[jimbob45]

>I just get the definitions of words that I don't understand and I do just fine.

This is what turned the tide for me but it took much more discipline than I was willing to admit at first. When I stopped lying to myself about how much context clues were helping me understand the words I didn’t know, it started to take me 10 minutes to get through a page of a difficult book. However, it started to pay off when I achieved a deeper understanding of the books I was reading.

[_yoqn]

Exactly! Somewhere along the line we started being taught things like context clues and other study traps. No amount of technique can possibly replace proper vocabulary building. I spent a lot of time in the dictionary in my younger years but it’s paid off massively in my ability to study and assimilate new things.

[ttesttom]

Out of curiosity, do you mean words that are technical or specific to a field? Or more general words such as 'didactic'?