}

Education through Reading A Dictionary

When I started reading the American Heritage Dictionary 4th Ed. two years ago,

the goal was to try to retain as many words as possible. I would copy one page a 

day, record the interesting entries, and go through them over and over until I

know all of them. It was the exact method that I used acing the GRE 25 years ago.

 

With the dictionary, it didn't work, as I soon found out. The problem was that I

loved almost every new word and even more every old word with meanings new to

me. I even loved the apt examples, many of them quotations, hoping someday 

similar sentences can come out of my mouth. The effort to absorb all the

information soon fizzled. For a while, I sank into a gloom in the wake of the

immensity of the task and was at a loss of what exactly I was trying to achieve.

 

As I persisted in reading, however, there came a revelation: the goal, if there

is one, is not a feat but continued education. The idea came when I realized

that recently words came much more readily in writing and conversations. That is,

although I could not recall the meaning of every word as I initially planned, I

was making progress somehwere else.

 

I tried to copy every entry on a page regardless of how I felt about it. I

could have skipped "Grand Chaco," e.g. Its definition is not particularly

entertaining and I probably will never visit the place.

 

    Grand Chaco: A lowland plain of central South America divided among

    Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina. The arid plain is largely uninhabited.

 

In copying these 21 words, I misspelled two: Paragway and uninhibited. Mistakes

are valuable information and fixing them refreshes and reinforces memory. As

long as I practice this simple copying, the understanding of anything I pay

attention to, e.g., tense, mood, part, number, articles, usage, or even

punctuation, is repeatedly corrected, refined, or confirmed by my almost

infallible teacher. What I got myself into was the best education for free.

 

My routine has changed since. One page a day becomes one hour a day. Previously,

I often kept music or even video on to fight boredom and I constantly looked

forward to the end of the page. Nowadays, I am no longer bored and need no

distractions. One hour sometimes vanishes in front of the dictionary without me

noticing. As I also constantly adjust breathing and posture, it begins to

resemble jogging up Mission Peak.

 

I heard that the alchemists, in their doomed quest for converting base metals

into gold, discovered instead things more valuable which led to modern

chemistry. It sounds like what I have been going through with the dictionary.

 

7grizzly 发表评论于
回复 '暖冬cool夏' 的评论 : I like "We did not achieve what we intended to, but reaped something unexpected."
and can relate to my other pursuits. For example, I ran and lifted weight to see if I could reach my potential. So far, I don't know, but I've already collected a healthy heart, strong bones, and some muscles instead. :-)
7grizzly 发表评论于
Thank you, 暖冬, for reading and your thoughtful comments on the benefits of
being able to forget. Sufferings have staying power in the first place and our
lives must be much more miserable if we cannot forget. You are so right.

"Stock your mind" was from Frank McCourt, if that was the one you were referring
to, and he likened the well-educated mind to a palace. His insights made more
sense each time I revisited. Thank you for taking me back to him.

I like the summaries you made. It does feel that the words are mostly not
recallable but buried somewhere. They are like friends. Some are lost for the
rest of my life. But the next time I meet one, in a different scene, how joyful
it would be!
暖冬cool夏 发表评论于
How about this: Life is full of surprises. We did not achieve what we intended to, but reaped something unexpected.?
暖冬cool夏 发表评论于
A strong and revealing ending:))
Though I do not read dictionaries, I have a similar feeling in word memorization. I once wished that my brain were a computer chip, retaining every word I've learned. Until one day I realized that the good thing about human brain is the fact that it forgets things, or that things are remembered selectively. That way, we are enabled to forgive and forget. Otherwise, our brain, like a house (Is that from your quote?), will be littered with trash. Only by forgetting the forgettable can we unburden our brain and be open to the new world.
I may deviate a bit from your topic. Maybe this: we cannot grab or retain everything we love. Sometimes, we have to let some go:)

I believe a lot of words simply store in our brains and pop up once needed, like what you feel here.
I like the expressions, such as "in their doomed quest", "sank into a gloom". Enjoy your time reading!
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