A practical reading method
Save an Unfamiliar Word Without Breaking Reading Flow
Record page, word, and a short paraphrase of the surrounding action or argument. Guess the word's local job—object, action, tone, contrast—without inventing a definition. Continue reading unless the word blocks the main event; later verify only the words that still matter.
Use this when frequent dictionary searches are interrupting comprehension more than the unknown words themselves. A delayed lookup works when the cue preserves location and the reader's provisional sense of the sentence.
Use case
When this method helps
Use this when frequent dictionary searches are interrupting comprehension more than the unknown words themselves.
A delayed lookup works when the cue preserves location and the reader's provisional sense of the sentence.
Method
Build the note
1. Record page, word, and a short paraphrase of the surrounding action or argument.
2. Guess the word's local job—object, action, tone, contrast—without inventing a definition.
3. Continue reading unless the word blocks the main event; later verify only the words that still matter.
Example
See the boundary in practice
Page 39, ‘susurrus,’ sound near the reeds; the scene remains clear, so the reader carries the lookup to the chapter break.
Quality check
Before you trust the note
The note should support later verification and should never present a context guess as a dictionary meaning.