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give you a wider vocabulary and the mechanics of simplifying complicated or technical ideas for the layman. Read stories and you will delve into the nuances of the various genres of fiction: the noir, the lyric, the literary, the fun. Read trade journals to pick up the jargon every business has a language all of its own.

If this sounds like hard work, concentrated effort, don't worry: it isn't. In setting out to read the magazine or the book, you're doing just that ~ reading a book or a magazine. You may be setting out to learn something specific or just seeking a little time-out. The reading may be study or pleasure. Whichever you're doing, you will also be subconsciously observing tone, absorbing sentence structures, learning to spell. It is a known fact that people with poor spelling, do not read. The simple act of repeatedly seeing words written down teaches the brain how they should look. Then when they're written with the letters in the incorrect order, when they are misspelt in other words, they quite simply look "wrong". It becomes intuitive.

One rule I do have, however, that runs counter to this passive learning theory, is this: "Use A Dictionary". Buy the best you can affordbut not one so big you'd never bother to haul it onto the desk. For users of British English, I recommend the two-volume "Shorter Oxford"lots of detail, but manageable size.

Don't be afraid to pick it up to check the spelling of even the commonest word. Despite the intuition mentioned in the previous paragraph, there are times when you have a doubt and you try rearranging the letters. You're still not sure. You end up looking at the word for so long; it looks wrong whichever way you spell it. Admit defeat: look it up!

That isn't the main purpose of the dictionary, however. Its primary function is to expand your vocabulary. All that reading is going to scatter unfamiliar words across your path with surprising regularity. Often you will be able to deduce roughly what they mean from the context, but how much more enlightening it is to seek out the precise meaningand where the word comes from. You may even find that your author is using it incorrectly.or that it is frequently used incorrectly, which is the beginning of its meaning actually changing. You will certainly discover how words are created. Knowledge of the common derivations from Latin or Greek (for instance) will enable you to more easily deduce the meanings of other new' words as you spot familiar elements combined in different

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