There are many small ways to make your days a little more full and to take every opportunity for learning. As a teacher, I am passionate about seeing people grasp what a privilege and a blessing that learning is. If you are blessed enough to live in a place that allows or better yet encourages you to further your education, then I believe that it is right and good of you to do that. There are many, many ways for you to take learning seriously, but one of the easiest and best ways is to grab a dictionary.
There are many things I love about a good dictionary. Being an English professor, the connection is obvious. I love words. I love the power of language for communication. I think it is quite amazing that two people that have never met can sit down and have a conversation and basically understand everything that is being said because they speak the same language. While it is very true that you can speak a language and even learn new words without using a dictionary, think of all there is to learn by using a dictionary.
I gave myself a challenge a few years ago when it came time to make a New Year's resolution. Typically, my resolutions had consisted of plans to eat better and workout more, but that year I decided that I would buy a new dictionary and spend a few minutes each day reading it. Sound boring? If so, then you obviously haven't tried reading from a dictionary. It is actually one of the best decisions I have ever made. I looked forward to my few minutes in the dictionary so much that I began reading it both morning and night. Reading my dictionary daily was by far the easiest resolution to follow.
What I love about reading the dictionary is learning how much I do not know. All I have to do is flip open a page and I am confronted with how much more there is to learn, not just about my language, but about all of life. I read words that I have never heard of and I learn concepts that I didn't even know existed. Reading my dictionary is one of the most humbling and yet thrilling things I've ever done.
So, grab a dictionary. Start the process of learning new words to add to your understanding and vocabulary, but also let your time in a dictionary teach you new and exciting things about the world.
Hallidae Thomason is an English professor who encourages all of her students to read a dictionary daily, even if just a few new words. See www.dictionarytimes.info for more on this great habit. |
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