Decoding a Word You Have Never Seen

Use a step-by-step routine to read a brand-new long word on your own.

When you hit an unfamiliar long word, use this routine. Step 1: Peel off any prefix or suffix. Step 2: Mark the vowels in what is left. Step 3: Divide using the patterns you know: VC/CV, V/CV, VC/V, VCCCV, V/V, or consonant-le. Step 4: Label each syllable type and say each piece. Step 5: Blend the pieces, try moving the stress, and check if it makes sense. Watch it work on 'unpredictable'.

Peel off 'un' and 'able'. Left is 'predict'. Divide pre-dict: 'pre' is open, 'dict' is closed. Now blend: un-pre-dict-a-ble. It means 'not able to be predicted', which makes sense in 'The weather was unpredictable. '

• 1Peel affixes, mark vowels, divide, label, then blend.
• 2Move the stress if the word still sounds strange.
• 3Always finish by checking the meaning in the sentence.