Education Requirement
Part 2

Especially for high school students up.

This follow-up article, Part 2, has numerous points on the importance of adequate dictionary use. This is somewhat a collection of important points.

Analogies showing the importance of knowing the words.

Here is an analogy how not understanding one word harms understanding the whole sentence.  Each word in a sentence is part of the overall chain of words in a sentence, with that whole chain needed to give the overall meaning or concept of that sentence.  To leave out one word is to break that chain, damaging the understanding of that overall sentence. 

Another analogy is: reading is like a train going down a railroad track.  As you read along line by line you are going down the track with everything held together, under control and understood.  But if you hit a word that you do not know, all of a sudden you lose track of what is going on;  you are thrown into a kind of oblivion where the certainty of understanding is gone.

Was a sentence really “read” if one of its words was not understood?

On one hand there is the actual understanding of a lesson.  On the other hand there are potentially hundreds of mistaken understandings of that lesson, based on potentially any of hundreds of words not being understood.  One not understood word will confuse that sentence and may cause a cancer of confusion in later sentences.  While there are other problems in education, if you are looking for a major cause or reason an education is failing, this alone can do it.

If you can not understand a sentence, look within that sentence for any word that is not understood.  If you still can not understand that sentence, look in earlier sentences for any word or words that were not understood. 

If one word in a sentence is not understood, can we say that sentence was  actually “read” in the first place?  Are we going to call any minimal exercise of running one’s eyes over a page “reading”? 

Are our standards to be set such that vagueness, confusion, not understanding a sentence or a lesson is to be considered “good enough”?

How to increase interest in education.

Not knowing what words mean very much tends to make lessons not understandable.  How can a not understood lesson be enjoyable?  Soon studying itself can start to appear unsatisfying, confusing, and uncomfortable.  There are already too many students who are bored with learning. 

With all the other efforts to make studying more enjoyable and attractive, why not employ the simple expedient of looking up words?  Can we ignore this basic requirement for learning and then be surprised that so many students dislike studying and are poor at learning?  An easy way for a student to make his education more enjoyable and successful is to look up the words.

Please see the Benjamin Franklin quote in the previous Website article, where he wrote about using dictionaries: “…you will read with more satisfaction, because with more understanding.”  Not looking up words is about the largest reducer of satisfaction and interest in learning.

A mistaken educational theory can harm you.

Some mistaken education theorists try to claim that not understanding one word in a sentence has the only negative effect of that one word not being understood, with supposedly the rest of the sentence well understood.  One readily available way to prove this is false is with real experience.  Every time a person looks up an unknown word and then goes back to the sentence that word was in, the person goes “Oh, now I understand the overall sentence.” 

Do not get lost in or fooled by this mistaken intellectual theory.  Regardless of however many pages of mistaken theory anyone can dream up, you can recognize just by yourself that by looking up that one word, the whole sentence does become better understood.  You can recognize that before that one word was looked up, its whole sentence was not well understood.

Within the Benjamin Franklin quote you can significantly see the concept that more adequate dictionary use adds to understanding, that looking up one word adds to understanding the sentence that word was in.  This basic recognition in many people has been around a long time.  This has always been a large part of the reason many people use dictionaries – not only to understand that one word, but also to understand the rest of the sentence.

Before the invention of this improved dictionary existed, a theoretician might have sympathized and said “It is too much trouble and takes too long to look up a word.  So just guess a meaning for that word.”  This improved dictionary gets rid of the difficulty of looking up words in book dictionaries as much as possible.  Looking up a word no longer is any particular trouble.

Having a better vocabulary and still getting along with others.

Achieving a broader vocabulary does not mean anyone should “show off” to others, purposely using words they likely will not understand.  It is well known that many people have two vocabularies – one to speak to others, and a broader vocabulary to understand anything read or listened to.  I am not trying to turn everyone into walking chatterbox dictionaries, but merely trying to make it possible for people to understand their lessons.

(I even have two grammars, “incorrectly” ending the above second-to-last sentence “listened to” with a preposition – because that is more immediately understandable than saying “to which is listened.”  I know what “correct” grammar is, but sometimes I just don’t care.)

Any theorist who regards that he is protecting people by saying that they don’t need to know the words – may actually and inadvertently be contributing to keeping them down and ignorant.  The route to a more successful education and life requires knowing what the words mean.

I wonder if there is a double standard among some theorists, where children of wealthier parents are encouraged to have larger vocabularies and look up more words than children of poorer parents.  I wonder if some mistaken theory states that children of poorer parents get an exemption, as if somehow they can understand the same lessons without knowing the same words. 

Any such double standard could hurt those poorer students’ opportunity to advance themselves through education.  Any student is free to refuse to look up words, but this is not to say that anyone should therefore jump in with some supposed theoretical justification that that student’s education and life will not be harmed.

Finally it will take much less time to look up the words. 

With the improved dictionary, U.S. Patent No. 4,813,710, looking up not known words will take much less time, perhaps only minutes within any hour of study, and be a much smaller price you pay to be able to understand the lessons. 

Why do so many students object so much to using an ordinary dictionary?  Even there its use is not that many minutes per hour.  Maybe it is the annoyance of having to search and turn the pages back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth, finally to find the word.  Usually 6 or 7 page turns to find a word.

This improved dictionary allows you to turn directly to where the first letter of the word is, and the second turn of the pages brings you directly to where the second letter of the word is.  Usually only 2 or 3 page turns to find a word.  So that annoyance is much reduced.  All in all, it is a more fun, time saving, and less annoying dictionary to use.

No more breathing, everyone.

I have to wonder if some education theoreticians’ approach is: “We will not be bothered with the necessity to know what the words mean, but we will make up for that by putting more attention on some other aspect of education.”  This is like a health person saying “We will ignore the basic requirement to breathe – – no more breathing, everyone – – but we will make up for that by giving everyone better fitting shoes. 

The fact is knowing what the words mean  IS  a fundamental requirement.  Knowing what the words mean can NOT safely be ignored or left out.

Here is about the most important and basic requirement in education.  But some theorists ignore it as if – – so what, can’t be bothered with that, am above considering that, am bored with that.  While overlooking this, at the same time some educational theorists make the continual search for some new intellectual theory to help education, seeking the new “theory of the month.”  What they overlook is the practical fact that helping students know what the words mean would solve a large part of our education problem.

It may be that common sense, average people can more easily recognize this necessity for education than some trained theoreticians.  It may require that average people demand that this education improvement be instituted, and not wait for teachers, administrators, the federal government, or anyone else.  Average people can push these others to do the right thing and get this instituted.  Education failing so badly may suggest that some theoreticians do not know as much about repairing education as they may pretend to know. 

Some theoreticians can have a mistaken response to our program of: “No need for that program, because (1) I’ll just presume that everyone knows the words, (2) that no one minds using a dictionary, and (3) that it does not much matter if people know the words anyway.”

All three of those points are objectively proved false in this Website. 

Another way a theoretician could justify ignoring this program is if it bores a theoretician in the first place, not being complicated and new enough.

I would appreciate if anyone evaluating this program read far enough into it to get the objective answers that those three viewpoints are mistaken.  Plus that however "boring" this is, to recognize this is of priority importance for education anyway.

Just because knowing what the words mean is not on the intellectual cutting edge of new theorizing is no reason for you to ignore this necessity.  It is not safe to conform along with anyone who advises you not to look up the words.  It is your education and your life.  You will have to decide if you are willing for your education and your life to be damaged.

This improved dictionary is a teacher’s aid.

How can a teacher know each exact moment when any student encounters a not understood word?  While any teacher can encourage a student to use a dictionary, when a student “privately and unknown to others” comes across a not understood word, what teacher’s aid can we provide to encourage each student to look that word up? 

Everything else being equal, students prefer NOT to be confused.  With this improved dictionary, it is only negligible effort to look up a word and resolve a study confusion.  Looking up not understood words

– popping up here and there along the way – will become more of a routine action, not because the teachers want them to, but volunteered by the students themselves.  Students will be more willing to use this dictionary. 

This United States patent has the only practical easier-to-use dictionary, as is proved elsewhere on this Website.  This breakthrough, improved dictionary is a major improved teacher's aid that will improve vocabulary and improve lessons being understood.

Looking up a word now will often save looking up that same word later and help you in the long run.

What if a student does not understand a given word, for instance “relationship”?  That student may come across that one word in most if not all his or her classes.  By looking up that one word the first time it is come across, that student could have avoided confusion in several classes.

Notice in the Benjamin Franklin quote where he says:

“…This may at first seem troublesome and interrupting; but it is a trouble that will daily diminish, as you will daily find less and less occasion for your dictionary, as you become more acquainted with the terms;…”

Conceivably, if a student spent an extra three hours looking up the not understood words for one class, and spent no time looking up the not understood words for another class, that student’s grade for the other class may have gone from a “D” to a “C” anyway.

The point is – it may not require an extra five hours for each of five classes each semester.   Maybe an extra ten extra hours over a whole semester for all classes would broadly increase understanding and proficiency in all classes.

Looking up all words that are not understood in all classes may not require that much more extra time.  Looking up not understood or misunderstood words is probably the most important and efficient thing a student could do to improve his or her education.

If you look up each word well and get it down pat, you can know that word as part of your regular vocabulary for the rest of your life.  To get a word down pat, make up a few sentences for each definition until you are comfortable with it.  It can also be a good idea to take a look at the derivation, to get some idea where that word came from.

Apart from considering the total extra hours this will involve for all classes, the fact remains that if you do not look up any single not understood word, you will not well understand the sentence that word was in.    You can take it one step at a time, looking up each not understood word as it comes along.  This will not take that much extra time each day. 

Besides this helping in other classes you are taking now, this will also help you in later classes in following semesters, and in your later life.  By getting this out of the way and looking up those words now, you will not need to look up these same words in later semesters and in later life. 

Some students looking for an easy way out might think “Well, I won’t look up any words now, but when I later get a job and it finally matters, then I will start looking up words.”  The only problem with that is – whatever classes that student takes to qualify him for that job, that student might arrive at that job application rather vague and confused on the whole subject.  Any decision to look up words “later when it matters” could easily result in never qualifying for that job “later when it matters.”  Looking up the words now avoids being confused later. 

Besides, why waste one’s time while in school?  Having more free time now, why not just look it up now and get it forever out of the way?

Knowing what the words mean provides more depth of understanding.

Two different students could get the same grade in a class, for instance an “A” or a “C.”  But one of those students could have much better depth of understanding and actually understand that class better.

One student with only a vague grasp on the words might still be able to “parrot” the words back to do as well in multiple-choice tests.  That student could vaguely have the idea that one multiple-choice answer is better than the others.

The other student who precisely knows the meaning of all the words can know for a definite fact which answer is correct, and how each other answer is false.

In an essay question test, there is a difference between rather vaguely and intellectually stringing some words together (parroting them back) – and having a depth of certainty what one is talking about.  Two students could use the same words in an essay question, but one of the students much better know what he is talking about.

Is there anything else in education besides getting a good grade?

What value do you put on understanding a class and becoming competent in that subject? This information is supposed to be of some use to you out in the real world.

Have you ever seen an engineering student who knows all the math and can intellectualize about the subject?  But if you ask that student to design and build a simple bridge, all of a sudden that student is at a loss?

Precisely understanding each word gives more depth of certainty of each concept in the lessons.  Understanding each word, a person is no longer parroting and repeating back someone else’s words.  Those words become his words and his understanding.  He has made each thought and concept his own.  He knows what he is doing.

Another factor that contributes to depth of understanding is experience using this information.  For instance, classroom laboratory exercises or other practical exercises using the information give some experience and add to depth of understanding.  Personal involvement using the information and not just thinking about the information adds to experience.

You have probably seen in life there are some people who are intellectualizing “talking heads.”  There are some other people who have the confidence and actually know what they are doing.  Apart from experience, a large part of the difference between these two groups of people is that the latter more precisely understand the concepts by more precisely understanding the words.

I realize that I have not actually proven this one point – that more depth of understanding and ability to use the information significantly comes from more precisely understanding the words.  This point may “make sense and sound right,” but this point has not actually been fully proven. 

You can therefore treat this point as a hypothesis and see if your later experience confirms this point to be true.  However, in the meantime until you have decided one way or another on this point, you might keep in mind that getting a good grade is not the only goal.  There is also a worthwhile goal actually to become competent and really know what you are talking about.                                                 

Education rightly is a priority matter to the public.

When the public is surveyed, education is within the public's top two concerns.  Education is a priority matter, because with education improved, many other problems in society will be avoided, including the problem of so much poverty.  With less poverty due to better education, there will be less call for foundations to support housing, nutrition, health-care services, etc.  In the long term this makes helping education more of a priority than helping some other fields.

With YOUR getting a good education, YOU will better tend to avoid these poverty problems.

Within education this improved dictionary is a priority.  It is absolutely necessary for students to become more willing to use dictionaries.  Education has too long been harmed by students not knowing what the words mean.  What other program makes it easier to know what words mean?

As stated in other articles, this improved dictionary may never be published.  Please see the last article “Contacting Dictionary Companies” for addresses, E-mails, etc. to write dictionary companies and request that they publish this improved dictionary.

©  2002  Alexander Weilgart

(There is another article “Education Requirement Part 3” following this article that will give you more information how to improve your education and your life.  Please refer to end of earlier article “Part 1” for permission under certain conditions to print and photocopy these articles to give to others.)