Students give me many answers to this question, but let us agree that a word is a symbol: sounds and written marks are used as symbols which stand for other things. To communicate, whether by speaking or in writing, we must use words.

For example, the word symbol dog stands for a four legged animal, said to be man's best friend. Even when they are without a voice human beings use words to communicate with their hands and fingers using standard sign language. (In formal language, one should refer to such persons as mute, do not use the word dumb, which is slang and insulting, because it also means stupid.)

Many of you may feel that you know a good number of English words already. This is likely true; but there are just as likely many words that you think you understand (but do not), and many words that you think you use correctly (but do not). Therefore, one task you have is to make sure that you own all the words you use.

By own the words, I mean that you completely understand all the aspects of the word: it's meaning, it's use, it's symbolism, if any. How do you do this? You do this by what I call close reading. It is hard work, but also rewarding. Close (or critical) reading requires that you put all of your language skills together in an attempt to understand what someone else is trying to communicate. You build your vocabulary by reading.

To own your words, you have to purchase them. You have to buy these words with your effort. You need to invest some of your own self in learning about the words you want to own. In this way, the words will become yours to use to express whatever you want to say, and when used by others, you will understand them thoroughly.

This is necessary (imperative) because words are important. When you are writing or speaking, each word that you choose is important. When reading, each word that you read has been chosen by the writer as important. When you are writing, you are choosing what is important to say. When you are reading, you are reading words that the writer has chosen as important.

The result of owning your words can be illustrated by something one of my students once said to me. She was taking a reading class and it was about halfway through the semester. We were just chatting before class and talking about words, what they mean and how they are used. My student observed that she had been reading the other night had noticed that a word was not correctly used in a sentence. She noted that she felt good that she could see that a word was misused by someone else.

In the past, she had to read slowly through the passage, look up words in the dictionary and would often (frequently) struggle to figure out what was been said. But now she expressed to me that she was fascinated that she was able to catch someone's mistake and that made her feel very good about her progress as a learner.

For me, this was proof that this student was learning and owned her words. Instead of (Rather than) continuing to speak, listen and understand in the same way she always had, this student was actively thinking about what she was reading. This student was able to connect what she had learned in class about language usage, word definitions, word order in sentences and was applying this knowledge in her everyday life.

You should try (strive) to be such a student! Every day, you should be aware of the words you hear and read and if (whether) the way they are being used (their usage) fits with your understanding.

When we are speaking with someone, there are many (numerous) clues, in addition to the actual words, which help us to understand what the speaker is saying. What is equally important is that, when speaking with someone, if we don't understand something we can ask questions!

Unfortunately, when reading there is no one to ask! This is especially true for those who have learned English by listening and speaking.

There are many words in the English language that sound similar to other words (such words are called homonyms).

There are also many other English words that are pronounced by people in such a way as to sound similar to other English words. You will begin to notice this when you start reading (and writing) critically.