A wide vocabulary is an important tool for both understanding new subject matter and for being to express yourself clearly. As your understanding of a subject grows, so does your ability to work out new words you come across. What do you do when you come across a word you do not understand? Before you look it up, see if there are any clues to its meaning. Does it look or sound like a word you already know? Rupture, interruption and eruption, for example, all share the Latin root word 'Rupt' meaning to break. Read the sentence and see if you can guess it's meaning. Try learning some of the most common root words, prefixes and suffixes; it will help you decode unfamiliar words. This will also help you spell more accurately.

Those who have all the riches that reading affords are more likely to enjoy gainful employment, acquire new skills very rapidly, and quickly move from learning to read to reading to learn. If you read for pleasure habitually, you provide yourself with self-generated learning opportunities that are equivalent to several years of education. The very act of reading demonstrates a certain habit of mind that is conducive to the levels of focus required for challenging work.

Reading a textbook for School can be a very different experience from reading for pleasure. Find out more about how you can navigate and enjoy this new challenge here.