the end of the passage.
- Try guessing the meaning from the context. Look carefully at the surrounding words and the sentence structure. Do they give you any clues for the unknown word’s meaning? Also, don’t forget to look out for definitions: maybe the word you don’t know is defined later in the passage.
- Last but not least: Don’t panic! The most important thing is not to panic when you are faced with unknown words. Remember that they might not even matter for the required task. In any case, face the situation in a calm way: it helps a lot in order to think clearly.
If you meet unknown words while practicing, you should absolutely look them up in a dictionary after you have completed the required task! Not only will you learn their meaning this way, but they will stick in your mind for longer periods of time!