unfamiliar meanings in English learning

田秋来 何立艳

Discussion on the familiar words with

【Abstract】 In the course of English learning， most of the students work hard to memorize words， and also have a certain vocabulary， but they are always unable to achieve their own satisfactory grades. An important reason for this result is that they have neglected the mastery of familiar words with unfamiliar meanings. In this case， they will naturally think about some English sentences in their own way of thinking， which leads to a large deviation in the overall understanding and even far from the correct meaning. Therefore， we cant just blindly recite words， its necessary for us to strengthen the grasp of familiar words with unfamiliar meanings， so that we can get twice the result with half the effort.

【Key words】familiar words， unfamiliar meaning， neglect， strengthen

【摘 要】在英语学习过程中，大部分同学努力的去背单词，同时也拥有了一定的词汇量，但总是不能获得令自己满意的成绩。导致这种结果的一个重要的原因就是他们忽略了对于含有生僻意义的熟悉词语的掌握。在这种情况下他们自然而然会按照的自己的固定思維方式去思考某些英语句子，导致整体理解出现很大的偏差甚至与正确意思相差甚远。所以不能仅仅盲目的背单词，加强对于含有生僻意义的熟悉词语的掌握可以让我们事半功倍。

【关键词】熟悉的词语；生僻的意义；忽视；加强

I Introduction

It is very important for us to learn the familiar words which contain the meaning of life. Otherwise， it may cause us to understand some English sentences in the wrong way and thus affect our exam results and even the communication of spoken English. It is because we are too confident that we are fully aware of a familiar word， and that it has other meanings here， which causes us to lose the original judgment and make the wrong choice.

II Investigation and analysis

2.1 The current situation of students' understanding of familiar words with unfamiliar meanings.

Of the many college students who have randomly surveyed， more than ninety-five percent of them have a poor mastery of the familiar words for their strange meanings. Their learning of a word is limited to remembering its most common meaning and neglecting its more useful but strange meaning.

Through the questionnaire survey， we can know that vast majority of College Students are utterly ignorant of strange meanings of familiar words. This is a very bad situation. It can seriously affect the students' reading comprehension ability， because they always understand their own fixed thinking， lose the original judgment， so it is easy to deviate from the right direction and naturally fall into the trap.

2.2 The cause of this phenomenon.

On the one hand， students have great learning tasks and do not have enough time to memorize all the meanings of words. On the other hand， students develop the habit of memorizing words rather than analyzing their meanings thoroughly. Whats more， the students have developed the habit of laziness. They dont want to remember more meanings of words， and more reluctant want to accumulate summaries.

2.3 Measures to change this situation.

In the first place， students should be encouraged to spare no effort to cultivate their habit of accumulating the remote meaning of familiar words， which is the best way for them to acquire more assets to strengthen the understanding of English reading. Meanwhile， you should stick to this accumulation in every exam or every reading. From my point of view， insistence is the steel that forges the supporting structure of the English learning， and you cant learn it well if this invaluable asset is ever neglected in any possible manner. Furthermore， the teachers should strengthen the supervision of the students and let them pay attention to the words with unfamiliar meanings. The last but not least， you'd better read a lot of foreign and domestic classical literature like oxford dictionary and the New Oriental four level vocabulary which will let you know the most authentic English expression.

2.4 The harm to neglect the words with strange meanings.

That will not only reduce your test scores， but also make you handicap in English communication and even let you lose competitiveness in the future career. Some translation officials may make mistakes in the translation of international conferences.

There are many words that you can easily translate wrong in reading comprehension， such as this context “The plateau is very close， so most people choose to travel to the cool seaside.” Actually， the meaning of the word “close” is muggy， but a number of people translate into obliterate. Because most people only know the meaning of it is shut， reconsidering the terrain of the plateau， it is also taken for granted to translate into obliterate. Therefor the students lost their scores in reading easily.

There are a lot of examples like this， here are 10 cases for you，in brackets is the correct meaning.

Abraham Lincoln delivered his most famous address in Gettysburg.（speech）

He smiles with a triumphant air.（appearance）

The ring bears an inscription.（carve）

Im feeling rather blue today.（sad）

She takes the chair in all our meetings.（leader）

You may know a man by the company he keeps.（group）

He is a cheap crook.（Contemptible）

According to this passage， some animals have the gift of recognizing human faces.（talent）

He reopened the plant， starting from scratch.（factory）

All is lost save honor.（except）

III Conclusion

Mastering words not only improve our English performance but also cultivate the ability for us to learn， which plays an important role in communicating with others in the future. Actually， students with such a perspective are usually the most efficient and motivated ones who can gain competitive edge in the career. The cultivation of accumulating the familiar words with strange was ，is ，and remains to be an integral part in learning English and communicating with others.

IV Acknowledgment

Our research object is limited to college students. Although there are many shortcomings and omissions in the study， it can still reflect certain problems in learning English. I will be extremely honored if this research can help you remember more words with strange meanings and improve the English grades for you.

【References】

[1]New Oriental four level vocabulary：385-405 pages.